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John Proudfoot, Discoverybytes

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Independent consulting services to drug discovery startups.

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The standard org chart is the most depressing incarnation of a hierarchical network map.

July 26, 2017

I’ve occupied a rectangle, sometimes colored and sometimes with rounded corners, in departmental org charts at various elevations over thirty years. Early in my career it was in a lower region, more recently it was in midway up a research organization hierarchy. The chart showed my name, a title, a link to a boss who changed every couple of years, links to my reports who changed less frequently, with further links to their reports and so on.

The org chart was usually seen only on special occasions, after major arrivals or departures, at reorganizations, and during performance alignment. It fundamentally conveyed a depressing message - bureaucracy.

A couple of years ago I drew a different network map for our groups that supported the early project portfolio. No titles, just the people, the projects we worked on and the team members beyond our groups to emphasize connections, collaboration and purpose - not bureaucracy.

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