What if we could transform our schools from “assembly-line factories ” into centers of innovation? What if we could teach young people the skills they need to be able to adapt to an unpredictable future? We can and we must. When even science has to rethink itself… Anyone who hasn’t seen Sir Kenneth Robinson’s brilliant animated talk […]
New Thinking Skills: Learn to Connect the Dots
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 how 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 trained […]
Why and How to Build a Purpose-Driven Organization
An increasing number of organizations are talking about purpose. Purpose is the reason for which something exists. But when people talk about purpose they don’t just mean a goal. They mean purposefulness, a deeper meaning, a higher purpose. This is what some call the purpose economy, one that is geared towards good and the social and […]
Constraints? Not a Bad Thing
On a client’s website, they rightfully explain that their technology frees their customers of certain constraints. What exactly do we mean by constraints and are they a totally bad thing? We all want more freedom. A constraint would seem, by definition, to be something that robs us of freedom. But what we need to do […]
Divisiveness: What Companies Can Do About It
Divisiveness is one of the most negative forces we face, whether it be at the level of individuals or nations. It is paradoxical that there is so much divisiveness in the world today when we have unprecedented technological means for connection. Polarization is increasing, creating an ever greater divide between the haves and have nots […]
Why Businesses Can Change the World (for the better)
People struggle to understand big systems, such as nations and alliances. It’s just too big and complicated (what better proof than U.K. citizens voting to leave the European Union.) So they try to break things down into simpler pieces and set up barriers (silos, fiefdoms, departments). Unfortunately, that just doesn’t work in today’s complex reality […]
What Happens in Europe This Week Affects You, Anywhere in the World (Brexit)
Whether you care or not about the UK staying in or exiting the European Union (EU), the result of this week’s referendum will affect you. Why? Firstly, because we live in a highly interdependent and therefore complex world and there will be a ripple effect into the global economy. Secondly, because it touches on a very […]
Digital Transformation and Systemic Change Management
Dr. W. Edwards Deming used to say: “The only thing that does not require maintenance is obsolescence”. 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. We’ve been looking at […]
Operations Lessons from a Martian, or How to Give Clear Instructions
One of the major causes of unsatisfactory results in operations and dissatisfied employees in organizations is that we are unable to give clear instructions. We don’t know how to adequately communicate the knowledge required to carry out the task given. (This is answer number two to the question from our previous posts on Empowerment: “Why can’t people […]
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 […]
