Idealized Design Experience

Running Head: GROUP TWO- U7P3: IDEALIZED DESIGN EXPERIENCE 1







Group 2-U7 P3: Idealized Design Experience
Janet Hightower
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
21 November 2016












INTRODUCTION
The objective of this paper is to give a reflection of the team experience with Ackoff's Idealized design in a group activity. Teams organized, then followed the idealized design to re-design an old system that affects the products and services of the chosen organization. An idealized design, Ackoff (2006) acknowledged is a way of thinking about change by imagining the ideal solution. Organizations can learn the ideal solution by working backward from where they are today, to where they want to be. This paper gives an understanding of strengths and weaknesses of an idealized design applied to the chosen organization Skanska International within a team project. Ackoff's Idealized design has strengths and weaknesses that give opportunities for change and adaptations with recommendations for future studies for an organization. Without a system in place like Ackoff's Idealized design organizations will suffer and can fail at organizational change initiatives.
STRENGTHS IDEALIZED DESIGN
The strengths of idealized design are centered around the creativity aspects, where an organization can project dreams of what they desire and make them a reality. The idealized design consists of inter-activism where real planning works backward from where the organization wants to be and in the moment where they are now. The nuances of the possibilities give the organization a point of working successfully towards the unknown future (Ackoff, 2006). Planning backward assists the organization in developing strategies to bridge gaps between the origin and the destination, using action plans.
Being part of a team to develop an idealized design for an organization is a profound experience that brings an understanding of a organizations needed for a change. The system works efficiently when leaders and stakeholders are important to each other, and creates an accepting growing environment. Additionally, idealized design working backward gives fewer constraints on the organization, as leaders and stakeholders are motivated and empowered to finish the new design. The organization systematically can know what needs to be changed in areas of planning, implementing, and appropriation to bring about change in the idealized design. The organization can perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to identify gaps further to achieve desired goals (Fung et al., 2007).
Experientially idealized design gives a step-by-step plan without borders, emerging a new design, to venture out of constraints and envision possibilities. The chosen organization selected for the idealized design project is Skanska International with a current focus on construction, the team designed a new plan towards higher quality in sustainable green production for every commercial renovation. Clear advantages of using Ackoff's idealized design system was the discovery of a systematic approach. The systematic approach generated creativity by producing a flow of information (inputs and outputs), defined roles, and actual project completion requirements.
WEAKNESS IDEALIZED DESIGN
The team project created an awareness of the weaknesses in the idealized design. When starting an idealized design, it is wise to place the hierarchy of the key leaders firs, this presents a foundation for roles and dynamics of the organizational. Ackoff (2006) suggest when planning the design organizations can start with knowing relativism (past success), inactive (present success) and pre-activism (future success) before the initial development. There is the weakness in using future prediction, which can ensure poor outcomes. Implementing change initiatives with Ackoff's Idealized design gives organizations challenges to confront change resistance. Change resistance is handled by stakeholder by accepting the need for change when implementing the idealized design. Considering elements of change the organization would need to have each stakeholder involved in the idealized design, without involvement there would be lowered commitment to change (Ackoff, 2006). Without a sense of ownership of the new plan stakeholders at Skanska would experience resentment and subversion of its implementation.
ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH EXAMPLE
Utilizing Ackoff's Idealized design in the current organization Microsoft, there are clear advantages. The organization is like Skanska International; Microsoft also has locations worldwide. At Microsoft, their mission statement is about people, business and reaching full potentials. Ackoff's Idealized design would enable them to refocus or completely come from a different direction than their current direction. One aspect Microsoft idealized design could include is cultural diversity and a more affordable product line and better available services.
An idealized design for Microsoft would include changes of stakeholder's roles and organizational identity as they embrace the need for change. Other beneficial areas would include Microsoft's (inputs and outputs) in areas of markets and customers, management and leadership, people and personnel departments, together with external affairs and relationships. At Microsoft, there is intense competition between products and teams with high pressure towards organizational performance (Dhillion & Gupta, 2015). Applying idealized design at Microsoft can result in reduction of internal competition, and lowered pressure to initiate and organizational change. With a new design of diversity and lowering cost of products and services, Microsoft can implement change with an idealized design.
ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMS
Teams are a vital part of the organization, Ackoff's Idealized design implements teams to formulate the mess, and during ends, planning teams are at the heart of the idealized design (Ackoff, 2006). It is apparent that teams during the idealized design project with Skanska team's members an understanding of how vital teams are to the system success. There was a need to have more collaboration about details of the design, to make sense of the change which took dedication from the team members. When teams come together with different backgrounds, experience, and creativity ideas come alive and take the project to a whole new level. Ackoff (1993) found some ways individuals and teams handle problems, which include absolution (ignore problem), resolution (trial and error experience), solution (research and experimentation) and dissolution (redesign the problem). Teams using dissolution or a combination of ways can achieve idealized design for organizational success.
ACKOFF IDEALIZED DESIGN ADAPTATION
The idealized design must be technologically feasible, operationally viable, and subject to improvement from within and without (Ackoff, 1993). The organizational design must be capable of rapid and effective learning with adaptation, that is subject to change. The design, teams, and organization must be able to adapt, act and anticipate change. The new design will adapt to internal and external changes, affecting the total performance of the organization. Skanska idealized design adapted to what buildings were already established to save natural resources instead of purchasing new properties which is in alignment to their green goals. Microsoft's idealized design adaptation can likewise consider buildings already established as stakeholders can adapt and adjust to a new design that is cost effective.
ACKOFF'S IDEALIZED DESIGN AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Organizational change can endure over many years and decades with the broad range of radical changes. It is idealized designs new approaches to organizational change that are needed. Furthermore, an idealized design gives continuous innovation and breakthroughs as stated by Ackoff (2006) and can be applied to specific organizational challenges, latent and actual crisis. Idealized design brings about organizational change at Skanska and will redesign the whole organization affecting the compensation benefits, improving the business planning process, and turning around any troubled divisions. Ackoff (2006) found that organizational success is when the parts work together, by optimizing the performance of the parts systematically sub-optimization occurs within the performance of the whole.
Specific areas of organizational change within the idealized design include internal and external changes. Skanska stakeholders can anticipate changes and take appropriate action before the changes occur. Senge (2006) find change initiatives attempt to help organizations comprehend management practices and relationships among employees and key business partners (suppliers) to involve efforts to redistribute control and deal with threats (unilateral control). Organizational change can take a long process; idealized change can shorten the process of change using a step-by-step program. Building quality relationships can facilitate the organization to reach goals and increase capabilities through organizational change initiatives. Overcoming trust and ethical issues are vital and can stifle an organization's ability to grow and flourish, with an idealized design stakeholders can envision trust and ethical business practices.
CONCLUSION
The experience of constructing an idealized design with a team is a worthwhile pursuit into theory learning and application. Ackoff's Idealized design is creative, organized and innovative. What organizations find by applying idealized design is the possibility of a new organization emerging that is technologically feasible, operationally viable, and the adaptation the organization changed rapidly. Some changes will be significant while others small and in a relatively short amount of time with an idealized design. Working as a team on the idealized design project and researching Skanska International a world class organization, the main learned experience is that systems of wholeness bring about significant accomplishments for an organization with new ideas, creativity and future change (MacDonald et al., 2006). Applying idealized design to any organization produces the potential for organizational change and longevity.














References
Ackoff R.L., (1981) Creating the Corporate Future. Wiley, New York.
Ackoff, R.L., (1993). Idealized design: Creative corporate visioning. Omega 21(4):401-410.
Ackoff, R. L., Magidson, J., & Addison, H. J. (2006). Idealized design: Creating an organization's future. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dhillon, I., & Gupta, S. (2015). Organizational restructuring and collaborative creativity: The case of Microsoft and Sony. IUP Journal of Business Strategy, 12(1), 53-65.
Fung, V. K., Fung, W. K., & Wind, Y. (. R. (2007). Competing in a flat world: Building enterprises for a borderless world. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
MacDonald, I., Burke, C., & Stewart, K. (2006). Systems Leadership: Creating Positive Organizations. Hampshire, England: Gower.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Random House/Currency.


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