In many ways the German military approach can be likened to Charles Handy’s concept of a ‘doughnut organisation’, as expressed in his book The Empty Raincoat. As a central organising principle Handy suggests a balance between ‘core’ roles, responsibilities or duties and a ‘bounded space’ where initiative, daring and imagination can be expressed, cultivated or tested. The major difference between a doughnut organisation and a traditional hierarchy, whether commercial or military, is one of trust.

The Allied commander of Crete saw no place for discretion or freedom of action among his line officers. Strict control of troop dispositions was supposed to ensure a predictable outcome. This proved counter-intuitive, as it simply robbed line-officers of their freedom

During Operation Mercury, the German airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941, General Bernard Freyberg, the island’s commander, and his subordinates opted for an outdated static defence in the face of aggressive, highly motivated but lightly armed paratroops. It was largely thanks to Freyberg’s autocratic style of leadership and obsolete military thinking which allowed the Germans to eventually wrestle control of the island away from its Commonwealth defenders, a numerically superior force, and impel a humiliating evacuation.

Not only did the Germans employ every technological advantage available to them, but they also harnessed the esprit de corps, or fighting spirit of the Fallschirmjaeger (paratroops), a wholly new type of warrior. Unlike most of its adversaries at the time the German military machine believed in swift campaigns of strike and manoeuvre. By forming all available units into Kampfgruppen, or Battlegroups, a local commander had the tools, knowledge and freedom of action to ruthlessly exploit the slightest weakness in the enemy line without hesitation. In contrast, Freyberg’s unit commanders exercised almost no freedom of control over the battles they fought and lost.

You must grasp the full purpose of every enterprise, so that if your leader be killed you can yourself fulfil it. ‘Ten Commandments of the German Parachutist’, The Fall of Crete by Alan Clark.

Typically, the British Army of the Second World War still believed in training its soldiers to simply obey orders without asking too many questions. Officers rarely took NCOs into their confidence about operational matters, let-alone the rank and file. Consequently, when a unit’s officer was killed or badly wounded there was no one ready to take command with enough operational knowledge to complete the mission. The Germans adopted a far more enlightened and pragmatic policy, whereby every man was expected to be able to step into the shoes of his direct superior. The German Army’s system encouraged and rewarded initiative, flexibility and daring. The result was a crop of fine, resolute, gifted planners and aggressive leaders, such as Erwin Rommel, Walther Model and Kurt Student. Only later, as the war progressed, did the British and other Allied armies start to gradually adopt similar methods.

Victory or defeat in the corporate sphere may not cost lives but can certainly cost livelihoods. Rigid organisational structures and strong corporate cultures can often do more to hobble talent than harness it. Instead of fast-moving, flexible organisations always ready to ruthlessly exploit a competitive advantage, many companies are hindered by their own bureaucracy and an army of timid, indecisive middle managers. For fear of making the wrong decision, and being held accountable, these people make no decisions. Instead they choose to endlessly analyse or prevaricate. For far too long UK businesses have failed to appreciate the importance of investing in professional management training, internal communications and leadership skills.

In many ways the German military approach can be likened to Charles Handy’s concept of a ‘doughnut organisation’, as expressed in his book The Empty Raincoat. As a central organising principle Handy suggests a balance between ‘core’ roles, responsibilities or duties and a ‘bounded space’ where initiative, daring and imagination can be expressed, cultivated or tested. The major difference between a doughnut organisation and a traditional hierarchy, whether commercial or military, is one of trust.

The Allied commander of Crete saw no place for discretion or freedom of action among his line officers. Strict control of troop dispositions was supposed to ensure a predictable outcome. This proved counter-intuitive, as it simply robbed line-officers of their freedom

Not only did the Germans employ every technological advantage available to them, but they also harnessed the esprit de corps, or fighting spirit of the Fallschirmjaeger (paratroops), a wholly new type of warrior. Unlike most of its adversaries at the time the German military machine believed in swift campaigns of strike and manoeuvre. By forming all available units into Kampfgruppen, or Battlegroups, a local commander had the tools, knowledge and freedom of action to ruthlessly exploit the slightest weakness in the enemy line without hesitation. In contrast, Freyberg’s unit commanders exercised almost no freedom of control over the battles they fought and lost.

You must grasp the full purpose of every enterprise, so that if your leader be killed you can yourself fulfil it. ‘Ten Commandments of the German Parachutist’, The Fall of Crete by Alan Clark.

