I have worked in organisational effectiveness for more than 25 years and remain endlessly fascinated by the interesting challenges and opportunities that arise when people work together.

It led me to think about the use of the word ‘organisation’, and what it really means.

With a quick ChatGPT search, I established that the word organisation comes from the Latin word ‘organum’ and so does the word ‘organ’.

This led me to reflect on what the interaction of the organs in the human body could teach us about organisational effectiveness. After all, people often say that our bodies are among the most beautiful and complex structures in nature, and the human brain is a perfectly formed supercomputer.

In this article I’m going to consider how the different parts of our bodies work in harmony with each other and how this might shed some light on how to build and lead more effective organisations.

I’m going to start with the first question I always ask my clients or the groups that I work with…

What’s your purpose?

Purpose

Our bodies: Every organ in the human body has a specific purpose, a reason for its existence. The fascinating part of this is how the organs in our bodies work together in harmony, supporting and enabling each other to achieve their common goal. That of keeping us alive.

For them to do this successfully they have to be clear on their purpose and role.

Organisations: Organisations should have a clearly defined purpose. We should be able to answer the question “why does this business exist?” This might seem simple but it’s quite profound. It’s the ‘North Star’ – guiding our direction. It helps us make decisions and it also helps us attract likeminded people to join our organisations and work collaboratively towards the achievement of this purpose.

In this way, every person within the organisation should have a purpose. Their role should have meaning and contribute to the overall success of their part of the organisation.

An organisation’s purpose is becoming even more important with generations who are now actively working and leading our organisations around the world. It’s now generally accepted that Millennials and Gen-Z are prioritising purpose in their career choices. They want to work for organisations that are making a difference and doing something meaningful.

How clear and how motivating is your organisation’s purpose?

Does it engage and inspire the people that work in your organisation and does it provide the business with that ‘North Star ’?

You should be able to take all of the key decisions you make regarding investments, customers and your people and ask yourself how this furthers and delivers on your purpose.

How clear is the purpose of the roles in your organisation? Can everyone see a direct line between the work that they do everyday and the overall success of your endeavours?

Centralised and Distributed Control

Our bodies: The nervous system governs and controls our bodies. It consists of centralised control (the brain) and distributed control (the nervous system and autonomic functions). While the brain directs some actions, like conscious thought, others, like heartbeat and breathing, happen automatically.

If the brain had to constantly tell the lungs to fill with air or the heart to beat it would quickly be over whelmed by the number of decisions and activities it had to manage.

Organisations: Organisations operate on a similar model with centralised leadership (executive team) and distributed control (department heads and team leaders). Effective organisations allow for autonomy at different levels, enabling faster decision-making and responses to challenges. Centralised leadership should be focusing on the overarching strategy with a time horizon stretching out over the next few years. This then supports department heads and team leaders able to focus on the delivery of the shorter term (6 to 12 month) objectives and deliverables.

Many of the problems organisations suffer from is when the centralised control systems try and manage the day to day. They are not close enough to the reality of the situation and any data they are using to make decisions has been rinsed and recycled through a few channels before it arrives at the executive table.

Good organisational design is not just about the structure chart and who reports too who, it’s about understanding the flow of information across the business. How decisions are made and who is involved. In today’s fast-moving world, it’s even more important for centralised leadership to empower and encourage the right level of distributed decision making.

How are your centralised and decentralised control networks? Is your organisation setting up decision-making to deliver good decisions with the right level of involvement, at a pace that keeps you competitive? Or does every decision get referred up the tree? Do things grind to a halt with a bottle neck of decisions being made by a small number of ill-informed people behind closed doors?

Interconnectedness and Synergy

Our bodies: In the human body, each cell, tissue, and organ performs a specific function that contributes to their overall health and survival. The heart, lungs, and brain work in harmony, and if one system fails, it affects the entire organism. This complex network needs to be continually monitored and our bodies have some really smart ways of keeping everything in balance to ensure effective functioning.

Organisations: Similarly, departments and teams within an organisation, like marketing, finance, and sales, must work together to achieve the organisation’s goals. When one department faces challenges, it often impacts others, necessitating a synchronised response. An organisation functions best when these units operate in harmony, maximising productivity and minimising disruption.

However, this interdependency is not always fully understood and embraced. How often have you heard the term “silos” used to describe the cross-functional team dynamics. These challenges can be caused by a mixture of many factors. An incoherent strategy that doesn’t bring the teams together under one approach. A culture that encourages individualism or unhealthy competition or maybe just a lack of appreciation and understanding for how the functions in the business should work together to achieve collective success.

How would you describe the interconnectedness in your organisation?

Are people encouraged to support each other and work in harmony towards a coherent and cohesive strategy or are teams set up like little islands, competing for resources and working to their own agendas?

Adaptation and Evolution

Our bodies: there is a good reason why human beings have been able to colonise almost every region around the world. Our ability to adapt! Over the years Homo-sapiens have evolved biologically, culturally and behaviourally to become the most dominant species on the planet. Darwin’s often misquoted statement was “it is not the strongest of the species that survives, but the most adaptable”.

As an evolutionary scientist Darwin introduced us to the concept of adapting to thrive.

Organisations: Organisations also need to be adaptable, adjusting strategies, products, or services to meet evolving customer demands, technological advancements, and market conditions. This ability to adapt is essential for long-term sustainability. Companies that resist change risk becoming irrelevant, much like species that fail to adapt become endangered and risk extinction.

This can be the case for extremely successful companies – consider Blockbuster Video, Kodak and Blackberry. These are all examples of organisations that dominated their markets with strong brands and successful products.

However, their strength actually became their downfall.

Blockbuster believed online streaming wouldn’t succeed, and when they had the opportunity to buy Netflix, they chose to stick with their brick-and-mortar stores.

Kodak actually developed the first digital camera in 1975 but they were so focused on protecting their film business they shelved it.

Blackberry believed that people wanted the tactile feel of ‘buttons’ and they dismissed the developments in touchscreen technology. They also ignored the consumer demand for an ‘app ecosystem’ and were quickly rendered obsolete by Apple and Android devices.

As human beings we are hard wired to evolve, and organisations must evolve too.

As organisations grow in size and complexity it can become harder to be agile and responsive to changes in our markets or in wider society.

What is your business doing to keep adapting and evolving in its operating structures, its products and service and its approach to your customers?

Conclusion

Nature, and specifically the human body, provides fascinating lessons in organisational effectiveness. The harmony, interconnectivity, and adaptability of our biological systems highlight critical principles for building and leading resilient, purpose-driven organisations. Like the organs in our body, every part of an organisation must have a clear purpose, operate in harmony, and adapt to ensure survival and success.

To thrive, organisations must embrace a shared purpose as their guiding star, foster interconnectedness to break down silos, and design structures that enable both centralised strategy and distributed decision-making.

Finally, adaptability is key to long-term success. As history shows, organisations that resist evolution risk becoming irrelevant, while those that embrace change flourish.

By observing and applying these principles, leaders can craft organisations that are not only efficient and productive but also agile and future-ready – just as nature has optimised the human body to adapt and thrive.

So, how will your organisation evolve to meet the challenges of tomorrow?