I 100% agree that there should be a good balance of comfort & structure in an organization. I’ve worked in departments on both ends of that spectrum.

In a structured department, team members are so uptight and overly professional that open discussion in general wasn’t encouraged. This can be detrimental because it is crucial in my opinion to have an atmosphere where people can ask for help or discuss work plans/strategies – basically general collaboration is highly beneficial. The department was so structured that people felt uncomfortable about getting to know their co-workers. I feel it is so much easier to achieve collaboration when people generally feel comfortable talking to each other.

On the other hand, when you have a department that is so relaxed that work simply doesn’t progress at all, that is obviously not great either. Either that department has nothing going on or simply doesn’t deliver on its projects.

So essentially, an organization in between these two extremes will produce a great culture where people are motivated to learn and collaborate but still have that sense of urgency and productivity to advance projects.