we_magazine: 

If you look at the organisational chart of smaller companies, it still says ’director’, ’head of’, with a couple more levels of hierarchy tagged on. What would a modern organisational chart look like?

J.P.: We tried to change this organisational structure a number of times but we didn’t have the information flows or the infrastructure to do it properly. What you need is the dynamic reallocation of resources which becomes possible with a matrix. 

In the case I am personally learning more from video games. In today’s video games the first thing you see is a feature like a sandbox or training ground. It’s a simulation where you are not playing the game, you’re just learning. This kind of sandbox capability is going to come out everywhere at work. After you finish it, you are able to go in and have a basic understanding of what powers you have, what tools you have and you also have a dashboard with feedback from your environment. And then you go out to find other people you want to work with. That kind of structure will start reflecting itself in an organisation.

Today, I am in a job where I am really enjoying myself, but in terms of the number of people I have reporting to me, it is the same as on my first day at work: zero. These are the final stages of leadership that I am learning about, leading through influence and guidance. You still are accountable for results, but you do not have any of the end-to-end control. This means that your reputation matters; the way you behave will determine whether people will listen to you or not. And it’s not a one-way street. If you do not understand authority, then you cannot use it. So I must first understand whose authority I am under and then say what my soft-hands leadership is. How do I guide and help and assist people who do not work for me?