Ideo Support Structure
IDEO Support Structure
Michael Newberry
Post University
Organizational Behavior
MGT 405
Dr. Sunil Ramlall
April 14, 2013
IDEO has won more Business Week IDSA Industrial Design Excellence Awards than any other firm. This is in large part because of the support structure in the organization, culture and management style that enables IDEO to be innovative. Let’s describe each of these three traits in more detail. The organization of IDEO is simple; it starts with someone giving a timeline and a purpose as well as the goal. However there is no hierarchy because it is believed to hurt innovation when there are titles. That being said no one person thinks they have all the answers and are encouraged to do research outside of the office to get a better idea of product improvement possibilities. A quote from the documentary said it best”Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius”. This statement seems to define how the organization accomplishes its tasks. The culture at IDEO is innovative because the management that does exist cares about how their employees feel about their work space, even investing in décor that encourages creativity. The many backgrounds help to keep the culture diverse and on the cutting edge. The workplace is kept fun and seems to encourage free thinking without reprisal. The management style is quite different than what I have seen in the past. It seems they know that management is there to help keep them on task and not to run the task. It is a very hands off type of leadership that only got involved when people got a little off track and that seemed to be for time constraints only. This type of leadership seems to allow employees to embrace their jobs and enjoy them but also enhances the organization as a whole. IDEO seems to have found a very effective balance with how it organizes into teams and utilizes the diverse culture with a
Michael Newberry
Post University
Organizational Behavior
MGT 405
Dr. Sunil Ramlall
April 14, 2013
IDEO has won more Business Week IDSA Industrial Design Excellence Awards than any other firm. This is in large part because of the support structure in the organization, culture and management style that enables IDEO to be innovative. Let’s describe each of these three traits in more detail. The organization of IDEO is simple; it starts with someone giving a timeline and a purpose as well as the goal. However there is no hierarchy because it is believed to hurt innovation when there are titles. That being said no one person thinks they have all the answers and are encouraged to do research outside of the office to get a better idea of product improvement possibilities. A quote from the documentary said it best”Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius”. This statement seems to define how the organization accomplishes its tasks. The culture at IDEO is innovative because the management that does exist cares about how their employees feel about their work space, even investing in décor that encourages creativity. The many backgrounds help to keep the culture diverse and on the cutting edge. The workplace is kept fun and seems to encourage free thinking without reprisal. The management style is quite different than what I have seen in the past. It seems they know that management is there to help keep them on task and not to run the task. It is a very hands off type of leadership that only got involved when people got a little off track and that seemed to be for time constraints only. This type of leadership seems to allow employees to embrace their jobs and enjoy them but also enhances the organization as a whole. IDEO seems to have found a very effective balance with how it organizes into teams and utilizes the diverse culture with a