Organizational Boundaries
In a letter to shareholders, Jack Welch, the famous former CEO of
General Electric (GE), declared that he was going to make the com-
pany “boundaryless.” He created an initiative called Boundaryless-
ness. GE and many other multinationals have recognized that ideas
get trapped behind organizational boundaries, boundaries between
business units, geographies, or levels in the organization. “If we only
knew what we know. If we could only prevent repeating known mis-
takes.” These frequently heard laments from CEOs reveal the diffi-
culties of getting ideas out from behind organizational boundaries.
Organizational boundaries can have a debilitating impact on a
leader’s ability to move ideas through a company culture, structures,
and processes no matter how well they are designed.
Who Gets the Credit?
Bob Galvin, legendary CEO of Motorola, once said, “Just imagine
what we could accomplish if we stopped worrying about who gets
the credit.. .” Idea markets are not about “buyers” exchanging cash
with “sellers.” These markets for intangibles are about credit.
Credit is the primary medium of exchange, and if buyers take the
ideas as their own without acknowledging the sellers, trust is lost
and the medium of exchange breaks down. At the same time, com-
panies are “geared” for rewarding and singling out individuals, espe-
cially where “intellectual capital” and “knowledge” are the primary
currency used to gain credits.
What Is the True “Value” of the Ideas,
and What “Price” Am I Willing to Pay?
Knowledge is generally very local. Most ideas flow between locals.
The farther ideas have to travel, the more inefficient the markets
become. The price (in terms of time) of finding, understanding,
and translating the ideas, the probability that the idea will “fit
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