house rules

You might have noticed that I am a big fan of Aaron Sorkin and in particular the West Wing. There's this other TV show I quite like - House M.D. I was thinking today about organizational theory, how one goes about building an outstanding team, and whether they thought about that at all when they created the premise for this program.

If you're not familiar with the show, House is a brilliant but acerbic diagnostician who can solve cases others can't. He has a team of three very talented doctors who work for him, act as his foil, and create the experience of one doctor for the patient because House doen't like patients. House does have responsibilities outside of pure diagnostics (clinic duty, people-management, etc.), but if he does what he's good at, his performance (or lack thereof) in the other areas is overlooked. This even (shockingly) applies to the fact that he's addicted to Vicodin because of a problem with his leg.

The administrator of the hospital recognizes that House is a phenom, tenacious, and narcissistic problem solver; and that he is abysmal at the other parts of being a doctor, and frankly a jerk. But she also knows that without him, her hospital is less.

So she built an organizational framework (House + 3 doctors, a legal defense fund ('cause let's face it, he needs it:-), etc.), in which he can operate effectively, and where his performance is measured differently vs. the other (typical) doctors in the hospital.

Why? Because in the end, House creates profound value for the hospital, and saves lives no-one else could. The impact and benefits outweigh the "cost" of the special treatment.

Now look at any large corporation. Like most school systems around the world, large companies are infected with HR and MBA "parameters" that herald standardized performance and benchmarking, and reward micro-successes that serve only to further the careers of HR/MBA drones and "typical" performers. Anyone who is atypical is managed out because they don't have the skills to navigate the gauntlet of girth; held back because "they just don't fit our model;" or skate by hardly ever revealing the wonderful potential they have to create profound value.

When a company is small enough, the leader has the strength, confidence, vision to recognize these unique performers, grasp their value to the organization, and construct a workplace that will let them achieve. All because s/he knows where they're going, recognizes that "mundane" is the fate of a business filled with "normal," and has the cojones to flaunt the HR/MBA guidelines because of her/his burning desire to achieve greatness.

Is it any wonder that most large organizations today are devoid of soul, and almost never make a real difference?