In the lists at the end of this Chapter, the characteristics or traits of an organisation are divided up as to whether they enhance or inhibit a particular element.
For instance fear is a trait that will enhance a boundary but inhibit both creativity and inclusiveness. On the other hand spontaneity is a trait that enhances creativity (and possibly inclusiveness) but will usually inhibit the formation of a boundary. It will be obvious to most of you that the extreme of one or another is unhealthy.
The optimum situation is to have a balance between all three, the balance determined by the continual ever-changing tension, as described in the Introduction to this Chapter, above.
In practical terms, and as an example of an unhealthy situation, consider an organisation that is totally accessible (so that it will be very inclusive). In this case there is the danger that there will not be a healthy distance between people looking for help and those who are offering help. Therefore a high burn out rate might be a feature in such an organisation – because people are always available.
So while we can say that accessibility enhances inclusiveness we can also say that too much of it is actually harmful to an organisation. Sometimes organisations that start off, and are intended to be, inclusive, get more and more bounded as time goes on so they are not inclusive at all after a few years.
It is an interesting exercise to see why this is so, and it is explored further in Why Agencies Get Less Inclusive as Time Goes On in the post below.
Note that the lists at the end of the Chapter are divided up into enhancers and inhibitors.
Each one is a trait that has an impact on the overall character of, or norms that prevail within an organisation. For example, rigid rules usually make an organisation less inclusive. On the other hand, autonomy will usually encourage creativity in an organisation.
In road-testing the lists I found that people took a while to understand them.
So have a look at them and take a bit of time to get used to them. I will not dwell on the lists here because there is an exercise at the end of the Chapter that will assist in understanding further.
Suffice to say, for the time being, that:
An inclusive enhancer means that an organisation is more likely to be inclusive.
A creativity inhibitor means that an organisation is less likely to be creative.