A Structured Approach to Organizational Redesign

Structural tension is the common awareness of an organization's current status versus the organization's stated goals, and the resulting stress this difference creates. Essentially the stress is embedded in the work assignments that effectuate the transition from the current status to the stated organizational goals. Structure tension introduces 2 concepts to effectively move an organization toward its goal. First is the diagrammatic approach (structural tension diagrams) of presenting the difference between current status and goals. These diagrams sandwich work assignments between the goals and current environment. Second is recognizing and addressing structure conflict within an organization as an essential element in attaining goals. Here, Kolins discusses the structural tension diagrams and why structural conflict arises.