Build #43 - organisations, mirrors and founder mode

Good morning!

Here’s your weekly dose of thought provoking links, curated to help you take a different perspective on building your company:

1. Organisations are mirrors​

An old article that James Gairdner’s recently updated that looks at the relationship between founders and the organisations they lead into being. He uses the thinking of Elliot Jacques to explore how the human faultlines that are inherent in us all can become transposed into the companies we found.

My take: I love chatting with James and debating themes like this. He takes a more academic lens than I tend to. His writing takes a rock solid academic base and creates space for deeper reflection on founders, leaderships and growth in business.

2. Hourglass organisations​

An interesting look across an oft-debated topic - the role of middle management in organisational design. Perry Timms comes from a people leadership background and explores the changing demands on middle management from the complex, networked context in which those managers operate.

My take: What grabbed my attention was Perry’s point about Gen Z in the workplace and how there’s a generational shift in aspirations related to management. He got me thinking about what this means for the way organisations are designed and how we shape the experience of work for future generations.

3. Activate founder mode​

Last year a memo by Paul Graham started a debate about the role of management in growing businesses, with the usual post-hoc rationalisation of individual experiences into generic wisdom. Michael Wolfe’s piece builds upon the original memo with a thoughtful and more considered look at different modes of leadership and their relationships with agility.

My take: I like the nuance in Michael’s piece. He captures the practical challenges that founders face in modulating their leadership approach depending on the issue they’re tackling at the time. His exploration of why a growing scale-up isn’t a small version of a large business is insightful (h/t to Tim Deeson for sharing this link with me).

I’m working on an interesting line of thinking about balancing predictability with embracing agility in growing businesses. All being well, next week’s Build will be taking a deeper dive into that.

Have a great week.

best,
-sw