Make a deliberate pivot from converging to evolving, a clear over-arching strategic choice, enable the organization with clarity around decisions.
Jim Hackett’s exit as Ford’s CEO should surprise no one. Billions of dollars in losses, a 40% drop in stock price, and complete lack of clarity around the way forward inevitably had to lead to new CEO. The main lesson from Hackett’s case is that while everyone has to converge into an organization before trying to evolve it, you have to time that pivot differently in different circumstances. Hackett moved way too slowly, failed to clarify a coherent strategy or culture and paralyzed the organization. I’ve written about Jim Hackett twice before. Once I was right. Once I was wrong. In writing about his views on How Office Layout Impacts Corporate Culture, I was impressed with Hackett’s understanding of the general shift from command and control hierarchies to more collaborative work and how office spaces could enable that.
