Explainers Archives - Page 11 of 11

The Fatal Gap Between Organizational Theory and Organizational Practice

Cutting-edge management fads are causing great companies to bleed out. The distance between the theoretical conversation and the reality of work is just too far. The average employee is already overworked and undertrained; asking them to learn the management equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons on top of their workload is foolish, if not inhumane.

Explainers

Five Questions Every Manager Should Ask Themselves Weekly

As a manager, it’s all too easy to get lost in the work on your team’s plate rather than engage with the people doing the work. These five questions, if reflected on each week, will help you pull your head out of the weeds.

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The Two People Every Meeting Needs

Designating roles within a meeting will keep everyone clear on how they are supposed to contribute, and make them feel that the meeting is worth their time. It also helps identify next steps that need to be taken after the meeting to keep making progress.

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Why Work Isn’t Working

If you’re like most knowledge workers, you toil nights, weekends, early mornings, in the shower, on your commute, and even in your sleep. Mathematically speaking, you can’t work any harder.

Explainers

How to Deal with a Micromanager

Most micromanagers don’t realize they’re being overbearing. Often they check in too much out of fear of losing touch with what’s going on, or an inability to move on from their former job title. Using this communication framework will help build trust and lead to a better performing team.

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Welcome to the Era of the Empowered Employee

Managers (too often) mistakenly see their employees as things to be controlled, hence they use metaphors of things they can control. In Taylor’s era, workers were oxen. Today, workers are code (or swarming robots, or ants in a colony).

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Why Self-Organizing is So Hard

Self-management means allowing a team to dictate how they get their work done. Self-organization means giving all teams the ability to form, evolve, and disband on their own. Self-management is a step towards self-organization, but it shouldn’t be implemented in parallel.

Explainers

The Evolutionary Edge

Today’s most successful firms have discovered a new way of working that enables them to thrive in dynamic and even volatile conditions. The ability to change is their competitive advantage. We call this The Evolutionary Edge.