06 The Informal Organization – Part I

Understanding how networks work, what some of their fundamental laws are, what degree of informality of the social network is required and what the risks are of trying to create a social infection in the wrong collaborative space, are some of the key elements of Viral Change™.

This product includes:

• 4 Articles written by Dr Leandro Herrero:
  • There will always be hierarchy, power, and rituals in the organization. The question is how smart we are to choose the right trade off.
  • John Kotter’s 8 Step Change Management model is the best change model of the last Century. Why this is still alive is beyond me.
  • Culture is in the A list, the one where ‘work’ sits. Not in the B list (‘when I have time, after A’)
  • Corporate culture? Start with subcultures, find the tribes, and look for the unwritten rules of their dynamics

• 1 Book Chapter:
  • A book chapter from Dr Leandro Herrero’s book ‘Homo Imitans, The art of social infection: Viral Change™ in action’: 4.3. Informal Networks

• 1 Video (accessible via link in Pdf)
  • Social Networks as the third discipline of Viral Change™

• Time to REFLECT: 4 Questions for you to increase your learning outcome
• Time to SHARE: A summary of main take-aways you can share with friends & colleagues or via social media

What you will learn:

• What the informal organization is and how its informal networks work
• Why we should not ignore the informal organization (as traditional change management programs do)
• About Social Networks as a discipline of Viral Change™ and how we use it
• About the functionalities of the Informal Networks
• About nurturing vs. domesticating the networ

In ‘The Informal Organization – Part 2’, you can extend your knowledge and learn for example about trust in organizations as well as about mechanisms of scalable influence.