Building a spiky org

Jean-Denis Greze, an engineering leader at Plaid, discusses the concept of building a "spiky org" as opposed to a balanced one. A spiky organization focuses on being best at a few key skills and capabilities, rather than trying to be proficient in everything. This approach helps teams make decisions more easily and build their organization more effortlessly. Plaid's spikes include recruiting well, professional growth, impact-driven decision making, and operating bottom-up. To maintain these spikes, leaders should identify the problems/opportunities they need to solve, understand the organizational spikes necessary for success, and recognize the blind spots that come with those spikes. Additionally, mitigating weaknesses within an org can be achieved through isolation, outlets, and shocks.