Usability Views Article Details  home | timeline | recent | popular | e-reports | userati | books | about  The Fabric of Creativity (27 Nov 2004) So Bill Gore threw out the rules. He created a place with hardly any hierarchy and few ranks and titles. He insisted on direct, one-on-one communication; anyone in the company could speak to anyone else. In essence, he organized the company as though it were a bunch of small task forces. To promote this idea, he limited the size of teams -- keeping even the manufacturing facilities to 150 to 200 people at most. That's small enough so that people can get to know one another and what everyone is working on, and who has the skills and knowledge they might tap to get something accomplished -- whether it's creating an innovative product or handling the everyday challenges of running a business. Gore doesn't have an impressive campus that proclaims the company's success. It consists of several dozen bland, low-rise buildings scattered near the Delaware-Maryland border. They're separated far enough from one another so that each can house a small, autonomous team. Often, the buildings are set back from country roads. You can drive by and think you're passing farmland rather than corporate sites. Article URL: http://www.fastcompany.com/subscr/89/open_gore.html Read 36 more articles from Fast Company sorted by date, popularity, or title. Next Article: An HCI Thanksgiving     This site is a labour of love built by Chris McEvoy