Typically, the British Army of the Second World War still believed in training its soldiers to simply obey orders without asking too many questions. Officers rarely took NCOs into their confidence about operational matters, let-alone the rank and file. Consequently, when a unit’s officer was killed or badly wounded there was no one ready to take command with enough operational knowledge to complete the mission. The Germans adopted a far more enlightened and pragmatic policy, whereby every man was expected to be able to step into the shoes of his direct superior. The German Army’s system encouraged and rewarded initiative, flexibility and daring. The result was a crop of fine, resolute, gifted planners and aggressive leaders, such as Erwin Rommel, Walther Model and Kurt Student. Only later, as the war progressed, did the British and other Allied armies start to gradually adopt similar methods.

Victory or defeat in the corporate sphere may not cost lives but can certainly cost livelihoods. Rigid organisational structures and strong corporate cultures can often do more to hobble talent than harness it. Instead of fast-moving, flexible organisations always ready to ruthlessly exploit a competitive advantage, many companies are hindered by their own bureaucracy and an army of timid, indecisive middle managers. For fear of making the wrong decision, and being held accountable, these people make no decisions. Instead they choose to endlessly analyse or prevaricate. For far too long UK businesses have failed to appreciate the importance of investing in professional management training, internal communications and leadership skills.

In many ways the German military approach can be likened to Charles Handy’s concept of a ‘doughnut organisation’, as expressed in his book The Empty Raincoat. As a central organising principle Handy suggests a balance between ‘core’ roles, responsibilities or duties and a ‘bounded space’ where initiative, daring and imagination can be expressed, cultivated or tested. The major difference between a doughnut organisation and a traditional hierarchy, whether commercial or military, is one of trust.

The Allied commander of Crete saw no place for discretion or freedom of action among his line officers. Strict control of troop dispositions was supposed to ensure a predictable outcome. This proved counter-intuitive, as it simply robbed line-officers of their freedom

You must grasp the full purpose of every enterprise, so that if your leader be killed you can yourself fulfil it. ‘Ten Commandments of the German Parachutist’, The Fall of Crete by Alan Clark.

Typically, the British Army of the Second World War still believed in training its soldiers to simply obey orders without asking too many questions. Officers rarely took NCOs into their confidence about operational matters, let-alone the rank and file. Consequently, when a unit’s officer was killed or badly wounded there was no one ready to take command with enough operational knowledge to complete the mission. The Germans adopted a far more enlightened and pragmatic policy, whereby every man was expected to be able to step into the shoes of his direct superior. The German Army’s system encouraged and rewarded initiative, flexibility and daring. The result was a crop of fine, resolute, gifted planners and aggressive leaders, such as Erwin Rommel, Walther Model and Kurt Student. Only later, as the war progressed, did the British and other Allied armies start to gradually adopt similar methods.

Victory or defeat in the corporate sphere may not cost lives but can certainly cost livelihoods. Rigid organisational structures and strong corporate cultures can often do more to hobble talent than harness it. Instead of fast-moving, flexible organisations always ready to ruthlessly exploit a competitive advantage, many companies are hindered by their own bureaucracy and an army of timid, indecisive middle managers. For fear of making the wrong decision, and being held accountable, these people make no decisions. Instead they choose to endlessly analyse or prevaricate. For far too long UK businesses have failed to appreciate the importance of investing in professional management training, internal communications and leadership skills.

In many ways the German military approach can be likened to Charles Handy’s concept of a ‘doughnut organisation’, as expressed in his book The Empty Raincoat. As a central organising principle Handy suggests a balance between ‘core’ roles, responsibilities or duties and a ‘bounded space’ where initiative, daring and imagination can be expressed, cultivated or tested. The major difference between a doughnut organisation and a traditional hierarchy, whether commercial or military, is one of trust.

The Allied commander of Crete saw no place for discretion or freedom of action among his line officers. Strict control of troop dispositions was supposed to ensure a predictable outcome. This proved counter-intuitive, as it simply robbed line-officers of their freedom

Victory or defeat in the corporate sphere may not cost lives but can certainly cost livelihoods. Rigid organisational structures and strong corporate cultures can often do more to hobble talent than harness it. Instead of fast-moving, flexible organisations always ready to ruthlessly exploit a competitive advantage, many companies are hindered by their own bureaucracy and an army of timid, indecisive middle managers. For fear of making the wrong decision, and being held accountable, these people make no decisions. Instead they choose to endlessly analyse or prevaricate. For far too long UK businesses have failed to appreciate the importance of investing in professional management training, internal communications and leadership skills.

