Years ago I read and loved Henry Mintzberg’s article Companies as Communities. It was warm and humanistic, the utopia for an organization. The problem was/is that it’s not happening. One of the biggest reasons isn’t because companies don’t care about people, it’s that companies care more about profitability and growth, and today, mere survival. People are […]
Do you want a company like a community? Design it like a city Read More »
Building business agility through sustained connection, collaboration, and continuous learning. “Real knowledge doesn’t exist within us but rather it’s between us, in our conversations.” Buy Now Who “We” Are As humans, we are naturally social creatures. Our capacity for connection, communication, and teamwork is unmatched. However, when employees in an organization struggle to connect, it
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and later “Zuck” are legendary founders and leaders. And it’s true, the founder can be an intangible value if they are good at it, which these folks were. Their cult of success soon led to numerous consultants and authors trying (successfully) to convince us that the next Gates and Jobs
The Leadership Lie to Leave Behind in 2021 Read More »
Over 20 years ago Jim Collins penned the idea of Catalytic Mechanisms to transform organizations. He defined them as “devices that translate lofty aspirations into concrete realities.” Lofty aspirations today hover around buzz words like “innovation”, “responsiveness”, “collaboration”, “customer intimacy”, “employee engagement“, and today’s term de jour “digital transformation”. Collins said then, and it seems
Organizational Social is a “Catalytic Mechanism” Read More »
No question businesses and organizations are hurting from the COVID crisis and the economic fallout. Some far worse than others. But hurting should be expected and rightfully blamed on the current situation but hurting is temporary like all pain. Failing altogether is not. The blame for failure falls squarely on an inability to innovate, to
Failure Today is from a Failure to Innovate Read More »
Culture change won’t happen without system change. Organizational norms of behavior are all grounded in the systems an organization has subscribed to – systems of decision-making, management, development, recognition, etc. When hiring, the hire is for system fit, followed by training to ensure the system is supported and then maintained by a rewards system for
Culture Change? Address the system or change nothing Read More »
Today, to save lives, we’re being asked to practice physical distancing to the extreme. Shelter in place and self-quarantine are not normal activities and are challenging our personal needs, beliefs and behaviors by placing us in very uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations. And it’s this same uncomfortableness and unfamiliarity in organizational beliefs and practices that just
Like the Curve, Companies need to Flatten their Hierarchies Read More »
For over a decade we’ve watched as Social connection and collaboration in organizations has sputtered along. The goal of greater innovation and resiliency was first thought to come through social technology. Yet as the marketplace got flooded with all too similar platforms sold with great promises, the result has been less than stellar with a
Why We Need Social By Design Read More »
What your smaller business has right now is exactly what large organizations aspire to return to – passionate, continuously learning employees at the heart of your culture. This is your advantage today, an advantage that can scale as you grow. I help you identify and remove barriers to connection and collaboration in the work people do
I often speak of org design and the intra systems that influence company behaviors. Things like company policy, procedures, recognition and rewards. But there are also greater inter or macrosystems at play which speak to a larger Culture of Work as opposed to the culture IN a workplace. For example take the adage of one
Changing the Narrative Around Work Read More »
