We’re honoured to be invited to speak at the Horasis Global Forum this week, held in Cascais near Lisbon, Portugal. Our specific contribution will be a systemic perspective on what can support competitiveness at a national level. Horasis brings together heads of state, global leaders in the commercial and public sectors and innovators. We are proud […]
Management Techniques and Tips? Try Knowledge Instead
The internet abounds with techniques and tips, giving the illusion that in a short amount of time it’s possible to master the answers to our problems. That may be true for, say, getting the most from a laptop. However, if we rely on ‘management techniques’ and ‘management by tips’ for running a business or launching a startup, […]
Ditch Departments to Scale Your Business Sustainably and Systemically
Our complex world is changing fast and the prevailing style of management that creates silos cannot react quickly enough. What is a realistic and operational alternative to scale your business organically? First, why do we have hierarchies? Silos are a natural offspring of traditionally hierarchical companies divided into functions and departments. Why do hierarchies exist […]
Executive Education: Updating for the Age of Complexity
Executives today must be able to understand how things interdepend and evolve in order to navigate complexity. Current Executive Education provided by the business degrees and MBAs on offer are not providing adequate knowledge, methods and tools. We already propose a full operational solution for organizational design for complexity (see ‘The Organization as a […]
Purpose and Brand – Can They Be The Same?
One of the themes that comes up regularly in our work is that of purpose. This is because we generally start a relationship with a new client by analyzing where they are stuck today and how to move forward towards a more sustainable and satisfying future. In order to do this, we help them to […]
Flatter, Faster, Fairer – Operational Changes for a Flatter Organization
If traditional style hierarchies are no longer appropriate for our fast-changing world, then what is a realistic, operational alternative? How can we make organizations flatter and at the same time ensure speed of flow and meaningful work in a fair way? And how to we achieve a flatter organization operationally? Start with the right mindset The […]
Let’s Engineer Systemic Strength NOT Systemic Collapse
A frightening article this week talks about the risks of “systemic collapse”. The gathering storm of human-caused threats to climate, nature and economy pose a danger of systemic collapse comparable to the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new report that calls for urgent and radical reform to protect political and social systems. How did […]
Can Systemic Thinking Save the World?
What would happen if we all embraced a systemic vision of the world, if we all started thinking and acting with a systemic awareness, if we learned a method to connect the dots? What if we taught children and students to see opportunities that otherwise would not be visible, to anticipate and defuse negative implications? What if we […]
The Age of Management Crisis and the Knowledge We Now Need
We are living in an age of “management crisis”. This is because so many leaders are unaware of the appropriate knowledge to manage the complexity of the Digital Age. Fortunately, this knowledge already exists. Knowledge, Theory and Experience Management knowledge can only come from solid theory; this knowledge advances thanks to the continuous feedback that takes […]
Why We Get Stuck on the Path to Change – The Human Constraint
“The only thing that does not require maintenance is obsolescence”, as Dr. W. Edwards Deming used to say. This is a fundamental truth: if we do not evolve, we regress. What makes everything more complicated is the pace at which we must evolve to survive. Technology speeds everything up, including the world of technology. Digital transformation involves transformation of business […]
