Making the company "informal" means violating the chain of command, communicating across layers, paying people as if they worked ... for a demanding entrepreneur where nearly everyone knows the boss.
The strength of Jack Welch's personality and charisma sometimes hid the great "informal" way of running the company that was such a huge part of General Electric's (GE) success.
What Welch did so well was open himself up for input so that others felt free to say what they needed to. It worked extraordinarily well for the company. His people felt free to go at it with him and make him state the reasons behind his decisions and where he wanted to go.
Essentially he blew up the chain of command, starting with himself so that communicating across the various layers of the company was a part of GE's 
culture.
We've talked about some of the GE meetings before with Welch. While most people in businesses when they hear the word "meeting" want to run the other way or hope they have something they must do to not have to go to it. with Welch and GE it was the opposite. These things were alive, and Welch was probably at his best in them.
These meetings are where Welch worked his best magic. It's where the pulse of the company was felt and what the majority of people within were thinking was discovered - through those representing them.
I've been places where meetings are meetings and where MEETINGS are MEETINGS. With Welch it was the latter. The word boring or worthless wouldn't be the words that were used to describe them.
It was here that Welch displayed the informality that would become legendary under his reign. It filtered throughout the whole company, which felt more like a small town that gossiped out the company news, than urban sprawl where you didn't know what the person next to you was thinking.
Welch knew how to work the room and bring others along with him in it. To this day the results still remain from his influence. Informal is more underrated than can be imagined.
Other Jack Welch Resources:
How Jack Welch Runs GE
Jack Welch Defends
Jack Welch's advice to MIT Sloan students
Remember to Sign up for my feed, bizzbite and digg this!
Sponsored link: The outsourcing every manager requires - Tampa Locksmith
Comment Preview