# Notes # The Importance of Space in Organizational Performance Summary::Systems thinking has led us to realize that understanding the structure of an organization is the key to understanding its performance. **Introduction** **Thesis** Systems thinking has led us to realize that understanding the structure of an organization is the key to understanding its performance.  Systemic structure is the interrelationships of the elements of a system.  However, many systems are composed primarily of space; therefore, to understand the system’s structure one must understand what is happening in the space between the elements of the system. Organizations, like other systems, are composed of mostly space.  It follows that to understand the structure of an organization, and therefore it performance, one must understand what happens in the space in an organization. **Body (Argument)** Modern physics has discovered that matter is composed of mostly space.  This is true of everything from the very large to the very small.  The study of cosmology, which deals with the very large, seeks to understand what transpires in the space between heavenly bodies as the understand those bodies themselves.  What is the nature of gravity and gravitational waves, which seem to act and move through empty space?  What are the characteristics of photo and radio waves and particles which travel through space?  These are just some of the subjects which interest cosmologists. Quantum physics, which deals with the very small, theorizes that what we see as solid matter is mostly space.  They seek to understand what happens in this emptiness which holds particles into patterns which we identify as solid.  Recent research has even gained evidence that particles act upon eachother simultaneously over distance which was thought impossible according to Einstein’s special theory of relativity. In the world that most of us perceive there are flocks, herds, and human organizations; all are systems which perform as a unit yet are also composed mostly of space.  Are there clues to the structure of these systems in their space?  And particularly organizations?  To examine this question let’s look at three elements of organizations - people, activities, and assets. When people come together to form an organization they are separate, yet they are able to a greater or lesser degree to act together.  What happens in the space between them which allows this to happen?  First, it is in organizational space that relationships are formed, whether they are empowering or not.  Second, visions shared by individuals reside in the space of organizations.  And, third, collective thought, which occurs in no individual head, occurs in organizational space. There is also space between the activities which are engaged in by the people and resource of the organization.  Is this also important to organizational structure? Typically people believe that the space should be eliminated between activities.  Eliminating space in processes is the essence of process improvement.  However, people frequently forget that it is only non-productive space which needs to be eliminated.  There is a certain amount of space between activities which provides time for recovery, maintenance, or thinking. There are also productive and counter productive elements to space between assets.  If a great deal of time is consumed in moving from one productive asset to another in a process, it can be tremendously counterproductive.  Also when people who work together are too far apart it can hamper their effectiveness.  On the other hand when either people or equipment are located too close together it also can be counter productive.  An appropriate amount of space, however, can make both people and equipment more productive. **Conclusion** What happens in the space in your organization is part of the structure which can help or hinder performance.