The Organization and Architecture of Innovation

From cover to cover Allen and Henn do an incredible job building on their ideas until they all come together in the end. In the beginning of the book they start to explain the concept of organizations and architecture and why it is so important to look at one with the other. Then he ties in the different types of communication which illustrates how important it is to design a workspace based on the needs an organization has. The book uses a great deal of illustrations that allow the reader to get a clear picture of how different office configurations can play a large role in how communication and innovation is handled within a company. If you are looking for a management book that brings an alternative view to the way that company's can be run, and even how architecture can change the way employees and managers interact, this book is for you. The book gives examples of companies that have changed their office configuration, and increased productivity and innovation at a very high rate. Allen and Henn have written the book so that it uses a great deal of real life examples. This is beneficial because it helps describe how different types of industry's can use architecture to help with innovation. For an example they reference the Skoda Assembly Plant to show how you can redesign the assembly line so that everyone is aware of the quality of the product as it passes through multiple departments. One thing I found incredibly interesting was that "a mere 50 meters between people essentially results in the end of regular communication". For large organizations this can be an incredible problem. Because of this issue the book shows different ways of moving people to central meeting areas to increase communication, and help innovation through the sharing of ideas. I wound recommend this book to any young manager that is looking to make a change, or an existing manager that has the ability to redesign the organizational flow of innovation. The book is a quick read, but the amount of information you can get from it is extraordinary. As a future entrepreneur this book has given me a new look on how to use architecture to increase innovation whether in a large or small organization.