The role of an organisational producer

We have very clear roles and definitions of what everybody does in an organisation.

There's the CEO, the CMO, COO and the rest of the C-Suite. Senior management, middle management, specialists and general employees. These roles haven't changed much since my own father worked as a stock broker back in the 1970s.

Often external specialists will be called in to contribute their expertise and knowhow to a project. Agencies are hired to create ad campaigns and consultants are tasked to solve complex problems with their superior brain power and tools.

The business is very much viewed as a machine and the technicians tasked to work on the machine tinker away at it and move on.

But businesses are not machines, they're organic communities or ecosystems populated by people who need more than hard solutions to deliver their potential.

Which is where the need for an organisational producer comes in.

An organisational producer is somebody who helps a company nurture and deliver their vision of the future. Sometimes the role entails pushing the organisation towards greater effort towards a stretch goal, other times it's about suggesting changes or tweaks to their approach, which will better facilitate the journey towards their vision. It's not a coach, it's more of a guide...an enabler.

There is no set way to bring out the best in an organisation, it requires experience, mastery, empathy and an ability to take subtle control.

As far as we know this is not a recognised role, but as organisations become more complex and agile - it's a role that will most certainly become more sought after.