Approach
How I work with organizations – and why on three sides.
From Preliminary Course to Masterwork
The Bauhaus knew three phases: First the preliminary course – developing new ways of seeing, establishing foundations. Then the workshop – experimenting, prototyping, discarding. Finally the master studio – working on the actual piece, under real conditions.
My work with organizations follows a similar principle. Not because I want to design organizations like furniture. But because learning in organizations also never moves in just one direction: A new thought changes what you try – and what you try raises questions that were not visible before. Thinking alone changes nothing. Acting alone leads to repetition. The movement between both is the method.
Organizations, however, are more complex than studios. They have three sides that are loosely coupled – and that one must understand in order to work effectively.
Three sides, loosely coupled
Organizations have three sides that are simultaneously active:
- The display side – the facade that shows how the organization wants to be seen
- The formal side – the official rules, responsibilities, and membership conditions
- The informal side – the established practices that develop beyond the official rules
These three sides are loosely coupled: What the organization presents externally need not be congruent with the documented structures – and both can deviate from the established practices in daily operations.
Working on only one side changes nothing. A new mission statement (display side) fails if the formal incentive systems (formal side) work against it and the informal power dynamics (informal side) do not support it.
Effective organizational work must take all three sides into view – and understand how they interact.
Display Side
This concerns the facade of the organization: How does it present itself externally? What appears in mission statements, strategy papers, on the website? Organizations face contradictory expectations from different sides – clients, politics, employees. The display side allows these contradictions to be addressed simultaneously without needing to resolve them internally. It is deliberately crafted and serves a protective function: It gives the organization space to work internally without every conflict becoming visible from outside.
This side is publicly visible – and made precisely for that purpose. As in the Bauhaus preliminary course, this is not about finished solutions but about new perceptions: encountering concepts, making distinctions, thinking differently.
Here I work through:
- Workshops on complexity, decisions, organization, strategy
- Workshop conversations – theoretical impulses that flow into the organization’s thinking
- Public formats – this website, articles, spaces for reflection
Laying the foundation. Without new ways of seeing, no new practice. Offering alternative self-descriptions that open new options for action within the organization.
Formal Side
This concerns the officially binding rules of the organization: org charts, processes, responsibilities, budgets, KPIs – everything that counts as a membership condition. What is written in contracts? Who may decide what? Which rules are documented?
This side is internally accessible and documented. As in the Bauhaus workshop, things are built, tested, discarded here: Not perfect, but capable of learning. Prototypes for new ways of working.
Here I work through:
- Vertical Brigades – teams from the organization and my network that form around concrete problems
- Exploration, Sprint, Analysis – systematic formats for understanding and changing structures
- Prototypes – testing new processes, decision pathways, and ways of working before they are scaled
From thinking to doing. Not just understanding formal structures, but changing them where they block action. Making ideas tangible before large investments are made.
Informal Side
This concerns what is not officially intended but develops with a certain regularity: Who actually has influence? Which communication channels are used beyond the org chart? Which unwritten rules apply? Informal structures fill the gaps of the formal structure – they facilitate decisions, accelerate processes, or compensate for contradictions in the official rules.
No formal decision was ever made about this side – and yet it is predictable and effective. As in the master studio, this is about the actual work: Not practice, but real problems, real stakeholders, real consequences.
Here I work:
- In the field – where the organization actually operates
- With the people involved – those who know what happens beyond the org chart
- Situationally – adapted to the context, without a prefabricated template
Making visible how the organization operates beyond its formal structure. Creating experimental spaces where new informal practices can emerge. This is where change proves itself – not in the seminar room, but where the actual work happens.
Why three sides?
The three sides are loosely coupled. This means:
- What the organization presents externally (display side) ≠ what is officially regulated (formal side) ≠ what develops in daily practice beyond the official rules (informal side)
- Change on one side does not automatically lead to change on the others
- The sides can even be contradictory: An organization can preach agility (display side), have hierarchical approval processes (formal side), and function through informal networks (informal side)
Effective intervention requires:
- Understanding which side is currently relevant
- Seeing how the sides interact
- Starting on the right side – and anticipating the ripple effects
Example: A new mission statement (display side) only becomes effective when the formal incentive systems (formal side) are adjusted and the informal power dynamics (informal side) support it. Working on only one side leads to failure.
The movement between the sides
The three sides are not rigid layers but a learning cycle. The movement runs in both directions:
From the general to the specific
A workshop (display side) leads to new questions → A sprint (formal side) prototypes answers → Implementation in the field (informal side) reveals what actually works
From the specific to the general
An observation in the field (informal side) raises new questions → An analysis (formal side) systematizes the insights → A workshop conversation (display side) reflects on the patterns
The movement is not linear. You always return – new experiences from the informal side lead to new questions on the display side, which trigger new experiments on the formal side.
This is not a flaw. It is the method.
I don’t work for you.
I work with you.
At the center of my work is not external expertise, but the Vertical Brigade: people from the organization who know the problem, supplemented by specialists from my network where the task requires it.
I identify the right people, bring them together, and work with them on the problem – across all three sides:
- Display side: Developing new perspectives together
- Formal side: Building prototypes for new structures
- Informal side: Implementing, testing, learning in the field
The knowledge stays where it belongs – in the organization. No dependency on external consultants. The Vertical Brigade dissolves once the problem is solved. The capability remains.
Three disciplines – across all sides
Regardless of which side I am working on, three disciplines come into play:
Designing paths
Developing scenarios, making options visible, opening decision spaces. I work with future images, not with forecasts. This applies to self-descriptions (display side), structural alternatives (formal side), and new practices (informal side).
Making ideas tangible
Building prototypes, testing, learning. Making ideas tangible before large investments are made. Whether narrative prototype (display side), process prototype (formal side), or behavioral prototype (informal side).
Building capabilities
Changing structures and processes so that new paths can actually be taken. Not on paper, but in practice. Across all three sides simultaneously.
I don’t come with answers. I come with better questions – on the right side. I don’t believe in “the one future.” I believe in the capacity to act under uncertainty – through work on all three sides.
Want to understand which side your organization is blocked on?
Let us find out where the leverage point lies – and which side to start on.
Schedule a conversation (30 min)Or reach out directly by email: falk@vorfeld.studio
Conceptual Foundations
Loose Coupling
The three sides of the organization – display side, formal and informal side – are loosely coupled (Luhmann). What the organization presents externally need not be congruent with the documented structures – and both can deviate from the established practices in daily operations. This loose coupling is not a defect but allows organizations to address contradictory demands simultaneously. Change on one side does not automatically transfer to the others.
Three Sides of the Organization
Organizations have three sides that are simultaneously active (Luhmann; elaborated by Kühl): The display side is the facade – it shows how the organization wants to be seen and protects internal operations from external interference. The formal side encompasses membership conditions – everything that is officially regulated and that one commits to as an organizational member. The informal side encompasses the established but undecided expectations – what regularly develops in daily practice and functionally complements what the formal structure alone cannot achieve.
Decision Premises
Organizations steer themselves through decisions that influence future decisions – so-called decision premises. There are three types: Programs determine the criteria by which decisions must be made. Communication channels determine where and by whom decisions are made. And personnel decisions influence future decisions by the fact that it matters which person occupies a position. These three structural types can be found on all three sides of the organization – and they can contradict each other.
Bauhaus Pedagogy
Johannes Itten: Learning unfolds in three phases – preliminary course (foundations), workshop (experiment), master studio (work). The movement between these phases is itself the learning process.