Chapter 9 - The Best Kept Secret

Key Takeaways

1. A loosely-coupled, non-hierarchical organization presents challenges. Relevant to the case is co-constructing an organizational identity that is harmful to the organization. In this situation, organizational members over time developed the “best kept secret” organizational identity that ultimately led to severe organizational accountability issues. Thus, without a central organizational “voice” – typical of hierarchal forms – dictating the organizational identity, identifications such as the “best kept secret” are likely to form.
2. Employees at FCO attached to a false identity, “the best kept secret” and “nobody knows us,” and that affected how they kept themselves accountable to their projects. Partners did in fact know who they were, but they hid behind the false identity.
3. The false identity they attached to demonstrates the power of communicated identity—even though people did know who they were, that false identity had been created and reinforced communicatively throughout the organization.
4. To counteract false organizational identities, leaders of organizations similar to FCO should develop clear and accessible artifacts that communicate the true identity of the organization. For example, in the case of FCO, Patrick could have presented several narratives of the organization’s presence both domestically and globally.
5. Teachable moments are another tool leaders can implement to counteract false organizational identities from developing. In the case of FCO, Patrick already knew that the “best kept secret” identity was pervasive. Therefore, he could have used instances where he heard mention or insinuation of this identity to communicatively reinforce the real FCO organizational identity, in situ.