The workplace is like a factory: a hyper-efficient, soul-crushing assembly line where creativity is bolted down with automated machinery and lean processes. Workers create value as cogs in an industrious, uniform way. In some warehouses, they maximize productivity by peeing in cups to shorten their bathroom breaks so that the most units can be shipped. Ah, the sweet, beautiful hum of productivity!
Said no modern knowledge worker (or factory worker) ever.
And yet so many leaders use the factory metaphor to explain their organization and how to make it better. This article presents three different metaphors for the modern workplace – gardens, sports teams, and cities – that leaders can use to explain their work, engage their teams, and move us past storytelling that is hung up in the industrial age.
Concepts that inform these metaphors
Holocracy
Holocracy is a decentralized management system where authority and decision-making are distributed throughout self-organizing teams rather than being vested in a management hierarchy.
Sociocracy
Sociocracy is a governance system emphasizing equality and self-organization, where decision-making power is distributed among all members, promoting collaboration, transparency, and collective responsibility in an organization.
Agile organization
Agile methodology emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and iterative progress. Agile organizations prioritize customer needs, adapt quickly to changes, and empower teams with autonomy and continuous learning to achieve goals.
Team topologies
Team topologies is an organizational design concept focusing on defining clear team boundaries, responsibilities, and interactions to enhance collaboration, streamline workflows, and improve overall efficiency and adaptability.
Radical transparency
Radical transparency fosters openness and trust in organizations by making information accessible to all members. Having access to everything enhances collaboration, accountability, and informs decision-making.
Metaphors for Modern Organizations
Garden
The modern workplace is like a garden. Diverse talents grow together, requiring constant attention and care. The garden thrives on its own, but nurture and adaptability are essential for continuous growth.
What it means: gardens are diverse in size, scope, variety, colour, location, purpose, climate, and they are full of potential – they produce food, beauty, community value (pollination!), and everyone can make meaning of a garden (we’ve all seen one and possibly tried to grow something).
How to use it: “Beautiful, high-yield gardens take a lot of planning and hard work. As leaders, we are responsible for the care and attention of our garden – we decide what to plant, remove weeds or reorganize planter boxes (toxic employees, bad process), harvest ready crops, decide when to water, and evaluate what to do when something unexpected, like a pea shoot, pops up amidst the carrots. Should we pull it out? Transplant it? Or leave it there and see what happens?
…also, have a plan for bugs!”
What I like about it: Gardens stay the same and change all the time, so this metaphor celebrates consistency (sunlight, water, care and attention) and change (it’s not good for the garden if it is overcrowded or if carrots are planted in the same place every year); you can even weave automation into this metaphor, too, as my dad recently helped me install a fully automated watering system in my backyard.
What is a bit of a problem: One challenge is that gardens require time and are often barren during the winter months, which does not align with the productivity expectations of modern organizations.
Sports team
The modern workplace is like a sports team. Like players on a field, each person has a specific role. Success comes from coordinating efforts, communicating effectively, and working with a shared purpose to win the game.
What it means: Sports teams are groups of people who collaborate to achieve a shared purpose (usually winning a game) and where value is measured by performance, not tenure.
How to use it: Use it like Adam Grant and analyze how the best teams are made up of star performers and role players – having too many of either worker negatively impacts the team; too many stars erode each other with the “disease of more” (everyone wants more shots, more playing time, more money); too many role players requires the team’s systems and techniques to be nearly perfect to achieve victory.
What I like about it: There is nothing more radically transparent than sports; everyone can see what is happening (millions of people, sometimes), how it is happening, who is performing (or not), and everyone knows who wins. Modern professional sports supplement vibes-based talking points from armchair quarterbacks around the world with sophisticated analytics and wellness practices to evaluate and maintain performance, which translate well to workplace objectives and initiatives.
What is a bit of a problem: Nobody enjoys the ultimate extension of this metaphor, which results in phrases like “you’re the Lionel Messi of spreadsheets, bro” or “Russell Westbrook is smiling because of the hustle and dirty work you did for this event, Nabil!” or “be the Megan Rapinoe of our DEIA resource guide, Taunya!” (for the record, Megan Rapinoe might be the Megan Rapinoe of DEIA resource guides…)
City
The modern workplace is like a bustling city, where diverse roles and tasks interweave like streets and buildings, creating a dynamic yet sometimes chaotic environment of collaboration and rippling tension.
What it means: Cities create a sense of place with architecture, geography, infrastructure, and their relationship to nature – citizens interact with the city and each other to create culture, serve and connect with each other, and keep each other safe and productive. Like workplaces, all cities are unique in their values, design, style, purpose, drawbacks, and benefits. There are specific zones for each activity in cities, just like workplaces.
How to use it: This metaphor pops with organizations that expect and are designed for self-service and entrepreneurism – such organizations are probably high on maturity scores when it comes to people, process, and technology. “Just like you would take a bus to the office, meet a friend for yoga and tacos in the park, and work with neighbours on putting up a shared fence or speed bumps on your street, our company is excited for you to navigate our self-service onboarding program, check-in with your peer-mentor for questions and feedback, and get started on a project that best suits your skills, experience, and interests.”
What I like about it: This metaphor has a choose your own adventure feel to it, which is the vibe of many organizations, and also underscores rules and structure (citizens can’t just walk into people offices or apartments, stay in a hotel without a reservation, cars aren’t allowed on bike lanes or sidewalks, there are nights clubs and streetlights and cafes and art galleries to serve different creative, celebratory, or regulatory needs); and if folks get lost or don’t know where to start there are guides and, ideally, friendly neighbours to get us back on track.
What is a bit of a problem: Cities are usually big, so you can see how this metaphor only works for large (perhaps medium-sized) organizations, which are less than two per cent of Canadian employers.
Ultimately, the metaphor you choose should resonate with your organization’s unique culture, guiding principles, and the behaviours you wish to inspire among your team members.