When the husband-and-wife team of Bill and Vieve Gore founded W. L. Gore & Associates, their aim was not just to make and sell products from high-tech materials. Rather, they believed they could create a thriving, creative organization by giving smart people a chance to fully use their talents and ideas. They believed creativity could be stifled by rigid structure and hierarchy, so they built their company without managers, assigning teams of employees to work on opportunities.
Thus, at W. L. Gore, work flow is often about ideas as well as products. To produce good ideas, the company needs scientists and engineers with a profound understanding of their field of expertise, be it chemistry or the fabrication of a new prototype. At the same time, the company's long-term success requires that it back only ideas that will meet real market needs, so expertise must extend to business knowledge coupled with a willingness to terminate projects that have little chance of success. This pairing of skill sets is especially powerful when an innovation isn't working out because Gore employees are gifted at analyzing the idea to see what aspects can be carried over into new projects, so the
company builds on ideas. Also related to business skills, Gore employees must be good at communicating with customers, who can help the company identify needs and assess the value of ideas. This combination of skills is broad because jobs at Gore are broadly defined; in contrast, at many other companies, scientists and engineers communicate mainly with other technical experts, leaving customer communication and market knowledge to the sales force.
The basic principle for organizing work at Gore is the team, established to meet a particular opportunity. Thus, each team includes a variety of functions and areas of expertise. As a result, team members see how different viewpoints are necessary to meet the team's objectives. Teams appoint a leader, so leadership is accountable to the team, rather than to corporate hierarchy.
Team members are expected to balance autonomy in how they work with responsibility for meeting team goals. They also must balance time spent on existing, known business requirements with time spent on ideas for creating value in new ways. To help employees maintain the balance, Gore assigns a "sponsor" to each individual, even the chief executive.
The sponsor is someone who has made a commitment to the sponsored employee's success and provides the employee with learning opportunities, such as meeting a customer, building relationships with others in the company, or getting involved in a particular project. Sponsors also advocate for their employees' ideas and help them obtain resources to develop those ideas.
The Gore emphasis on teams provides fertile ground for creative thinking. For example, one of the company's biochemical engineers routinely collaborates with an excellent prototyper to develop innovations. The practice of building, reviewing, and discussing prototypes engages more people in thinking about an idea, so it can be improved and made practical in its early stages. Collaboration across teams and functions is encouraged, too. One employee says he can find an answer to any question from someone in the company in three phone calls or less. Facilities are kept relatively small and incorporate all the functions for a
particular line of business, making it easier for employees to know who they work with across various functions. Of course, the company also needs to provide enough lab space and other physical resources. Employees feel reinforced by Gore's culture of trusting them to develop new ideas and tackle big challenges. They report feeling able to create something unique and valuable.
For HR staffers, working for W. L. Gore entails knowing the business unit they support and protecting the organizational culture so carefully laid out by Bill and Vieve Gore. As you might expect, the emphasis is less on forms and structure. When new employees are hired, HR provides them with an orientation and three-day workshop that teaches how work is
done at the company. Employees are paired up with their sponsor at the beginning as well. The transition to Gore's culture is tricky for some people who are used to the traditional hierarchy they've experienced at other companies. Some need guidance on how to be influential when they can't rely on their position in a hierarchy.
1) According to the information given, what basic inputs, work activities (processes), and outputs can you identify for work at W. L. Gore?
2) What are some strengths of designing work around teams, as Gore has done? What are some challenges for managing this structure?
3) If you worked in HR for W. L. Gore, what are some knowledge, skills, ability, or other characteristics (KSAOs) you would include in the company's job descriptions?