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August 30 A passion for organisation....If you are like me, and have a passion for organisation, then this is an exciting time. The future of organisation is being developed now. What the C21st organisation will turn out to be is not clear. I suspect it will end up being more a collaborative network than the type of organisation we are use to dealing with today but I do not know what will evolve. The C21st challenge comes from digital technologies and the resultant new economy. So I have been thinking about the core elements that could really change today's organisations. I came up with four things we can all do. 1) Be frugal. Remove waste. Focus on cost reductions. 2) Be simple. Find simple new ways to do what you do. Focus on cost avoidance measures. 3) Be reliable. Eliminate rework and improve productivity. Focus on detail. 4) Become durable. Improve on your successes. Focus on your strengths. August 24 Frugal organisations....The digital revolution offers much to organisation design, performance, and reach. Unfortunately the revolution I speak of is not the one most people are experiencing in their lives. Most consumers are buying into their impression of the digital revolution with low-cost high performance TV's, radios, hand-held devices (music players, phones, mini-computers, etc) but that is not where the real action is for me. The real action is taking place at the macro not the micro level of our economy. The real action is yet to really impact on us as individuals but it will over the next five years. The real action is about to kick into effect in our workplaces or more precisely the organisations that recruit us for paid work. The changes that are coming to your workplace, company, government enterprise, or not-for-profit organisation are subtle but powerful. The digital revolution is about to descend on you and your colleagues and it will change your life and perhaps the way you garner a livelihood. There is a key driver of the digital revolution at the organisational level. In digital organisations the emphasis is on being frugal. Being frugal with the use of energy, time, capital, labour, and technology is the digital mantra. Being frugal in our emerging digital world means finding new and less complicated ways to deliver high performance outcomes across a networked organisation. August 11 The wisdom of crowds....I am reading 'The wisdom of crowds' - why the many are smarter than the few, by James Surowiecki. Malcolm Gadwell author of 'The tipping point', Outliers, etc says of this book "Dazzling.... the most brilliant book on business, society, and everyday life that I've read in years. Is there really wisdom in the crowd? My sixteen year old son has been debating this point with me since I began telling him about the contents of this book. He claims I am captivated by it because it supports what I say about Tribes, Clans, and Clusters on the web. He is probably right. But he, like me before I began reading this book, thinks of the mob - the dumb mob - not the crowd. In the mob there is very little or no wisdom. The mob is a construct of conformity and herd behaviours. So I have to agree that the mob is not the font of much wisdom. So where do you find the wisdom of the crowd? Well as I say I am still reading this book so I still have a way to go before I glean a sensible answer to that question. But I can tell you something about where and why the wisdom of the crowd goes missing within online communities. Online communities surely do contain the wisdom of the crowd. But is it accessible? In most cases it is not..... Well it is not anymore accessible than in society in general. It is less accessible within those communities that demand conformity, share clearly defined ideologies, are shaped by conventions, etc. Therein the wisdom of the crowds is being squashed, it is being overlooked, it is being ignored, and it is being foregone. Interestingly, most online communities do not contain the transparency, equity, or accountability that is needed for the wisdom of the crowds to flourish. Online communities will only see the "wisdom of the crowds" flourish if there is diversity, discussion, debate, cooperation, and collaboration. Then the wisdom of the online community kicks in and provides a collective wisdom that is so much deeper, richer, and meaningful than that which the smartest in that community can bring to the gathering. Inside any online community it is the ability, capacity, wilingness, and eagerness of everyone to join into a collective sharing of the pieces of the puzzle that will ultimately reveal the big picture wisdom. If all this is true, then my simple insight into online communities is that they are better able to access the inherent wisdom of the crowd if they are not directed, managed, structured, or formalised to any great degree. Of course there are other reasons for doing all of those things but if you are seeking the "wisdom of the crowd" and thus all the invention, innovation, and remarkable insights into our world that this can bring then you will let your online community run free. You will encourage debate, be accepting of diversity, and enjoy a healthy level of deviant behaviours. August 07 Big red boat organisation - open systems....This is a repeat of one of my big red boat series of posts. THE BIG RED BOAT of course was Liberty. Liberty lost the America's Cup to Australia II off Newport Rhode Island in a seven boat race