An Organization Built for the Modern Worker
How do we meet the management challenges in today’s world when our current management structures are outdated? How do we build organizations that are fit for humans beings and not machines? Gary Hamel asks these questions, calling on us to rethink how we organize people and resources.
Five Evolutions of Organizational Culture
The way people work together in organizations has been evolving over centuries. It’s important to understand where your organization stands and what the future could look like. As each new paradigm emerges it unlocks increasing capacities and capabilities of the individual and the organization. Peter Green summarizes the five paradigms described in Fredric Laloux’s book Reinventing Organizations in this 9 minute video. With this new perspective of organizational models we can work towards the next evolution of your organization together.
This Is the Easiest Way to Relieve Stress Quickly
In order to develop “Agile” organizations and leaders, people need breathing room to take on new ideas and behaviors. To accomplish that, we must first relieve their stress. Until they feel relaxed and comfortable, the people we coach and consult can’t focus on making a change. For many of you reading this, the fastest and … Continued
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It’s About Teamwork
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” –Michael Jordan
Our approach of Taking Agile to the Top is rooted in the understanding that teamwork creates expanded results. We create leadership teams that can move together and adapt towards a shared goal. Lencioni’s fable introduces root cases of common politics and dysfunctions and outlines the characteristics of high performing teams. This book has been invaluable in our understanding of how individuals can authentically connect with each other, build trusting relationships that foster innovation and creativity.
Agile Principles Across Business Sectors
Agile methodology was first designed in 2001 to help software teams respond to the unpredictability that arose with the complexity of software development. Agile moved away from the plan up front predictable project management style of waterfall to an incremental and iterative method. Reading through the Agile Manifesto and it’s twelve agile principals you’ll begin to see the foundation for a company that is thriving in the 21st century.
- Customer focused
- Adaptive
- Intrinsically motivated individuals
- Collaboration
We have a deep understanding of Agile practices and principles through the dozens of Agile projects we have led. We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t and are taking our Agile experience to leadership teams and applying the principles that promote innovation and creativity in a constantly changing complex environment.
An Epidemic of Disengagement
Deloitte’s “Global Human Capital Trends 2015” report states the No. 1 issue facing organizations this year is employee engagement and culture. The study reports that only 13 percent of the global work force is highly engaged. What has changed in the workplace to cause this systematic problem? How do we engage people in an agile way that is flexible, empowering and promotes accelerated learning? Most importantly, how do we keep pace with the changing needs of our employees?
The Friction Between Agile Culture and Traditional Management Culture
Steve Denning describes the differences between the traditional vertical structure of management and the adaptive horizontal structure of agile. With the traditional structure being conceived over 150 years ago, Denning details how the business landscape has changed since its origins and how our organizational structures need to adapt to keep up.
Agile Living: Learning How to Live
Agile Living: Learning How to Live Energy is what fuels us. After reading a recent article by Tony Schwartz on “managing” one’s energy, it struck me. Understanding how we use our energy is what will give us our competitive advantage. It allows us to rev up when needed but also requires us to take a … Continued