Organizing with Purpose Conference Session:

Digital Organization Design

Stu Winby

Keynote Presentation 

Stu Winby is an internationally recognized thought leader in organization design and innovation management, who helps domestic and global corporations create capability for competing in today’s turbulent environment. He has held executive roles in the tech sector, and consulting roles in organization and innovation design firms, all headquartered in Palo Alto in the Silicon Valley. Stu’s current focus is on digital technology and organization design theory and practice, and the shifting role of the organization design practitioner.

 

Purpose and environmental, social, and technological issues represent critical challenges for both the organization design practitioner and executive. Current shifts in organization design are discussed, and specifically the emerging new role of the design practitioner.

Description:

Stu will be sharing:

  • a high-level overview of insights learned from a number of initiatives undertaken over the past five years – in partnership with Bill Passmore (Center for Creative Leadership), Sue Mohrman and Chris Worley (USC Center for Effective Organizations) who did an action research project, STARLab (Socio-Technical Action Research) with 10 large companies
  • publications and an overview of a design shop “Digital Organization Design” given in March 2020 and September 2021 for org design practitioners led by Stu, Bill, and Dean Hovey (co-founder of IDEO)
  • recent initiatives with organization design consultancies in reframing their practices.

This work has led Stu to a new org design methodology with tools and processes specific to digital technology shifts and explores what he sees as future trends in organization design theory and practice.