Someone asked me recently why I use the word “structure” when it seems like the word “agreements” works just as well, and is a little more clearly related to social systems. I didn’t have a good answer at the time, and maybe I still don’t, but after some reflection, I at least have the start of one.
Also, I would love to get some more clarity on this myself, so if anyone has nerdy opinions on it, please let me know.
Firstly, let me say that I’m not tied to any particular terminology at this point. But I want terms that make sense both semantically, but are also plain language, but that still leaves lots of options. The point is, the following reasoning is just descriptive, not prescriptive; i.e. this is what it is now, but very willing to change or update.
Anyways, my basic reasoning for going with “structure” has mostly been intuitive as it always just felt like the right word. It pairs and contrasts nicely with “culture” and distinguishing those two terms and defining (a version of) their relationship has always seemed pretty central to this idea.
Secondly, while I do like using terms like “expectations” or “agreements” or even “rules” to represent the same overall category of structure, I still find that “structure” comes to mind most naturally, and conveys a more experiential or visceral construct somehow. Because part of the point is to understand how agreements can act like physical walls or pathways in how they shape behavior.
Lastly, and maybe most compellingly, I stick with “structure” because I don’t always mean agreements or expectations. Sometimes, I actually do mean physical or material structures. For example, a coaching client asked me a question about Holacracy domains and how they needed to define a domain on a particular information system so that a particular person could not access or mess with it. I asked, “Well, does the system give you the ability to set administrative permissions? If so, then you could just disable their access, right?” I explained how they might not even need the domain then. The same is true about physical or financial structures as well.
So, my rational here is still evolving, but just taking the time to write this was helpful for me. In the end, even though I spend most of the time talking about social structures in the form of “expectations,” or “agreements,” technically-speaking they are not the only “structures” we need to consider if we really want to understand how collaboration works.