Agile Workplace needs leaders, not managers.

• Position: Business Briefs - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Gartner Inc. - Brief Article

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Gartner Inc., the technology research and advisory firm, say that the organization chart -- which has long defined corporate structure and employee position -- is being usurped by forces that make up the "Agile Workplace."

While managers and employees understand the benefits of agility -- such as telecommuting, task forces, internal SWAT teams and. instant-anywhere communications -- a new social order is emerging in the Agile Workplace.

The central behavioral theme of agility at work is communities of self-selecting organizational units based on work, shared knowledge and peer compatibility that transcends the organizational chart. Those communities are pools of talented people with some things in common. Key traits of these communities are:

1. They are self-selecting.

2. Leaders emerge; they are not appointed.

3. Leaders are needed, not managers.

4. They are inclusive. Communities continually attract new people with new ideas.

5. They are efficient. News, knowledge and information travel at lightning speed.

"We are seeing the impact of virtual workplaces colliding with traditional corporate practices,"...