Breaking the Pattern of Management

Gary Hamel is awesome. I remember doing strategic planning in the 90’s and reading Hamel’s guru stuff. Here he is 20 years later still blowing our minds and giving us new change management insights to play with.

In the video above Hamel challenges us not just to think outside the box, but outside the building. His basic premise is that the way management has worked for the last century is killing us in the current reality and that the only solution is to let humans step into the breach. He gives examples such as “reverse accountability,” in which employees come before customers, as examples of how leaders are exploring new patterns of management to challenge traditional business dogma. His bottom line advice: find a way to allow your employees to bring their unique gifts to your organization and be willing to change your corporate culture to encourage it.

 He makes the point that this kind of change management and culture change may not come from on top, but brew up at the grassroots level. I believe for such innovation to be sustained, it comes from both grassroots courage to innovate AND top line courage to stimulate and build on innovations that work out. This is how we change the world – one innovation at a time.

Don’t think you can do it? Bet you can. Make a bubble within which you can act and then break a pattern and see what results. Here’s a sample prescription:

1. Get some co-conspirators (e.g., three people on your customer service team).
2. Put a boundary around the experiment (e.g., one day a week for 3 months).
3. Put a big hairy problem on the table (e.g., inability to satisfy customer type X).
4. Get out of the way.
5. Be ready for success and failure.
6. Turn every failure into a learning that leads to success.
7. Repeat.

What patterns can you break this week?

Check out the resources in the InPower Coaching EQ at Work and Soft Skills Research Index.