Our recent post, ‘Resource Optimization? Don’t Make the 100% Efficiency Mistake‘ received thousands of views, hundreds of likes and we are grateful for the many insightful comments received. Here, Dr. Giovanni Siepe takes a further look at resource optimization and why it is essential to always have some excess capacity. Infinite resources only exist in Heaven In our […]
Systemic Organization Management for the Age of Complexity
As this post is being written in Italy where we first set up our firm and where we are visiting for projects, it’s not surprising that we often think about how we first started in the mid 1990s in Milan. Back then, we worked with organizations to transfer Deming’s principles about Quality. It quickly became clear […]
Resource Optimization – Don’t Make the 100% Efficiency Mistake
Do you think getting everything in your system/organization to work at 100% is the right way to create maximum efficiency? Dr. Giovanni Siepe explains how we can learn from management science (and other sources) that there is a better way. Not too long ago I was reading about “Sukkot”, a holiday celebrated at the end […]
Radically Rethinking How to Improve Work-Life Balance
Is it possible to find that elusive work-life balance so many seek? We think that’s the wrong question. However, there is something you can do to focus your energies on what you truly need. It works for organizations, and it can work for individuals too. I want it all, and I want it now Our reality […]
Why Acknowledging Fears and Desires is Better than a Mission Statement
While working with a startup group of entrepreneurs, the notion of writing a mission statement came up. While this is a common practice, it can often lead to a bunch of meaningless words. There is a much better way of setting the course of an organization. Setting the direction There is nothing more exciting that working with […]
Leveraging the Path of Least Resistance for Organizations
Which path is the easiest way to get from A to B? The path of least resistance, one that provides the least resistance to forward motion among a set of alternative paths. Look at the way raindrops make their way down a window, for instance. The path of least resistance is a familiar concept from […]
Building and Operating an Organization as a Sustainable System
In this post we look at how we can build a sustainable system, how we can operate as a sustainable system, and the results this will help us achieve. What would happen if everyone came to work and just did their own thing? Even with the best of intentions, this would not be a great way to get results. That’s why […]
Network of Teams – A Cognitive Ordeal?
Last month we published ‘Team of Teams – a Systems View‘ that garnered quite a bit of attention. The subject of teams is a hot one. Articles on the matter abound, like this one from Deloitte, ‘ Organizational Design – The Rise of Teams’ According to Deloitte, “Businesses are reinventing themselves to operate as networks of […]
Freedom from the Trap of Silos through a Network of Projects
Many organizations still have traditional hierarchies and silo their people into functions. But the complexity of today’s reality needs something different. With the exponential growth of interconnections and interdependencies, a traditional organizational design can undermine productivity and sustainable growth. Here we summarize the organizational design we propose, based on two decades of international work, specifically applied to […]
Complexity in Financial and Economic Systems – Adding Clarity
Complexity is all around us, but do we really understand what it means? And how are financial markets and economic systems affected by it? In this post, Dr. Giovanni Siepe takes a systemic perspective. What is a system and what does complexity mean? There are many conversations taking place about complexity and complex systems. In […]
