In a
USA Today article from October 10th,
The little company that could, Dennis Cauchon writes that, "Hurricane Katrina flattened the power system on the Gulf Coast, leaving all 195,000 Mississippi Power customers in the dark. But in a heroic tale of decisive action, ingenuity and good management, Mississipi Power restored electricity in just 12 days. How the company did it is one of the great modern crisis-management stories."
The article (highlights pasted in below) focuses on three key elements to success, which highlight how participatory decision-making can be woven into the organizational culture to achieve high-quality results. The clear lines of authority, unquestionable trust in employess, and decentralized decision-making seem to characterize all top-performing participatory structures, which end up creating a form of
accountable autonomy: A can-do corporate culture"Southern Co.'s corporate values are written on employees' IDs: Unquestionable Trust, Superior Performance, Total Commitment. These simple rules, called Southern Style, went from platitude to practice during the crisis. For example, "unquestionable trust" made second-guessing a corporate no-no."
Clear lines of responsibility"In contrast to the government's disaster response, Mississippi Power made absolutely clear who had responsibility and authority for each task. Long before the storm, the company had 20 'storm directors' with crystal-clear assignments: transmission lines, logistics, security, etc. Those responsible could not hide in a bureaucracy."
"The man responsible for procuring 140,000 gallons of fuel a day in a time of extreme shortages? That's him, the man in the baseball cap, Rufus Smith, storm director for the supply chain. Smith and other directors had broad power backed by 'unquestionable trust' from their superiors. 'I don't have to ask permission,' says Wilson. 'If I need 2,000 cots and find some, I say, 'Roll the trucks.''"
Decentralized decision-making"Twenty years ago, hurricane response was run from the top down: Top executives looked at the power system holistically and set priorities from headquarters. Today, decision-making has been pushed far down the command structure, to the level of the electrical substation, a distribution point that serves perhaps 5,000 people. Crews report to substations with broad authority and a simple mission: Get the power on."
"Even out-of-state line crews, hired on contract and working unsupervised, were empowered to engineer their own solutions. The results were entrepreneurial. One crew chief stripped a generator off an ice machine to get a substation working. Other crews scavenged parts from fallen poles. Costly purchases were made instantly over the phone."
"The strategy worked even better than top management expected. 'We had greater storm damage than originally thought, but this structure made things happen faster than we expected. People were getting more done,' says Mississippi Power President Anthony Topazi."
"Company procedures were less important than the ability to improvise."
"Mississippi Power's hurricane response manual is 4 inches thick. When Katrina struck, the manual played its traditional role: none. 'I haven't looked at in years,'" admits Robert Powell, storm director for damage assessment and a 35-year company veteran. 'If you don't know what you're supposed to do, the manual is not going to help now.'"
"The most valuable document was a phone directory: the names and numbers of people who could get things done."
