The Three Ways of Getting Things Done
May 2007
The Three Ways of Getting Things Done
Interview with Gerard Fairtlough
The Three Ways of Getting Things Done
In this second interview of a two-part series, Fintan Walton talks to Gerard Fairtlough, founder & former CEO of Celltech, about his views regarding the alternatives to hierarchy within innovative companies.
Gerard explains that most people consider that hierarchy is required to make large organisations work effectively and that when things are not going as planned, it is usually the top of the hierarchy that is changed, be that the CEO of a pharmaceutical company or the manager of a football club. However, what Gerard proposes is that the best environment to manage an entrepreneurial organisation requires one of the “Three Ways of Getting Things Done” – (1) hierarchy, (2) heterarchy or (3) responsible autonomy. Gerard argues that the pharmaceutical industry needs to copy the biotech ethos, and use independent units, with little bureaucratic control, to achieve defined tasks. In order for companies to take full advantage of industry globalisation, organisations of all sizes should look towards heterarchy.
About Gerard Fairtlough
Gerard Fairtlough founded Celltech in 1980, and was its CEO until 1990. Before that Gerard worked in the Royal Dutch/Shell group for 25 years, the last 5 years of these as CEO of Shell Chemicals UK. Since Celltech, he has been involved in the start-up of several high-technology businesses in the UK. Gerard has been an advisor to various government and academic institutions, including Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology, a member of the Science and Engineering Council, and Chair of the Advisory Panel, Science Policy Research Unit, Sussex University. Gerard Fairtlough trained as a biochemist, and graduated from Cambridge University in 1953.
Gerard is the author of "The Three Ways of Getting Things Done: Hierarchy, Heterarchy and Responsible Autonomy in Organizations", published by Triarchy Press.