series that went right down to the last two legs of racing. The victor was Australia II and so much was made of her radical keel. But there was so much more to admire about the Big Red Boat, Liberty. Liberty was three boats in one. She could be configured to race in light, medium, and heavy mode to best suit the changeable conditions on Rhode Island Sound. She was a brilliant boat but more than that she was a breakthrough in organisational thinking. Anyway here is my earlier post by popular request, repeated here just for you..... “Paradigm shifts” are the big challenge for organisations in the early part of C21st. Because most C20th design is not adept at change management the workers in such entities are in for a bumpy ride. Their fortunes will rise and fall with a tidal wave of new demand from China, India, Korea, and Africa. Demand for resources. Demand for jobs. Demand for technologies. Demand for higher and higher living standards. Demand for increased life expectancy. Demand for a better share of economic good fortune. Those who are destined to suffer most will be locked into the moribund world of C20th organisations. They will work longer and longer hours but achieve less and less. They will become super competitive and thus super suspicious towards all outsiders. They will engage in bloody purges of peers, rivals, and colleagues. They will become over zealous guardians of existing legends, myths, brands, leadership roles, revenue models, strategic thinking modes, etc. They will become obessed with security concerns. They will become control bullies. They will become creatures of “management by committee”. They will become “meeting junkies”. They will become captives of a “closed system”. Those who cope best with the “knock on effects” of C21st “paradigm shifts” will work in and for organisations that are open, transparent, and proactive. They will become vocal advocates of Big Red Boat organisation. Big Red Boat organisation is an open system. It has built-in feedback loops. It has built-in capabilities to configure to best suit the prevailing conditions. It has built-in ability to “disrupt with purpose”. It has built-in focus on new ways of thinking and executing. It has built-in frameworks for handling “paradigm shifts”. August 06 Do you want to change other people's behaviours?If you want to change other people's behaviours then you will find no end of advice on the web, in books, in degree courses, and in wise quotes you stumble on from time to time. But you know all that.... Still want to try to change other people's behaviours? Well first you might want to consider whether you want or need to change group behaviours or that of a single individual. If it is a group then you might want to consider what the key drivers are for their current behaviours. To do that you might want to start by posing some simple questions. What is the purpose of this group? What ensures it hangs together? What has made it successful in the past? What is it exactly that you want to change about this group? In answering those simple questions you might like to consider the following: Groups are purpose driven. That is their strength. Groups hang together because their membership conforms. That is their strength. Groups make up success stories - they create their own history. That is their strength. Groups are exclusive not inclusive - they do not welcome diversity. That is their strength. Do you want to change other people's behaviours? Then you might want to play to their strengths. August 05 How do you fit Zappos into Amazon?Zappos is unstructured, free flowing, bound together by core values, outward looking, innovative, a little weird, and yet robust and reliable. I see Zappos as a growing Clan (my term) as opposed to Amazon which is a growing Tribe (my term and not to be confused with my friend Seth Godin's version of Tribes). Clans are inclusive, they are porous, they attract early adopters & innovators, they have themes, they prototype, they explore, they learn and develop, etc. Tribes are exclusive, they are purpose driven, they have shared values and beliefs, they actually turn "group think" into a positive asset, they have conventions, rules, regulations, they have rigid structures, etc. Clans and Tribes coexist easily within every aspect of modern business both on and off the web. On the web most people see Clans and Tribes as alternative social networks or channels for social media. Combining Clans and Tribes is feasible but fraught with difficulty if you want to maintain what is best in both cultures. Combining the Clans of Zappos with the Tribes of Amazon will be a hugely challenging yet fun project. August 02 Zappos culture is worth about $US1 Billion...My Facebook, virtual, friend Seth Godin is good at posing questions that resonate with normal folk. I am not surprised therefore that Seth has done it again with his perceptive query about the buy-out of Zappos. I wanted to share it with you..... "When you buy Zappos, what do you buy? Amazon just announced that they're spending $800,000,000.00 (looks better that way) to buy Zappos.com. But wait. Amazon already has plenty of shoes. Amazon already has great technology. Amazon already has relationships with Fedex and UPS. What you buy when you spend that kind of money is what matters now. And what matters is:
These things are available to organizations of every size. If you want them and choose to work for them." |
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