This was a comment someone made this week,”You know, structure is just really over-rated”. It intrigued me and amused me at the same time. It was said in a context when things are being changed daily and believe me, some small amount of structure and consistency would be very helpful as the general consensus is folks are really quite lost!

In large companies the working principle is usually that some structure helps to ensure that you are going in the same direction and people know what they are working towards. Some element of framework helps define the objectives to achieve and the way the company would like to do that, including what values and behaviours are encouraged/acceptable, what policies to adhere to.

In Supply Chains some planning is essential, network design and other elements help optimise and save time. Using structured lean approaches and tools helps to remove efficiencies, encourages learning and empowers teams.

While the above it is true, there also needs to be place for innovation, creativity and agility. If we don’t give space to this, we keep doing things in the way we always did and we don’t empower our team or give space to new ideas and suggestions for improvement.

So the thought is turning around in my mind, where is the balance? Is the story we tell ourselves on this topic only perception? Are we conforming too much to a pre-defined way of thinking? What is the need of all the stakeholders in this picture?

If we work back from the actual essence of what we are trying to do, then we can decide where a framework or compliance system is actually needed, perhaps to safeguard against risk or discrimation, and then where do we say “you know what, here you have freedom to operate” because the “how” doesn’t actually matter, its the outcome. Clearly regulatory matters are a line not to be crossed!!

It still begs the question, how fluid is this and are the frameworks fit for purpose? There is an argument that if the rule makes no sense in the first place, just applying it will be frustrating and not achieve the intention which made the rule initially exist.

So maybe it is less about structure and more about culture. How do we give space to open dialogue about what we are trying to achieve and give space to ideas and continuous improvement? How to embrace that policies and guidelines do need constant review and sense checks? How to have the right level of input from stakeholders to build co-creation?.. And so on…and so on..