# Notes # **Space: The Final Frontier…** **_Summary_**_::  Space is more important in your organization than you might realize.  It is in the space between people that things really happen.  Explore that space and find out what is happening in it.  You might find the forces that are helping or inhibiting your organization’s effectiveness._ Many people who are not even fans of Star Trek recognize the words of Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.  But, I doubt they have considered space as the final frontier for management.  Maybe they should consider the relevance of the exploration and understanding of space in organizations. Scientists have confirmed that everything, from the very, very small to the very, very large, is composed mostly of space.  In spite of this we live in a world of things that are solid.  Something must be happening in all that space to make things solid.  It is force acting across space that gives us the physical world we live in.  Knowledge of quantum mechanics is not required to comprehend that. Space, however, is not a part of our mental models of the world.  Our basic geometry, for example, is taught in terms of enclosed spaces.  Circles are areas enclosed by a curved line that is always equidistant from a single point.  Squares are areas enclosed by four equal length lines joined at right angles.  This pattern of thinking leads us to see all things as separate objects, not as objects defined by the space around them. But, space is important in the physical world in which we work.  Although many of them do not recognize it, the job of managers is the management of space.  It is the space in office buildings that has value, not the structure itself.  Factory floors are laid out for the best utilization of space.  Phone lines – and now cell phones – are set up to allow communication over large spaces between people, offices, buildings, and cities.  The entire function of the transportation industry is closing the gaps between suppliers and customers; between people’s homes and their destinations. Our ignorance of the relevance of space is not limited to our view of the physical parts of organizations.  We extend our fragmented thinking to our relationships with other people.  We tend to separate people and not see the value of the space between them.  Parents reprimand their children to not talk to strangers.  Teachers instruct school children to not talk to their neighbors.  Adults tend to see themselves as independent beings.  And, major political debates deal with issues of national sovereignty and separatism.  In one way or another we are taught to ignore the value of the space between our fellow humans and ourselves. These views of the world are not bad or wrong.  They are simply incomplete.  We need to see that circles and square define the area outside as well as inside.  Children, adults, and nations do not act alone; they interact across varying expanses of space.  To fully understand these and many other concepts and entities we must more fully comprehend what happens in the space between them. Managers must be more cognizant of the forces acting in the spaces between people.  A collection of competent individuals does not make an effective organization until something happens in the space between them.  If the force acting in that space is strong, the organization is strong.  If that force is weak, the organization is weak.  The job that falls on the shoulders of the manager is, therefore, less one of managing a collection of people than it is one of managing the space between them. Managers wishing to create more effective _Living Organizations_ should take a clue from Captain Kirk and explore what happens in the space in their organizations. This article was published on Suite101.com January 9, 2001.  Copyright © James B. Berger