It is clear that organizations that can create workplaces where all talent can bring forth their best, will be the best situated for success. However, I must admit that the work is long and hard – and progress is slow. But it is too important to waiver. So, I’d love to hear. What is your organization doing to tap into the potential that diversity and inclusion bring?
In November 2014, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, the billion dollar on-line shoe retailer, announced the company was moving to holarchy, an organizational structure with no job titles and no managers.
Instead of the typical hierarchy, fraught with bottlenecks, slow decision making, and concentrated power, the company will be organized into 400 circles, with each circle having a number of roles. The intent is “radical transparency” and extreme adaptability. In this model, the CEO has less power and all employees are expected to lead and to act entrepreneurially. Zappos and its 1500 partners (you and I would call them employees) will be the largest company to date to attempt this type of organizational structure.
Let me explain what I think works with this model, as well as what bothers me about this model.
Say the word hazing and we immediately think of college fraternities and high school locker rooms. The idea that if you want to be “one of us” there is a price of admission – sometimes embarrassing, sometimes requiring great sacrifices, sometimes acts of daring, and sometimes outright danger or death.
It’s not called hazing at work. It’s called things like, “just the way we do things here,” or “our culture,” or “orientation”. None the less, many organizations have strange (and less than helpful) rituals designed to test new members before they become a part of the group.
Late last year I was able to check off a bucket list item of mine: to do a TED talk. I spoke about the need to shift our worldview from one of striving for stability to one of dealing effectively with continual change, in a talk entitled, “Is Stability What We Should Strive For?”
At the end, I describe some of the characteristics of emerging organizations that are thriving (rather than thrashing) in our global, networked, connected, hyper-fast, technologically driven world. It is an interesting list – and I wonder how your organization stacks up to it.
In my next few posts I am going to explore the question of sustainability – of our organizations and the larger world in which those organizations exist. The topic is big – and this will only be a brush. But I hope that these posts might give you pause to ponder – what should we be doing to create vibrant organizations that are sustainable over time – not via brute force or domination but through the synergy of being in tune with their external environment, honoring that environment (both social and environmental) and existing in a harmonious ecosystem of give and take, change and adaptation, growth, decline, and rebirth.
Today’s post is about a way to measure sustainability using a framework called the Triple Bottom Line. Subsequent posts will examine the internal factors that enable an organization to be sustainable over time, and then the notion of “constructive capitalism”, a way in which companies can create enduring, meaningful and sustainable advantage that also benefits society.
So… about that Triple Bottom Line…
At no time is communication more important than when a change is occurring. Today’s post, by Myra Cocca, will help you tailor it to the needs of your audience.
I am writing this post in the aftermath of a weekend getaway gone awry. The plan was simple – leave very early on Saturday morning, arrive at our favorite beach by 11, enjoy the island and friends and great seafood. And then out the next night- back in time to resume work on Monday.
Instead, I am at home… not at the beach.
In Leadership is an Art, Max DePree tells us that “buying books is easy; owning them is not.” He goes on to explain that, “Good readers take possession of what they are learning by underlining and commenting and questioning. In this manner they ‘finish’ what they read.” He ends his introduction by saying: “You can read this book quickly; but I hope you cannot finish it quickly. It will be worth a lot more to you if you finish it, if you have truly made it your own book.”
DePree also shares that leadership is NOT learned by reading, alone – and I fully concur. But I also know that leaders who are thoughtful and open themselves to new ideas WHILE they get their hands dirty leading, grow into better and better leaders. My mantra is that LEADERS READ.
My list of top ten comes with a disclaimer – these are NOT for learning to manage or supervise. They are in my area of specialty: transformational leadership.
We are all in throes of massive change – and the reality is that the pace and magnitude of change we are facing is only going to amplify. So having a basic grasp of how change works in organizations is important for us all. Warning: This list will not be for the faint of heart, so I’ll rate it on digestibility. Some will be suitable for all levels, and others for those who like to take a deep dive. And I am always looking for more here – so I’ll look forward to the books you recommend on this topic.
In almost all instances, success precedes promotion. And for most of us, we say yes because we feel, at some level, confident in our ability to tackle the new role in a proficient manner. And then we land the new job, take on the additional responsibility, strike out into new territory. And all that we knew in our last job is suddenly not enough.
As leaders are faced with this reality, they have two basic choices…
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