Customer Reviews

The Path of Least Resistance for Managers

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In the Foreword, Peter Senge notes Fritz's distinction between "structural tension" which enables an organization to succeed and "structural conflict" which causes an organization to "oscillate" rather than advance. Both Senge and Fritz insist that it is possible to design organizations to succeed. That is to say, to design a structure which moves an organization "in the directions [its] members seek." Such movement is explained by three scientific facts: energy moves along the path of least resistance, the underlying structure of anything will determine its path of least resistance, and it is possible to determine the path of least resistance by creating new structures.

The implications of these three scientific facts are even more important when we acknowledge that external forces and circumstances can so quickly (and unexpectedly) require an organization to change its direction. Competitors can substantially increase resistance with an advertising blitz, initiating a price war, introducing a hot new product, etc. Internal forces and circumstances (eg a workers' strike, loss of key executives, litigation caused by defective products) can also require an organization to change its direction.

It is insufficient merely to design an appropriate structure. The organization must also make certain that everyone involved understands that structure and, especially, understands what is expected of them to ensure that structure's effectiveness. In a "total learning organization", moreover, everyone involved is prepared to help make whatever modifications may be necessary.

Fritz does a brilliant job of explaining HOW to achieve all of these objectives. The material is organized within a framework provided by what he calls "The Nine Laws of Organizational Structure." At the end of each chapter, he includes a "Quick Review" of key points. If you share my high regard for this book, I suggest that you also read his earlier work, The Path of Least Resistance, as well as Senge's The Fifth Discipline and The Dance of Change.

"When organizations understand the laws and principles of structure and how these create their paths of least resistances, they can rethink, reinvent, and redesign themselves. They can reach new heights of accomplishment and greatness that had not been within their reach in the past. From our knowledge of structure and how it works, we can begin anew (from the Epilogue p.217)."

'The Path of Least Resistance for Managers' is a next generation of its predecessor, 'Corporate Tides'. Throughout this current study, R. Fritz discusses the nine laws of organizational structure :

1. Organizations either oscillate or advance.

2. In organizations that oscillate, success is neutralized. In organizations that advance, success succeeds.

3. If the organization's structure remains unchanged, the organization's behavior will revert to its previous behavior.

4. A change of structure leads to a change of the organization's behavior.

5. When structural tension dominates an organization, the organization will advance.

6. When structural conflicts dominate an organization, oscillation will result.

7. An inadequate organizational structure cannot be fixed. But you can move from an inadequate structure to a suitable structure.

8. When a senior organizing principle is absent, the organization will oscillate. When a senior organizing principle is dominant, the organization will advance.

9. The values that dominate an organization will displace other competing, lesser values.

As written by Peter Senge, "The Path of Least Resistance for Managers is not the last word on structure. It is probably more like the first word. But, for many people concerned with building organizations that are more capable and more exciting, it is a great starting point."

I highly recommend.

Although intended for the world of business, this book should be basic reading for any physician responsible for helping people with asthma design their long term system of care. Using this concept, one begins at the end: the Vision. Done with the physician, it becomes a vision they share. Made explicit and detailed, it becomes real...not just words. Next, the patient's baseline(current reality) asthma care process is made explicit and detailed in relation to each part of the Vision. Then, together, patient and physician design a path of actions that will enable the patient to move from baseline(current reality) to vision. This is done in a manner that enables each step to reinforce and invite each next step. My enchantment with this system in the care of patients with asthma is that not only is it a highly effective clinical tool, it goes a step beyond: it invites commitment to the care process by both the patient and physician. A committed patient working in cooperation with committed physician to design a system that will deliver desired and clearly defined goals is a formula for success. Thank you, Robert Fritz!

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." Robert Fritz, in this clear, compelling analysis of how the deep structure of an organization gives rise to successful or unsuccessful surface behaviors and results, makes the complexity of organizational design simple, accessible and understandable. He provides leaders, managers and consultants with poweful tools to design and re-design all levels of their organizations. In 25 years of project and organizational design and planning experience, I have never read a more useful, empowering book. I give it my highest recommendation.

This is the best book I've ever read on business strategy and organizational design. If you've ever wondered why some organizations take three steps forward and one step backward while others constantly progress step after step after step, this is the book for you. It's clear and concise with powerful ideas and practical techniques.

