In preparation for a new client project, I did some rereading on my old economics books. Pro tip for Friday: Don’t read outdated economics books – it’s a most time wasting exercise.
However, in the section on organizational models, I had a funny déjà-vu [1] when I saw the illustration of the Matrix Org [2].
In ~2000, the so-called Matrix Organization was all the rage (just like the movie), because it supposedly allowed organizations to cope with more complex and much faster moving environments. Read [3] if you feel like you’re living in a complex world, too. All of a sudden, large organizations figured they need to have something like multifunctional teams, which are allowed to communicate across organizational silos.
Wait a minute…interactions over processes? Responding to change over following a plan?
This sounds quite Agile-ish to me and convinces me, that most of what we do is just applied common sense, based on empiricism and a handful of failed projects.
Which leads me to think that in our Agile Software world of today, the invention of funny words like Tribes and Chapters/Guilds may actually be more of a marketing move. Let’s see them side by side:
Huh.
What’s your stance on that? Do we need new words for new concepts – or does all this just add to confusion?
[1] I’m actually proud I got these accents right w/o googling.