Grow sustainable organisations

Grow sustainable organisations

by Dirk Depré - October 18, 2019

Organisations are evolving in new and better versions of themselves. The way forward today is a big transformation so it seems. But this comes with a lot of collateral damage. There has to be a better way!

What if you could get a grip on your own organisational culture and be amazed how culture will turn into growth. Keep in mind that you already have your talent aboard. It’s time to act different, not solely for the customers, but also for a lot of different reasons like employee engagement, innovation from within your own company, … Simply said:”Different, because it’s needed today!”. Gideon Peters wrote in one of his blogpost about Agility:”Agility is a way of thinking. It’s not about controlling and prescribing but it’s about sensing and adapting.”

2020

Interesting times lay ahead. Customers are expecting extraordinary service. Companies need to understand what the customer want and if possible give him the power via self-service to organise himself. Hello service design At the same time, that same customer wants personal attention and authenticity. We’re all expecting a lot today from a customer point of view. Well, as employees, we also want more, because often as an employee, you’ll better understand the customer than the leadership of an organisation does. Therefor, collaborative leadership is what we need: shared understanding of the common goals between employees and the enterprise leadership. We want our bosses to connect with us – EQ over IQ – and we want them to make sure, in the working place, we all get along in these times with different generations and a greater diversity than ever. It’s clear that soft skills will flourish and leadership will be most effective when the leadership of today also understand their servant role.

With this article I truly hope people start to think, because the time is now to create a better everyday workplace. It’s time organisations relearn their people how work “works”. I’ve seen a lot of initiatives, all for the better of organisations and I feel it’s really time to rethink organisational design and rebuild organisations from the ground up in co-creation and full collaboration. I hope CXO’s understand they are able to build cultures of amazement together with their own people because talent is already omnipresent inside their own organisation(s), they’ll just have to ‘unlock’ it.In case you’re not convinced why it’s time, here are some stats:

• 60% – time of our lives, is spent on working or preparing for work

• 75% – leave organisations, not because of the work they do, but because of their boss. (Dale Carnegie)

• 87% – of employees are not engaged. (Gallup Inc)

• 12,5 years – is the average lifespan of business in Japan and Europe (Stratix Group)

Creating a better professional world

Provide your organisation with tracks necessary to evolve into a more mature and sustainable version of them self. There isn’t a one recipe for success, because every situation is different. But the ingredients for success might remain the same; and hopefully in the future, you’ll be able to find talent much faster, get higher valuations, keep your talent longer aboard and are able to innovate faster. Sounds interesting?So let’s imagine we can trust employees. You’ll be able to empower them and be amazed how they are able to make things happen. It’s scary to stop the command and control culture inside the organisation and start working from trust, but amazing things will happen. Let’s have a look how you can smoothly move towards an open and collaborative way of working. In this 4th industrial revolution, you’ll be searching for a company culture in which people can unfold, in a safe manner, get inspired for better innovation for the company. A company culture that wants to invest in making the smartest possible people, because you know, they will thrive your company forward.

“Life is a journey, not a destination.
So roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair.
The night’s busting open, these two lanes will take you anywhere”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson meet Bruce Springsteen)

Understand culture

“You can’t manage culture, it not tangible”, they say. Well, is it? It appears to me that almost everyone always see that big grey elephant in the room. So it’s actually very tangible. My guess? I think we’re scared. Scared of losing power, scared we don’t focus on the right things. So in stead, we install pool tables, we throw in a barista, we even might give the best parties every once in a while! Because this is what great companies have and do. Nevertheless, your best talents will still leave because you’re too afraid to face your big grey elephant called ‘culture’. Pool tables, parties, baristas, … it makes life at work more fun, you should keep doing this, but if that’s the only thing you’re doing, you’re not working on your culture. It’s much more than that:”The power of your organisation is the sum of intrinsic motivations of all individuals inside your organisation.” So it’s time you invest time in really knowing everybody, build bridges, grow communities. Grow your own passion for talent inside your organisation.

Understanding people growth to understand organisational growth

When you start your first job, you’re convinced about your qualities and you’ll search for a job where you’ll be able to showcase them and have a massive impact. You look for a challenging job and good payment because you have something to offer. But soon, you’ll find out you still have a lot to learn and you start learning about life as a professional, learning from other professionals, learning from experiences. You’re maturing and learn lots of new skills. And than one day, you’ll find out that the only reason you’re working in that place is because it pays your bills, not because of your initial dreams. So you start the search for something better. And after a while you’re in that one place where you can address your competences and be passionate about your work at the same time. If the culture is right for you, you’ll start sharing your wisdom, teach those newbies their new skills.

