Exponential Organizations summary

Traditional companies like Coca-Cola and GE are still at the top of their industries. Yet if they don't change, their reign will soon come to an end.

Let's look at the reasons why.

So why would you modify your company to adopt the ideas and structure of an ExO?

First, consider the fundamental advantages of ExO companies. Linear organizations depend heavily on physical assets and large employee bases. ExOs, on the other hand, have fewer employees, making them inherently more flexible and capable of leveraging resources they don't necessarily own.

ExOs are a big part of society's changing landscape. These companies have emerged from several dynamic shifts in the way modern businesses function.

Huge improvements in information storage and processing technologies have accelerated the speed at which companies can do business. Product cycles are shorter, and new forms of competition have arisen. And today, one search engine (Google) dominates its field, while one e-commerce site (Amazon) has revolutionized online retail.

So what does an ExO actually look like? Each company is different, yet each shares some external characteristics.

These five characteristics – staff on demand, community and crowd, algorithms, leveraged assets and engagement – when combined, make the acronym SCALE.

ExOs also share certain internal characteristics, which should support the company’s external ones.

These characteristics can be broken down into IDEAS: interfaces, dashboards, experiments, autonomy and social technologies.

Anyone wanting to change an organization into an ExO must first change themselves.

This starts with the C-level staff, as these individuals will experience the most pressure and be responsible for the results, good or bad.

Small, start-up organizations need to follow certain steps in becoming an ExO.

If you’re at the head of a start-up, you should start by determining your massive transformative purpose (MTP). This is fundamental. Selecting a MTP is a personal journey, not business decision, as profit isn't an MTP.

Traditional organizations are like dinosaurs; they're going to go extinct if they don't adapt.

While it’s possible to change an existing organization into an ExO, it requires a lot more work.