JLTalley & Associates
Making the complex clear
Organizational life is not a natural act. We should
not be surprised when goals get lost in implementation,
when personal agendas undermine corporate intention,
or when documented procedures have no relationship
to how people actually get work done.
Humans are hard wired for the tribe; everything more complex is a stretch. The real surprise in organizations is not that problems occur, but rather that we get anything done at all!
After over 300 client engagements, I have come to understand some of the basic principles of organizational success. At least I think I have; this site is designed so you can make your own judgment.
I have included an overview of my approach as well as particular articles that capture some of my opinions on organizational issues. You can also download slide presentations from recent talks. There is also a special section for materials relevant to current client work.
Like most consultants, I belong to an informal network of colleagues who have provoked and tested my thinking and my practice. They are some of the resources you can reach through this site.
Making a Difference
A practice is more than a string of projects. Like anyone in the Second Half of life, there are some areas where I hope to make difference rather than just a dent:
- Nonprofit governance is a special concern in my work. Bright, well-meaning people who come together hoping to do good in the world often find that it seems much more difficult and elusive than they imagined. It turns out there are useful models for how to establish and run nonprofit ventures, but the simple extension of best practices from the for-profit world is sometimes more disruptive than helpful. Some of my most meaningful work is sitting with the boards of nonprofits and helping them clearly understand their challenge and crafting a path toward more effective and enjoyable governance.
- Living with Complexity is the new challenge for organizations. Markets and economies have always been understood best as complex adaptive systems, but the same perspective is the most useful for looking inside the company as well. Informal communication networks and corporate cultures mean that executives don't "run" the company, they "ride" it. The new rules for leading or managing are different than the traditional "command and control" approach. They require attending to the evolution of the firm rather than designing and directing it.
- Problem solving is marred in this culture by a simplistic approach that is so deeply embedded it is difficult to even raise our consciousness about our commitment to it. It is clear that the problems we face in business today are more conflicted, more complex, and more varied than even 50 years ago. Yet we continue to apply a linear, "one-size-fits-all" approach. My research suggests there are 6 fundamentally different problem types, and each one requires a unique approach and a distinctly different final solution. This six fold typology is the model I use in my own practice, and whenever possible, I enjoy helping organizations learn and apply the model for their own internal work as well.
- Decision making is one of the most common activities in organizations, but (like problem solving) our focus is so intensely on the substantive issues that we seldom even see our own process. The research and the writing in the field is inordinately diverse and inevitably unsatisfying. We hope for a comprehensive model of effective decision making, and we find instead a myriad of models, principles, guides, and anecdotes. What we lack is a comprehensive listing of the challenges of decision-making and of the forums within which we make decisions. Only for a particular challenge explored within a particular forum can we identify best practices. Part of my practice is helping organizations diagnose their decision challenges and create templates for more effective decision making.