My mindmap

Question 1

Machine metaphor

Answer 1

Novo Nordisk is becoming overly bureaucratic, with heavy processes and compliance slowing down decision-making and responsiveness

Question 2

The organism metaphor:

Answer 2

The organisation is no longer aligned with its fast-changing external environment, creating a clear mismatch between structure and market demands.

Question 3

The culture metaphor

Answer 3

What used to be a strong culture is now slowing Novo down, because carefulness and consensus make fast change difficult.

Question 4

The brain metaphor

Answer 4

Novo wants to be a learning organisation, but growing bureaucracy and complexity make it harder for people to share knowledge and make quick decisions.

Question 5

The politics metaphor

Answer 5

Internal politics have intensified as layoffs, power shifts, and cultural change create competing interests and resistance among different groups.

Question 6

Innovation

Answer 6

The company has focused too much on optimisation and stability, and now needs to shift toward experimentation, innovation, and faster problem-solving.

Question 7

Greiner’s growth model

Answer 7

Novo is facing a typical growth crisis: the same bureaucracy that once enabled expansion is now limiting further growth.

Question 8

The psychic prison metaphor

Answer 8

Novo is trapped by its own history and identity past success and deeply ingrained habits make it difficult to embrace a faster and more competitive way of working.

Question 9

The flux and transformation metaphor

Answer 9

The company is being pulled in different directions as rapid market shifts and internal changes interact in unpredictable, nonlinear ways.

Question 10

Instruments of domination metaphor

Answer 10

Cultural norms act as a subtle form of control, where employees feel pressure to “behave correctly,” avoid conflict, and live up to internal expectations.

Question 11

Networks

Answer 11

To move faster, Novo increasingly relies on informal networks and cross-functional collaboration that can bypass slow hierarchical structures.

Question 12

Sensemaking

Answer 12

Employees are struggling to make sense of the sudden strategic shift, leading to confusion, mixed messages, and defensive behaviour.

Question 13

Contigency/Design

Answer 13

The current organisational design cannot handle the complexity of the GLP-1 market, indicating a need for more flexible structures and decentralised decision authority.