You know what’s not on an org chart? People. Odd that, isn’t it? I mean, isn’t that the point of an org chart, to show where people fit in the organisation? Actually, no. What is on the org chart is the boxes that the people fit into. The roles, the positions, the grades and the […] Read More…
It’s not surprising that in this in this age of technological revolution, many people reach for metaphors based on the invention of the age, the computer. They talk about ‘rebooting the system’, ‘installing new software’ and ‘re-programming’ things (sometimes, rather chillingly, they mean the people). They are trying to get across complex ideas in a […] Read More…
This is a famous painting by Renee Magritte of a pipe, that carries the legend ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ (This is not a pipe). Well, it’s not, it’s a painting of a pipe. In fact, it’s a painting of a thing we call ‘a pipe’. The thing is what we put tobacco in and […] Read More…
This is not going to be one of those empty exhortations to grasp control of your destiny by getting off your arse and taking massive action. Nor is it going to imply that the you are to blame for the unsatisfactory job in an unsatisfactory organisation that you find yourself in. But if you are […] Read More…
Extinction Rebellion are a scourge for business, aren’t they? Blocking up the capital, disrupting people’s lives, causing business unnecessary delays and costs. What possible good can come from them? Well, for those businesses that know they need to change but aren’t sure how, Extinction Rebellion could just provide the answer. In fact, if they stopped […] Read More…
It’s been apparent for a while now that the structure of many organisations is one of the causes of the disfunctionality and toxicity that seems to characterise the workplace today. These structures are essentially the same as the ones created during the industrial revolution, designed to meet the needs of the machine age. It doesn’t […] Read More…
I’ve come to the conclusion that organisations are really just a collection of teams, and successful organisations a collection of successful teams. It could be the ‘leadership team’ or a product teams, or a software team or an event team. At every level and in every way, the success is delivered by teams. It’s teams […] Read More…
“You must innovate to survive” has become something of a truism in today’s business environment and yet many companies and large organisations are hopeless at innovation. It doesn’t matter how much the leadership team say they are going to innovate or how many team away days, corporate hack-a-thons, suggestion boxes or way-out schemes they try, […] Read More…
We know that business life has got more demanding in recent years, as the pace of change gets ever greater and traditional models are disrupted. Companies need to be more agile, flexible, dynamic, responsive, creative, innovative and resilient to survive and grow. They often look to startups, where they perceive the qualities exist, and try […] Read More…
I am very excited by the idea of self-managing organisations. The evidence is that they are more successful, more profitable, more innovative, more adaptable, more resilient than conventionally-structured ones. They are happier, more creative places for people to work and people have higher levels of engagement, a greater sense of belonging and purpose and higher […] Read More…