M’s the word: Teaching the giants to dance
Pharma needs a little spring in its step
By on Jan 9, 2012I begin this year with the welcome challenge of having to recruit new people because of the success in placing good people at the end of the year. One of my leavers popped his head round the door this morning. He had another interview during the holiday with more people who are not involved in his recruitment but need to see him anyway. I am not sure whether it helps him. I doubt it.
It felt to me as though the move is taking too long. He has accepted the position and made the commitment to uproot his family and ship them half way round the world to an alien culture where neither he nor his wife speaks the local language. So I am disappointed that the wheels are turning so slowly, and the company does not seem to match his energy with their commitment. I do not recall this from small organizations.
It would be too easy, too much of a generalization, just to say it is the default of large companies to lack the nimbleness of small organizations. There are obviously additional constraints when you are large. There are more people watching you, and your actions have consequences that run a little further. Stupidity has more impact! So some difference in response time is to be expected.
There is more competition for the headspace of those who actually take decisions, which means either things take longer or they die on the way. At one time, I would have said that we accept that anyone with ambition, a talent for management and drive, would never remain in a large organization where he has little potential to affect organizational change or growth but would instead ship out to a smaller company with more freedom. I am slightly more philosophical now. Not older, but I think I am learning.
I trained in comparative physiology and psychology, which perhaps explains why I look at organization with an ‘organism’ mind-set. Large organizations create their own inertia and use attrition, whether by design or accident, to dull the ambition for change. There are few large, fast organisms, but there are some. They do not move the whole time with frenetic pace, but they can surprise you.
My friends have a retired greyhound. This is not a small animal. Wolfie rests a lot, lying docile by the fire or snuggled up against the children. But when he is out, there is a dramatic change. He defecates and urinates at every opportunity to keep himself ready for the chase. He is capable of speeds in excess of 40 mph, for short periods of time, and can be intensely active for 20 minutes or so, which means he covers an enormous amount of ground. He then returns to the docile, child-friendly status that is his norm.
About 20 years ago, Rosabeth Moss Kanter urged giants to learn to dance. Perhaps the sound of 2012 will be the music of the tango.
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