Summary

When Canadian geese migrate, they fly in a V-formation to move quickly and fly longer than they could as individuals. Geese use synergy—the law of nature that recognizes that working together creates a greater result than could be achieved alone. The pendulum has swung such that leadership now requires synergy and an adjustment that better suits the realities of the time. The rationale for the importance of both leading and following is that data moves too quickly. No one has the capacity to know everything they need to know or to convert all the data to information needed to be successful in the twenty-first century.

What we have is not working. The disparity between principle and established practice is transparent to the masses. Elaborate leadership development programs, coaching initiatives, a proliferation of leadership books and “best practice” guidance, and reinforcement from other organizations that only expand on current practice are no longer viable solutions or sufficient for building effective leadership. Barbara Kellerman, a Harvard professor, leadership expert, and author of The End of Leadership has questioned whether the leadership industry—with its myriad of books, articles and training—actually does what it claims to do: that is, grow leaders. She also questions whether leadership can be taught at all. Its demands have certainly shifted. Few organizations have adjusted or adapted to the new reality, and still fewer see the integral connection between organizational leadership and organization design. Informal networks like Facebook and Twitter are becoming more powerful than many organizational structures, and current leadership approaches and organization designs are not aligned to the new reality. To the contrary, we have seen more transparency to failed leadership and more calls for a new approach.

Leadership in today’s world requires insight from more than one individual. We must rely constantly on others’ insight even when we are in a position of authority. In the coming chapters, we’ll look at the power inherent in P2P architecture for organizational design, organizational structure, and leadership.