TAKE THE RED PILL - Entering the Matrix Structure

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/05/are_you_considering_a_job_with.html

As the above article posits, there are two-sides (as with most debates) regarding matrix report structures in large organisations. For starters, I would point out that organisations are really people. And I am in favour of the matrix - it can speed more complete decision-making. But how do we engage the purely hierarchical naysayers? 

Well, absolute candour. How would that conversation go? 

I think we - being the organisation - should make the following points. Hierarchies have their place as decision points. However, with information so fluid and capital so liquid, the command-and-control model is pretty much gone. (Good riddance!)

Empathy and inter-personal and self-awareness, even "selfishness" in Vijay Govindarajan's sense, is at a premium. 

To rely on command and control is to shortchange your own future. Moreover, things are trending ever faster in that direction. Where the "hierarchy" gets in the way of fluid, cross-directional decision-making and team 'problem-forming' we will have to replace the line with younger, faster decision makers. But it all comes down to Awareness. 

Inspiring across lines and even geographies will become the new normal. And in order to win or advance, the above skills will not be optional or selective. They are (and will be) paramount. 

With years of experience, don't shortchange your future... 

So do you want to take the red or the blue pill?