Maturing the maverick organization: lessons from W.L. Gore

This article explores how maverick organizations can continue to be innovative while maturing and evolving their designs. The authors use Jay Galbraith’s Star Model to draw insights from the 60-year history of W.L. Gore, highlighting how company leaders have made intentional choices as the company has grown in size and complexity. Gore leadership has evolved the company’s structure by shifting power from business units to the enterprise, leveraging shared assets while maintaining autonomy where products need to be unique. They have adjusted the iconic Product Specialist role, reshaping accountability and processes to reflect increased complexity of product development. Leaders have also evolved Gore’s distinctive performance management process, retaining essential cultural tenets while scaling core people practices. Finally, the article explores how the company successfully assimilates experienced hires into a unique culture. The paper concludes with lessons that leaders can use to make smart choices as their company grows, including having the courage to make changes to practices that no longer serve the strategy and context.