What If Our Organizations Worked More Like an Octopus?
Rethinking the Pyramid
Let me start with a simple question.
Why are most organizations still built like pyramids?
You know the structure: decisions happen at the top, direction flows downward, and the rest of the organization executes. It’s familiar. It’s orderly. And for a long time, it worked reasonably well.
But in a world that moves faster every year, it’s worth asking:
Does that structure still serve us?
A Lesson From the Ocean
Here’s an idea that might seem a little unusual at first.
What if our organizations worked more like an octopus?
I heard this thought at a Breakfast Speaker event – where the speaker Jonathon Brill a “Business Futurist” was talking about AI and the future.
As I listened to the speaker about the Octopus idea, it resonated with me and I realized it became less about AI and more about a mindset shift in Leadership.
My question to you is – how do we move our organizations into being like an Octopus?
Stay with me…
The Octopus is a fascinating creature—not my favorite sea creature that would be a Dolphin – but the octopus is intelligent. Consider how their intelligence works.
Almost all of an octopus’s neurons are located in its arms. Each tentacle can sense, explore, and react to its environment on its own.
So if one arm finds food, it doesn’t wait for instructions from the brain.
If another senses danger, it moves instantly.
The brain still plays a role. It coordinates, integrates, and provides direction. But it doesn’t control every tiny movement.
Who Really Sees the Problem or Opportunity First?
Now take a moment think about your own organization.
Who sees customer frustrations first?
Who notices when something in the process isn’t working?
Who often has the clearest sense of what needs to change?
Most of the time, it’s the people closest to the work.
Yet in many of our organizations, those same people can’t act on what they see. Information has to travel upward through layers of management before decisions are made. Then those decisions slowly make their way back down again.
Have you ever wondered:
- How many opportunities are lost in that delay?
- How many small problems grow into bigger ones simply because someone had to wait for permission?
Maybe it’s time to rethink where decisions actually belong.
Turning Leadership Inside Out
What if leadership wasn’t about holding decision-making at the center, but about pushing it outward—toward the edges of the organization where the best information often lives?
That doesn’t mean leaders become less important. In many ways, their role becomes even more critical.
Instead of making every call, leaders focus on something bigger: creating the environment where people throughout the organization can make good decisions.
That means:
- Providing clarity about purpose
- Making information accessible
- Building real trust across the organization
When those things exist, something powerful happens. Teams don’t wait. They respond. Problems get solved earlier. Ideas surface from unexpected places.
The organization becomes more responsive, more adaptive—more alive.
Key Takeaways
1. The best information usually lives at the edges of the organization.
The people closest to the work often see problems and opportunities first.
2. Leadership isn’t about controlling every decision.
It’s about creating the conditions where good decisions can happen everywhere.
3. Trust, clarity, and shared information unlock faster action.
When people understand the mission and feel trusted to act, the entire organization moves more intelligently.
A Question Worth Asking
So I am thinking the real question isn’t:
“How do leaders stay in control?”
Actually the question is:
How do we build organizations where intelligent action can happen everywhere?
Because in a complex world, the strongest organizations might not look like pyramids at all.
They might look a lot more like octopuses. And it starts with trust. Do you trust your team? Do you trust yourself?
Catalyst Group ECR is a resource for you – if you would like set a time to talk with Lori Moen to learn more connect here!
