Page 113 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

94 The Disney Way

Back in the 1970s, MIT Sloan professor Thomas J. Allen, Jr., who taught
managerial psychology for nearly four decades, conducted research on the rela-
tionship between distance and frequency of communication in the workplace.
For six months, Allen examined the communication patterns among 512
employees in seven organizations. He found that at a distance of 30 feet or less,
the quality of communication is five times better than it is at a distance of 100
feet. Allen’s research also showed that beyond 100 feet, distance is immaterial
because communication is simply ineffective—period. In other words, ease of
communication is largely dependent on physical location. 26
Even before we saw this scientific study, we had reached a similar conclusion
from our own experience. When questions need to be asked or issues discussed,
proximity enables interaction. It was with the idea of bringing people together
to facilitate communication and improve production that Chrysler began in
1990 a five-year plan to redesign its engineering facilities at a cost of $1 billion.
Bringing together all major engineering functions into one facility, this physical
reorganization contributed substantially to the revival of the company. 27
But a word of warning: We have seen many companies move their people
into open workspaces on the mistaken assumption that they have then cre-
ated a team. When nothing constructive emerges from this arrangement, they
disband the so-called team and label it a failure. They have misunderstood the
purpose of co-locating. The open workspace does not, in itself, create a team.
It is merely a tool that is used to reinforce the team concept. To be successful,
a team must also have a mission and goal and be dedicated to fostering the
progress of that goal. As on the playing field, the team in a manufacturing
plant, an office, or corporate headquarters has to work as a unit, not a collec-
tion of individual efforts, no matter what stars you recruit for the key posi-
tions. The greatest third baseman, running back, or point guard in the world
cannot make a group of people into a “team.” That comes only with leader-
ship and commitment to a goal that everyone agrees is worth pursuing,
It almost goes without saying that some type of reward system should
be in place to recognize superior performance. However, most managers we
encounter feel that a little bit of healthy individual competition is as impor-
tant, if not more important, than teamwork. They really believe competition
is good for the organization and will even boost productivity. Most of us
have been encouraged since we were very young to compete with one another
in school, as well as in sports. People rationalize that a competitive spirit is a
simple fact of human nature.