By Martin Padulla for staffingamericalatina

The BANI world (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, Incomprehensible) challenges organizations daily, forcing them to focus on what truly matters: people. Concepts like creativity, innovation, energy, resilience, or antifragility—a form of resilience squared—are emerging from the library to become integral to daily management practices.

Management is no longer what it used to be, and bureaucracy, the technology that defined organizational management in the 20th century, no longer provides the answers that organizations need today. Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini developed the concept of Humanocracy, a superior system designed to escape the bureaucratic trap in which many organizations find themselves. This concept aims to unleash the hidden talent stifled by the current system.

The challenge is bold: to create work environments that match the potential of the people working within organizations. It’s a powerful vision—a post-bureaucratic view of the world of work. It’s an efficient way to break away from the old order created in the 19th century and transform the foundations of organizations, focusing them on people (and their needs at different life stages) to embrace the 21st century.

Is it possible to inject passion, creativity, talent, and agility into hierarchical, rigid, slow, and conservative organizations? Hamel and Zanini argue that it is not; instead, they propose an alternative model that breaks free from a paralyzing paradigm and injects initiative, boldness, flexibility, audacity, and commitment.

A bureaucratic organization is characterized by being excessively structured. Humanocracy, on the other hand, is based on autonomy and freedom, on flexible structures that unleash people’s potential.

Designing organizations with flexible structures through diverse forms of work is an efficient way to begin breaking down the pillars of bureaucracy and increasing productivity. Encouraging personal growth and professional development by addressing each team member’s needs generates commitment, trust, collaboration, purpose, and results orientation. This perspective shifts from the idea of “doing more” to “being more.”

It is essential to understand that standardization and rigidity stifle innovation. They are the great guarantors of the status quo. Transformation demands a different system.

If your search for the first steps to disrupt and hack bureaucracy is confusing, the diverse forms of work may be the beginning of a profound transformation. They are the cornerstones for building this new technology to manage 21st-century organizations.

Rethinking the organization, hacking bureaucracy, focusing on people, and structuring flexibly through diverse forms of work seem to be four significant milestones on the path to transformation.

It’s daunting. But it must be overcome, as always… Wishing you much success!

Photo of Ian Schneider in Unsplash