This post was originally an essay completed as part of my pursuit of Master’s in Foresight at the University Houston for the Advanced Strategies for Futures Planning course. The assignment prompt: imagine Mintzberg has commissioned you write up a new strategy school - What would you call it? What does it entail? How would you describe it? Draw upon pieces of the existing schools and maybe put them together in a different way.
The Mycelial School of Strategy
When considering the impact of globalization & technological advancement over the last 30 years - one often overlooked aspect is the scale & size to which many organizations have grown. Some of the largest corporations in the United States (e.g. Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon, Starbucks) have headcount that can range in the hundreds of thousands to millions. The comparison is often made, but if these corporations were nations, they would easily outrank many nations based on headcount alone, to say nothing of their gross domestic product. With organizations this large and vast the traditional models of strategic planning & management, as delineated in Mintzberg's Strategy Safari, are in an era of constant futureshock-esque change where they may no longer be directly applicable. Mintzeberg et al suggested as much in the final chapter of Strategy Safari where, after painstakingly explaining each school individually, they acknowledge the evolved business landscape by illustrating the interplay & oscillation between the different schools. While Mintzberg's schools remain foundational, the demands of the networked, agile, and matrixed environments of global mega corporations today require not only new methods of building strategy, but new metaphors as well. One such metaphor as a fitting model for crafting strategy in the modern business era is mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi. Beyond being popularized in culture through it’s presence as a block in Minecraft and as the technology powering the starship Discovery in Star Trek: Discovery, the decentralization, interconnectedness, and adaptability provide an apt metaphor for a new school of strategy - The Mycelial school of strategy.
Before diving too deep into the principles of the Mycelial School of Strategy, it is essential to grasp an understanding of just what the hell mycelium is and why the hell it works as a metaphor. Mycelium is the vegetative part of fungi and consists of a vast network of fine threads called hyphae to form a complex and adaptive system that powers the growth of fungi. The mycelial network facilitates communication, resource-sharing, and adaptation to the surrounding environment. The mycelial structure, with its organic growth, decentralized decision-making, and resilience, serves as an apt analogy for the interconnected and ever-evolving nature of modern business ecosystems.
Derived from the principles inherent to mycelium, the Mycelial School of Strategy redefines strategic planning & management for today’s corporations. At its core, this school promotes organic growth as a cornerstone of strategy, urging organizations employing this school to embrace adaptability and evolution rather than adhering to rigid, preconceived plans. Building on this (and enabled by modern communications & management technologies), foundational to the Mycelial School is the need for networked collaboration, drawing inspiration from mycelium's ability to form connections for resource-sharing and communication, transcending the traditional silos and hierarchies familiar to many corporations of scale. The same foundation and technologies also enables decentralized decision-making to be a fundamental tenet, again challenging the traditional top-down approaches and instead advocating for empowerment of individuals and teams throughout the organization, fostering a culture where innovative ideas can sprout from various levels. Furthermore, and perhaps straining the analogy a bit, the Mycelial school prioritizes resource recycling, sustainability, and a holistic ecosystem perspective, aligning strategic initiatives with environmental and social responsibility. This commitment reflects a recognition of the interconnectedness between corporate success and the well-being of the broader world. In the pursuit of resilience and adaptability, the Mycelial School encourages organizations to cultivate a continuous learning & information sharing culture across all levels of operation. Strategies, rather than being static blueprints, are envisioned as dynamic and emergent, shaped by ongoing interactions with the business environment. In essence, the Mycelial School positions itself as a contemporary alternative to traditional strategic frameworks that resonates with the ethos of interconnectedness, sustainability, and adaptability necessary to survive and thrive in the world today.
Although elements of the Mycelial School might sound familiar to some elements of the traditional schools, when juxtaposing its principles with those of Mintzberg's strategy schools its novelty surfaces. The Design and Planning Schools, with deliberate, top-down approaches, contrast sharply with the Mycelial School's organic growth and decentralized decision-making. While the Design and Planning Schools adhere to structured, predictive planning, the Mycelial School embraces adaptive planning, allowing strategies to evolve organically in response to real-time feedback from across an organization. The Positioning School's emphasis on competitive advantage stands in stark contrast to the Mycelial School's broader focus on adaptability to an ecosystem. Where the Positioning School prioritizes a strategic advantage over competitors, the Mycelial School advocates for a collaborative approach, recognizing the interdependence of organizations within a broader network. Where the Entrepreneurial School relies on visionary leadership, the Mycelial School recognizes a distributed leadership model can afford more agile and contextually appropriate decision making. In comparing the Mycelial School with the Cognitive School, where strategy formation is seen as a mental process, the former underscores the importance of collective intelligence in shaping strategy, aligning with the interconnected nature of modern organizations. As for the Learning School, both it and the Mycelial School acknowledge the significance of continuous learning; however, the Mycelial School's approach leans towards a decentralized and emergent learning process, allowing for the evolution of strategies based on collective insights of individuals (the hyphae, if you will). The Power School, focusing on the role of power and politics in shaping strategy, contrasts with the Mycelial School's emphasis on collaborative and networked power structures. Although individual elements might resemble existing schools, the Mycelial School stands as a progressive alternative, weaving together principles from various Mintzberg schools into a framework that mirrors the agility and interconnectedness required by globalized mega corporations in today's business landscape.
In the ever-evolving landscape of global business, the relevance of Mintzberg's traditional strategy schools diminishes in the face of the complexities faced by corporations today. The Mycelial School of Strategy, inspired by the resilient and adaptive nature of mycelium, emerges as a more contemporary and apt metaphor for crafting strategies in the modern business era. The Mycelial School's emphasis on organic growth, decentralized decision-making, sustainability, and adaptability aligns seamlessly with the demands of networked, agile, matrixed, buzzword, and acronym-filled corporations. As corporations navigate the intricacies of today’s increasingly dynamic & chaotic business ecosystem, the Mycelial School offers a metaphorical & mycological guiding light. Its principles, drawn from the evolutionary adaptations of intricate network of mycelium, provide a blueprint for organizations seeking to thrive amidst uncertainty. By embracing the Mycelial School, organizations can cultivate a culture of resilience, collaboration, and continuous learning—a culture essential for navigating the complex and interconnected networks that define the contemporary global business environment.