In many ways the German military approach can be likened to Charles Handy’s concept of a ‘doughnut organisation’, as expressed in his book The Empty Raincoat. As a central organising principle Handy suggests a balance between ‘core’ roles, responsibilities or duties and a ‘bounded space’ where initiative, daring and imagination can be expressed, cultivated or tested. The major difference between a doughnut organisation and a traditional hierarchy, whether commercial or military, is one of trust.

The Allied commander of Crete saw no place for discretion or freedom of action among his line officers. Strict control of troop dispositions was supposed to ensure a predictable outcome. This proved counter-intuitive, as it simply robbed line-officers of their freedom

In many ways the German military approach can be likened to Charles Handy’s concept of a ‘doughnut organisation’, as expressed in his book The Empty Raincoat. As a central organising principle Handy suggests a balance between ‘core’ roles, responsibilities or duties and a ‘bounded space’ where initiative, daring and imagination can be expressed, cultivated or tested. The major difference between a doughnut organisation and a traditional hierarchy, whether commercial or military, is one of trust.

The Allied commander of Crete saw no place for discretion or freedom of action among his line officers. Strict control of troop dispositions was supposed to ensure a predictable outcome. This proved counter-intuitive, as it simply robbed line-officers of their freedom of action; the ability to adapt to changing circumstances on the battlefield. The German system also sought to impose a regime of strict discipline and obedience within its ranks. The Germans instilled an extreme sense of duty and loyalty to the Fatherland within its troops.

However, this was tempered with trust in a shared vision, values and beliefs plus a man’s personal qualities, such as integrity, intelligence and courage, as well as his professional talents. Men were recognised, rewarded and quickly promoted for their daring, inventiveness or inspired leadership. It’s hardly surprising to learn that many of Germany’s senior commanders during the latter stages of the war had been relatively junior officers at its outbreak.

Today we see many variations of Charles Handy’s doughnut organisation as numerous enterprises finally come to realise that bureaucracy tends to be cumbersome, unresponsive, costly and uncompetitive. One example of just such a transformation is the HM Treasury’s National Savings and Investments agency (NS&I). Until the late 1990s NS&I employed a staff of over 4,000 to develop, promote, sell and service its wide range of government-backed saving and investment products such as ISAs and Premium Bonds.

The new shape of work will centre around small organisations, most of them in the service sector, with a small core of key people and a collection of stringers or portfolio workers in the space around the core. Charles Handy, The Empty Raincoat.

Finding itself increasing squeezed by new web-based entrants to an already overcrowded financial services market, NS&I struck a deal with Siemens Business Services (SBS). Siemens assumed responsibility for the bulk of NS&I sales and back office operations, excluding Post Office Counters Ltd. Over 3,500 NS&I employees, mostly sales, customer service and accounts people, transferred to SBS, securing their jobs and long term futures.

The remaining NS&I ‘core people’ were then trusted to concentrate solely on the development, marketing, advertising and launch of new financial products to the marketplace, or enhance existing ones. SBS received a guaranteed 10-year contract to run the NS&I call-centre plus its online and mail order businesses. Having dramatically increased its sales force almost overnight, Siemens could immediately compete for additional service sector contracts. SBS also furnished NS&I with the advanced IT systems necessary for them to get closer to their customers, understand them better, explore new market opportunities, and compete more effectively.

To deliver its products and services so they consistently surpass customer expectations, its essential that a company’s brands, people, suppliers and partners are carefully aligned and demonstrate a high level of interconnectedness. That same organisational structure must also be flexible enough to anticipate and adapt to changing customer needs, new opportunities and competitive threats. An organisation’s people must be given trust, encouragement, focus and direction rather than rules, regulations or limitations. Modern IT, IS and CRM systems can also provide the necessary tools for quick, confident decision-making, and sharing of corporate knowledge.

The process of gathering, assessing, sharing and, most importantly, using information cannot be underestimated. The fall of Crete clearly illustrates the point. History taught General Freyberg that only a naval blockade or amphibious assault could capture his island. That meant deploying many of his men to defend the various