What is an Org Chart supposed to tell you?

I have seen all types of Organization Charts in my life. Not to say the most boring thing to look at. Although, there are some exceptions.

One of the most exciting organization diagrams I've encountered is the one of Walt Disney, showing the varied synergistic relationships between the divisions of Walt Disney Productions in 1967. Needless to say, a synergy chart for today’s Walt Disney Company would require a much bigger piece because it's more like a flowchart than anything else.

And that is what an organization chart (or diagram?) should look like: the reflection of the functions in relation to each other. So when reviewing organization charts, you better understand the "logic", look for the gaps and overlaps, and most important, can we deduct from the charts, what the organization is supposed to achieve?

Below another Organization Chart from Walt Disney. It was developed in 1943, five years after it was founded. The chart visualizes how a story from Walt (Disney) get's developed into animation, music and further in the creation of an animation movie, get's cut and produced. On the other end of the chart, you can see the customer, which is part of the organization chart (!!) watching the final product: a new animation movie.

Today's organization charts, seem not to tell you a story, but give you a blunt and dull view of who reports to who. It is not supposed to tell you anything, except who is the boss, and who manages who. In that sense it would be useful to redefine what is Organization Development and Design as a specialism (see also my previous blog on what is organization design) in order to showcase the value add of organization charts and what they are supposed to tell us.