Abstract
There are two good reasons why utilities have traditionally been called monopolies: first, because they have literally
had the “monopoly” on serving their community, and second, because most have operated in a monopolistic or
bureaucratic manner—non-responsive and somewhat inefficient. Deregulation is bringing an end to literal
monopolies. Monopolistic behaviors are also changing, though much more slowly. The change from monopolistic
thinking to business-driven begins with several major shifts in thinking. Some of these shifts include moving from
specialists to flexible, cross-trained workers, from technology for “show” to technology as strategy, and moving from
command and control to organization as strategy. In order to achieve the shifts in thinking, cultural change is
required. Becoming business driven requires people to think differently and to shed behaviors that are associated
with monopolistic thinking. Because this is a major culture change, the process of getting competitive or optimizing
an organization is a process of aligning people; first, to understand the need for change, and then to agree on how it
can best be done.
