S04 Ep. 11. Geoff Mulgan - Architecting the next generation of Institutions

In this episode, we are joined by Sir Geoff Mulgan to explore the potential of an emergent discipline of organizational architecture, where the diversity of organizational models and their features are studied and assessed in a more robust and systematic way—similar to the field of building architecture.

Sir Geoff Mulgan CBE is a Professor of Collective Intelligence, Public Policy, and Social Innovation at University College London (UCL). Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Executive of Nesta, the UK's innovation foundation, from 2011 to 2019. His primary focus is on improving government functionality and creating and implementing good ideas. Recently, he has been developing ideas related to shared intelligence, wisdom, science policy, social science, and systems, with a sideline in imagination. His work revolves around not only what to change but also how to do it—from big-picture designs to the more practical aspects.

His latest book is 'Another World is Possible - How to re-ignite radical political imagination,' about new ways to imagine the future in politics and social organization. Geoff believes that—given the complexity of organizations, which rely on a combination of monetary exchanges, coercion, love, and care to operate—reducing them to a single monolithic model is not sufficient. Instead, we need a diversity of models that can evolve with time and adapt to changing needs. Such an approach, Mulgan thinks, is even more significant as we need to tackle the profound 21st-century transitions related to energy, climate, health, and other areas. Most likely, we’ll need new types of institutions to face these transformational challenges—not limited by old corporate models and legal and regulatory frameworks.

Key Highlights
👉 Reducing organizations to a matter of “only” contracts is too simplistic.
👉 Complex organizations use a mix of monetary exchanges, coercion, love, and care to govern.
👉 Organizational design should be a discipline more like physical architecture.
👉 We need new institutions that can embrace outside-in strategies and be multi-center and modular.
👉 “Mesh” models of organizing combine vertical and horizontal structures and flows both inside organizations and outside of them.
👉 Old corporate models and legal and regulatory frameworks currently prevent open data flows and transparency.
👉 A co-evolution of new organizational forms mixing collective and artificial intelligence is foreseeable in the next decade.

Topics (Chapters)
(00:00) Geoff Mulgan's quote
(00:59) Geoff Mulgan introduction
(02:07) The reason behind the paper "Organizational Architecture - Ideas for an Emergent Discipline"
(07:03) Elements of organizational architecture theory
(12:12) The enablers and the forces to reorganize society
(24:13) Government as a platform
(38:07) Geoff Mulgan's breadcrumbs

Remember that you can always find transcripts and key highlights of the episode on our website: https://boundaryless.io/podcast/geoff-mulgan

To find out more about Geoff’s work:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/geoffmulgan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sir-geoff-mulgan-aa1079187
Website: https://www.geoffmulgan.com

Other references and mentions:
Organizational architecture: Ideas for an emergent discipline (paper): https://www.geoffmulgan.com/post/mesh-organisational-archicture-theory
Learndirect: https://www.learndirect.com
Another World is Possible - How to re-ignite radical political imagination (book): https://www.geoffmulgan.com/another-world-is-possible
Warm Data Institute: https://batesoninstitute.org/warm-data
Data Meditations: https://www.he-r.it/project/data-meditations

Geoff’s suggested breadcrumbs (things listeners should check out):
Museum of the Future: https://museumofthefuture.ae/en

Recorded on 13 January 2023.

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