JP nails it here. 

If you want to kill a bureaucracy you must kill the diary and schedule first.

Source: On fixed and variable costs and infinite loops | confused of calcutta

Having left the big organisation/ beaurocracy recently, one of the things I notice is that I can accomplish much more work, in much less time.  These principles from JP’s post resonate with me.

How many times in the Bank did I see a situation that should be resolved or planned now, be delayed for 2, 3 or more weeks to accommodate schedules.  The whole thing snowballs and despite what you might think about Bank CEO’s being in charge, the reality is that Microsoft Outlook calendar is in charge.

In my new life, its all about, my schedule, and my need to get things done, based on pre-defined goals, and complete delegation to me, and from me.  Where things go off track a quick meeting sorts it out, and we are back on track.  Overall, the time-saving and increase in effectiveness is exponential.

Relevance to Bankwatch:

At this point I am way out of my depth in terms of org design, but this suggests to me, centralisation of goals, and objectives, but less centralisation of organisaiton.  Smaller de-centralised units operating within clearly defined objectives might be a way to get closer to the owner-managed company effectiveness.