Balance?
Never!
I call it “ICD.”
Inherent Centralist Drift.
In response to a Post a while back, there were several Comments that said there must be a Centralization-Decentralization “balance.”
Of course!
(Sorta!)
I’ve devoted my life to the Decentralists Credo.
In short, as I see it, many more (especially large, very large) companies die, or at least, shrivel or cease to lead their industries from too much control, not too little. The biggest reason is an automatic, often invisible, but eventually pronounced drift toward centralization. To get too much centralization, just keep your hands in your pockets. To get or keep a semblance of continued decentralization—fight 24/7, as unfairly as you can.
(It must be “unfair” fighting because the Centralists number among their members 100% of the members of staff departments, otherwise known as “Team ‘No.'”)
As to “balance”—bad, very bad, word. In short, I cherish tension, despise balance. Let the “balance” emerge, temporarily, from hand-to-hand combat.
(And make sure the Forces of Decentralization and Revenue Maximization are as well armed as the CFO and the “systems guys.”)