I was speaking with a colleague the other day who works for a large educational organization. We were talking about the benefits of implementing some online educational activities and how to construct them. She was lamenting the challenge of having to work with software programs that were several generations old and did not have some of the new and valuable features. Also, in order to make some of the significant changes she was interested in she had to run the entire program past her corporate managers, who were notorious for blocking innovation.
After speaking with her I was reflecting about this situation and how I sometimes take for granted the advantages of being small. I work as a primary member of two small organizations, OMERI and Education and Training Solutions. In each of these organizations we can make decisions quickly without going through some corporate bureaucracy. In this current and fast-changing business climate that has extreme advantages. If we see opportunities or benefits in changing course right away, we simply do it. We don’t have to wade through all the layers of permissions and explanations to others.
It has always been the goal of many businesses to grow bigger. However, in this current climate of fast-changing times it’s wise to remember the concepts presented decades ago by E. F. Schumacher in his wonderful book, Small Is Beautiful. In addition, it is a much more environmentally responsible way to view our future.