Unlike most business books these days, this book is refreshingly fad-free, formula-free, and philosophy-free. Fritz writes in a straight forward, no nonsense manner. He doesn't seem to be "selling" anything, other than a very pragmatic approach to business design and planning.

As a management consultant, I find Fritz's structural approach tremendously useful with clients. In addition to being accurate and results-oriented, it's much faster than other approaches I've used. Why waste your time or the clients' time?

I have spent 25 years growing a family business, read many volumes on leadership and management, completed an Executive MBA, and taken post masters work in leadership and organization development. This book provided me deep insight that I had not found in any of my studies. The understanding of structure I found in the Path for Managers gave me a new clarity of what it takes to design an organization to accomplish its most important goals. The insights are very practical in their application. I have begun to apply these principles, and the results have been profound. Organizations with structural conflict will never achieve the intended results, and when structural tension is created, the results build upon themselves. I give this book my highest recommendation. It will give you tools to align your organization with a vision, and to insure that the vision becomes a reality.

I have spent 25 years growing a family business, read many volumes on leadership and management, completed an Executive MBA, and taken post masters work in leadership and organization development. This book provided me deep insight that I had not found in any of my studies. The understanding of structure I found in the Path for Managers gave me a new clarity of what it takes to design an organization to accomplish its most important goals. The insights are very practical in their application. I have begun to apply these principles, and the results have been profound. Organizations with structural conflict will never achieve the intended results, and when structural tension is created, the results build upon themselves. I give this book my highest recommendation. It will give you tools to align your organization with a vision, and to insure that the vision becomes a reality.

Being simple and being simplistic are often not the same. It is shocking that humans condescend to complexity when "simple brilliance" will do. I believe Robert Fritz has done for business what Einstein did for physics. Some reviewers want more theories and more data, when a genuine and workable insight could change everything for their organizations or their lives. E=mc2 is simple, but it is by no means simplistic. For the manager or leader who wants to make sense of his or her organization's struggles, The Path of Least Resistance for Managers is just the ticket. Our own company, TrimTab Solutions specializes in bringing clarity and focus to organizations in transition or crisis. The insights of Robert Fritz are the cornerstone for what we have found to be the most profound and insightful approach to organizational transformation and sanity; it is simple, but not simplistic. The insights in this book, if applied, are destined to influence your organization because they follow the basics of a structure's influence on behavior. Change the structure and the organization will change...Change it intelligently and the organization will advance. Buy the book and step to the forefront of organizational leadership...but be forewarned: Bring a teachable spirit. Be willing to unlearn a few assumptions to make room for Fritz's simple and strategic insights. I wouldn't begin to think about change in an organization without answering the 11 Questions first (they're in the book). Finally, and for Pete's Sake, Peter Senge wrote the forward for his "friend and mentor" Robert Fritz. What further reason do you need?

This is one of those rare books that is both profound and accessible. Fritz lays out, in a readable and understandable fashion, principles for understanding how our organizations work and further how to design organizations that succeed. Fritz writes with an elegance that makes this important subject matter easy to grasp. Some might confuse this elegance with a lack of depth but what on the surface seems easy has profound implications. There are many indications that we don't have what it takes to effectively design and navigate our organizations through changing times to the point where we sometimes see the very survival of once great organizations in question. Most recently mighty Nortel and Lucent come to mind. Fritz's insights about the workings and impact of structure may be the answer.

This book is set out in a way that we can begin to experiment with the ideas and see how they work. This is not a nice intellectual exercise but rather a powerful how-to manual. My own experience in road testing some of these ideas is very promising. It is obvious that, like music, this author's theory is based on practice.

This is a hopeful book. Modern organizations are relatively recent inventions that have become incredibly powerful and sometimes unruly forces. I am hopeful because I can see a way to bring order and design based on purpose and higher values to our companies.

This is in the top five most important business books I have ever read and very possibly leads that list.

Finally, there's something more substantial than "theory du Jour"...in fact the thinking expressed in this book is absolutely breakthrough. Fritz tells organizations how to achieve clarity on their goals and to produce the results they want with ease and grace (he calls it using an "economy of means," and I've found this to be true). I now use his approach to develop business strategy for my clients, and give out copies of his book! Few books have the power to change the thinking of people and organizations - Fritz is a master.