Personal States :

• Starter : First job, in the end it’s all about the Benjamins.

• Skilled worker : You’re becoming smarter and practical in what you’re doing

• Passioned worker : You’re an amazing professional working in the field of expertise you love

• Contributor : You’re willing to share your wisdom and passion. You’re willing to ‘give back’.

Companies have a similar path to grow towards committed organisations. In the beginning it’s about the dream and money. Once you’re able to survive and cash is flowing, you grow and learn that you need some sort of structure to grow even further. The trickiest moment in my opinion because you want control and might introduce the rulebook. Possibly it’s “bye bye to all early agility” if you go too far in this. But imagine you pass this era without carving the rules in stone, you are able to evolve further. People start to connect with each other. And finally, they feel safe enough to pass their wisdom on and get really committed and engaged to the organisation they work for. That’s when you get to the level of working for an important company.

Organisational States:

• The adventure state : you’re starting a business and it’s clear you need cash. You’re one 100% entrepreneurial. It’s about getting results and getting customers. Initiatives inside the organisations are welcomed with open arms when they deliver results. People can contribute a lot and have a massive impact. This stage enables a company to receive money in return for the value they deliver to a customer

• The Methodical state : You start to focus on optimisation: improve processes and obtain flow in your work. Guidelines and policies are made explicit and you’ll start investing in training. It’s about finding a balance in structuring so you enable and not over-control.

• The Linked state : You understand a team can achieve more than an individual. Nevertheless, individuals remain extremely important for you, so you give them the support they need in order to grow. You create a safe environment for people and bring in an Agile culture.

• The Important state : Your people are committed to the organisation and so, you become important for society. People share their passion and you become sustainable because of your internal innovation program. The leadership keeps inspiring everybody.

Don’t get me wrong over those different states. If your organisation is in an adventure state, it’s okay. If your culture is in line with that, you’ll find people who are looking for that kind of organisation. So, it’s good to do some introspective to fully understand in what kind of state your organisation is. Knowing where you are, will help you to evolve into the kind of organisation you really want to be.

But imagine what you can accomplish with lots of contributors inside you important organisation? Something worth striving for I believe…

On February 13, 2018, Steve Kerr from the Golden State Warriors (NBA) let the players coach themselves. Kerr approached a different kind of coaching and trusted his players to get themselves out the rut. Warriors won the game and later on won the championship. After the game Kerr told the press:”It had to do with me reaching my team. I have not reached them for the last month. They’re tired of my voice. I’m tired of my voice. It’s been a long haul these last few years and I wasn’t reaching them, and we just figured it was probably a good night to pull a trick out of the hat and do something different.” Great way to inspire your team in my opinion.

In case you want your organisation to evolve

I’m not going to talk about strategy and operational models although they’ll influence your culture. Nevertheless ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’.

If you want to obtain business agility, you have some choices to make. You might have some tracks to start up. Relearn people how work ‘works’. Learn them about empiricism and assure them they are in a safe place where they are able to learn from their mistakes. Empower your people and learn leadership how to empower their people. Install competence centers or communities where people can learn from each other so they become smarter than they ever could imagine. Ask them how they can contribute by letting them set the goals. Yes, it’s all about methodologies, frameworks, values and policies. But it’s also about making smart choices so you still get results, so measure effectiveness in stead of efficiency. Somebody once told me you can be very efficient in going the wrong direction. It’s about effectiveness!

So, you might consider the lean canvas model to overthink smoothly your strategy, introduce Kanban to the workplace, use OKR’s in stead of KPI’s to drive results. Learn people visualisation techniques in order to enhance conversations, make one-pager strategies with OGSM, build Tribes and communities but remain focused on tearing down the silo’s. Introduce storytelling to better get a message across. Make your vision, mission, North Start and goals explicit and explain them to everybody in your company. Define values and live by them. Search for frameworks that support agility like Sociocracy 3.0. Introduce Service Design in order to boost internal innovation. Measure effectiveness via internal and external NPS. Implement a structured way of dealing with everlasting and constant change. And so on …

But it’s not about those tools or frameworks, it’s about your own exercise over and over again. It’s about introspection: evaluate and evolve or as I like to call it: Reflect – Rethink – Rebuild. So, grab your culture by the horns and make it work for you!

Unfluff you internal Fluff Bear or Grey Elephant and unleash the full potential!