Loved this one. My concerns (doubts) about their changing anything along the lines of your suggestions are (a) inertia, and (b) they're part of a bigger system -- their part of the business world -- which also lives by these rules. Individual actors in their particular system will be affected by those rules. It's like the race to the bottom with certifications.
Quite: Leadership won't commit to changes this significant and profound unless they are faced with an existential crisis and fresh out of options, or have a sudden epiphany that they've been unwittingly sowing the seeds of their own problems. This is why I mention that point in the video where she might later realize what she was saying out loud about the utility of bonuses.
In 2017 I attended a Deming Institute seminar where some of the attendees and speakers shared their stories about how they made similar, dramatic changes in how they led after studying the theory and preparing for the shift. Getting rid of performance appraisals and commissions was a common "low hanging fruit" that led to significant improvements in how the organization worked together. But, to make it stick, you have to change your perspectives on managing. As Ackoff said long ago, "When you get rid of what you don’t want, you do not necessarily get what you do want and you may get something you want a lot less."
I’ve been hoping you would take this on, and you didn’t disappoint. You did (pleasantly) surprise me, partly, I think, because I too got caught up in the “out of touch wealthy CEO” narrative when the video first made the rounds. I really appreciate how you cut through that impulse to get to your truly constructive analysis & recommendations. Thanks for helping me see the episode in a better light.
Thanks for your comments, John - very much appreciated! I'm glad you found it a useful counterpoint to all the hot-takes that have been circulating. My aim with these clinics is to, as you put it, cut through our impulses so we can reframe the phenomena we see through different lenses and begin corrections with a view to changing how we lead going forward.
Your thoughts here tell me I'm on the right path...!
Loved this one. My concerns (doubts) about their changing anything along the lines of your suggestions are (a) inertia, and (b) they're part of a bigger system -- their part of the business world -- which also lives by these rules. Individual actors in their particular system will be affected by those rules. It's like the race to the bottom with certifications.
Quite: Leadership won't commit to changes this significant and profound unless they are faced with an existential crisis and fresh out of options, or have a sudden epiphany that they've been unwittingly sowing the seeds of their own problems. This is why I mention that point in the video where she might later realize what she was saying out loud about the utility of bonuses.
In 2017 I attended a Deming Institute seminar where some of the attendees and speakers shared their stories about how they made similar, dramatic changes in how they led after studying the theory and preparing for the shift. Getting rid of performance appraisals and commissions was a common "low hanging fruit" that led to significant improvements in how the organization worked together. But, to make it stick, you have to change your perspectives on managing. As Ackoff said long ago, "When you get rid of what you don’t want, you do not necessarily get what you do want and you may get something you want a lot less."
Thanks again, Gil!
I’ve been hoping you would take this on, and you didn’t disappoint. You did (pleasantly) surprise me, partly, I think, because I too got caught up in the “out of touch wealthy CEO” narrative when the video first made the rounds. I really appreciate how you cut through that impulse to get to your truly constructive analysis & recommendations. Thanks for helping me see the episode in a better light.
Thanks for your comments, John - very much appreciated! I'm glad you found it a useful counterpoint to all the hot-takes that have been circulating. My aim with these clinics is to, as you put it, cut through our impulses so we can reframe the phenomena we see through different lenses and begin corrections with a view to changing how we lead going forward.
Your thoughts here tell me I'm on the right path...!