Humans invented organizations to hold us together.  It’s time to reinvent them to be more humane.

Christian Basan is one of Innovate US’s most popular speakers, and it’s easy to understand why. In a great session, he took the long view on how humans have used organizations to structure unified action. 

Watch the InnovateUS workshop: Reimagining Public Institutions: Rethinking Leadership for Organizational Transformation

Organizations are the most human of human inventions. It is through them that we coordinate to accomplish shared goals.

Some of the core insights on the long view that stuck with me:

• Organizations are the most human of human inventions. It is through them that we coordinate to accomplish shared goals.

• The dominant form of most organizations is the hierarchical pyramid with authority at the top and workers at the bottom.  This way of doing things is so pervasive in the organizations around us that we no longer see the structure.  We take the pyramid for granted.

• Organizations have not always worked this way.  Hunter-gatherer societies were skill-oriented, with companionability rather than hierarchy as the central organizational principle.  Christian remarked that hierarchy often emerged in agricultural communities. (I also think of industrialization and other cultural forces as relevant.)  In some communities, hierarchy prevailed during summertime periods of structured agricultural work, then gave way to more companionable forms during wintertime periods of hunter-gathering.

• It’s time for us to restore the kinds of humanity in forming organizations that were once characteristic of collaborative communities.  AI can enable this because it makes communication and coordination much simpler than in the past few centuries.

Christian made the case that returning to the foundations of organizational structure is just what we need to achieve the outcomes we want from government.  Our list of goals reflected things like: 

• Public servants are powerful, trusted, and capable.

• Valuable and relevant impact for citizens.

• Innovation and compliance simultaneously.

• Treating humans and the earth with respect.

• Frontline staff provide meaningful impact.

• Great listening.

• Flexible and open-minded management.

Because AI relieves communication and coordination constraints that have shaped organizations into hierarchical pyramids that block these outcomes, we now face opportunities to reinvent government agencies and services to deliver in ways that were not possible before.

We can make our public organizations as amazing as the people within them.  We can do this with humility, warmth, and compassion by leveraging AI to better understand each other.

Governmental organizations can be redesigned using AI to bridge boundaries, as exemplified by MindLab in Denmark. The principles include the democratization of everything from high-quality coffeepots to decision-making authority. 

For example, by allowing talented people to define roles that reflect their skills and capabilities, we can get more meaningful contributions from humans that can guide AI in implementing well-structured coordinating mechanisms that make organizational delivery more meaningful and less siloed.

Christian gave examples from several agencies, including nursing care, disability services, mental health services, and climate-friendly recirculation of goods. The goal was to use AI to support humans in doing what they do best: defining purpose and conveying compassion.

Christian’s brilliant representation of what is possible inspired me to want to hear more: 

How do we do this in my organization? 

How do we get started? 

What exactly is the role of AI in enabling this kind of compassionate leveling of hierarchy?

I have a ton of questions!  

Yet I can also see in Christian’s approach a route forward that is exactly what we want: a pathway that is more humane, kinder, and evocative of the best in us as compassionate contributors to public service.