Work-life balance is defined by some as prioritizing between work (career and ambition) and lifestyle (health, pleasure, family and spiritual development). There is an immediate problem with this definition as it compartmentalizes people’s lives in a, frankly, unrealistic and undesirable way. It suggests that people leave their authentic selves at home, like a coat, when they go […]
How to Shift from Underperforming Silos to a Sustainable System
In this post we look at how to design an organization as a sustainable system, how to operate as a sustainable system, and the results this will help us achieve. Any organization is already a system What would happen if everyone came to work and just did their own thing? Even with the best of intentions, this would […]
Protecting Projects from Chaos: A Tool
Projects can easily get out of hand. They are subject to the chaos that can arise when human interactions are not governed by precise guidelines. Entropy exists and it affects behaviours as well everything else. When we use the Transition Tree Tool to break projects down into actions we are protecting projects from chaos: at […]
We Don’t Need Management Techniques – We Need Knowledge
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, […]
Hierarchy: Transforming into Something that Works Better
Traditional style hierarchies are no longer appropriate for today’s markets. Our world is changing too fast and the prevailing style of management that creates silos cannot react quickly enough. What is a realistic alternative? We receive a wealth of comments and questions about our work on developing a systemic way of working. A recent long […]
Digitalization Needs Cooperation: Start Transforming the Enterprise for the Digital Future
Digitalization will inevitably lead organizations to shift their way of working in radical ways. For example, according to Gartner senior VP Dale Kutnick in a recent article, digitalization will require: business development; the IT department and the product management or engineering team – to work together at an unprecedented level of cooperation”. How can that […]
How to Grow the Whole Organization: Processes, Projects and the CIO are Key
“With digital strategies increasingly taking center stage in many businesses, more CIOs are reporting to the CEO.” So begins an article in this week’s CIO.com newsletter. Let’s say it again: the role of IT and the role of the CIO are central to creating a shift in how organizations operate, compete and thrive in this […]
Time is Money – Quit Busy and Get Productive Now
Being busy is considered by many to be a virtue. People may be giving their businesses 200% of effort. But in reality, being busy as you work through a shopping list of “to do” tasks can be the opposite of virtuous. How? Because it can lead to wasting time on the wrong things, unproductive multi-tasking […]
Empowerment: 5 Questions to Find Out Why People Can’t Do Their Work On Their Own
Empowerment is a great word but can be meaningless unless we give it an operational definition. Operationally, empowerment means that there is alignment between a person’s authority and the responsibility they are given. Continuing from our previous post on Empowerment, what can we do operationally when people don’t seem able to do their work on […]
Educating for the Future: It’s All About Networks and Projects
Work is becoming increasingly project-based; the ability to navigate networks and work within a team towards the completion of simple and complex projects will progressively be what is required of the future workforce. Unfortunately, we are still basing our education system today on models and content that were appropriate 50-100 years ago but that are […]
