COMOGRAM OF HORROR

In every company, there are barriers that delay or even prevent urgently needed changes. Most of them wear a suit and don't even realize they are in the way. In its own way, the Corporate Monkey (a.k.a. COMO) is a very social being. In many companies, the COMOs form a solid network that effectively hinders changes. There is even a word for it: organizational chart. In some companies, the organizational chart is the linchpin of the leadership culture. This is a problem because today, change is an integral part of leadership, just like delays are to flying. Change is a constant state today. And rigid hierarchies, status thinking, and departmental blindness are not particularly helpful - but they are widespread. According to a study by the management consultancy Arthur D. Little, nearly 80 percent of companies struggle with digitization. Apparently, our leadership culture is not well-prepared for upheavals. INFILTRATED BY MONKEY BUSINESS To prevent misunderstandings: I am not an advocate of the idea that there should be no gradations within the leadership architecture. On the contrary: The clearer it is defined who is best suited to make which decisions, the better leadership works in everyday life. The problem arises when hierarchy and departmental thinking become autonomous. This happens when the organizational chart no longer serves as guidance but becomes the basis of the leadership philosophy itself. When this happens, it is a clear sign that the Monkey Business has completely infiltrated a company: it is no longer about who can make a decision best, but only about who is allowed to do what. A dangerous misconception, because in leadership, it is about the decisions - not about who makes them. Once this unhealthy culture has established itself, a company becomes a fortress, and entire departments become sleeper cells that secretly resist progress. Instead of enabling change, the focus shifts to defending claims. Who has the coconut, who has the coconut, who stole the coconut? THE HORROR OF THE COMOGRAM The COMO within us is a preserver of the status quo. Creativity is not really its thing, but when it comes to objections, it suddenly becomes an eloquence beast. The culture of saying no is often deeply rooted: the art of blocking has often been perfected over several generations of leaders. Therefore, discussions about changes in meetings often sound like this: "Flat hierarchies? Sounds good, let's put it in the image brochure!" - "So more say for the lower levels of management?" - "Now hold on: an info email after each decision will do." This is how Monkey Business sounds. Few of us are free from it. I am not either - we have learned and internalized leadership this way. We tend to react with objections to everything new. The mathematician and author Gunter Dueck described it wonderfully: Companies, just like our bodies, have an immune system that treats every new idea as a disturbance. "If the COMOs in a company are strategically distributed from the ground floor to the roof, change has no chance." LEADERSHIP IS NOT AN END IN ITSELF Finally, the good news: We can learn to replace the culture of saying no with a culture of innovation. What we need for that is a new understanding of leadership that gives everyone the freedoms they need. One that promotes participation. Because if I define leadership based on who is above and below, I will soon not know where left and right are. We need a leadership architecture that makes continuous change the guiding principle. We don't have to shred the organizational chart right away. A big step is already taken when we realize that leadership serves the company - not the other way around. We lead not for the coconut but for progress! For more information on Monkey Business, visit: [https://www.speakers-excellence.de/redner/carsten-k-rath-service-hotelbranche.html](https://www.speakers-excellence.de/redner/carsten-k-rath-service-hotelbranche.html) Original text by: [https://www.carsten-k-rath.com/2016/10/19/comogramm-des-grauens/](https://www.carsten-k-rath.com/2016/10/19/comogramm-des-grauens/)