Continuing our series in response to invitation by ‘No Fear’ author Pekka Viljakainen to outline how we would drive out fear from the workplace and how we would accommodate the post-digital generation of talent.
At Intelligent Management, we support organizations in driving out fear through the adoption of the Decalogue™ methodology. This is a unique synergy of Dr. Deming’s philosophy and the Theory of Constraints developed by Dr. Eli Goldratt. The ten steps of The Decalogue enable the support of a Deming-based, truly systemic organizational model built around the constraint.
The fundamental change that Deming promotes is to perceive and manage an organization as a system, not just as a conglomeration of components. Only in this way can we optimize the aim of the system. However, this involves doing away with unnecessary barriers and hierarchical walls, and in eliminating the fear that derives from them.
This involves a considerable amount of change. How can we deal with this change without creating further fear and anxiety? Eli Goldratt’s Thinking Process Tools help us overcome these levels of resistance. The tool that helps us solve the conflicts that can arise in the phase of designing and redesigning processes is called a conflict cloud. The conflict cloud increases people’s ability to construct and communicate win-win solutions. This helps overcome people’s tendency to solve conflicts by means of compromises that can often bring about lose-lose situations. We use this tool in a negotiation situation where there is no acceptable compromise. We verbalize our position and that of our counterpart. We then go on to identify the needs which the opposing positions are trying to satisfy. Finally, we look for the common goal, the reason which drives both parties to seek a solution which is acceptable for all.
In this way we move from a situation of ‘‘you against me because of the problem’’ to ‘‘you and me against the problem.’’ The solution to the conflict is provided by an ‘‘injection’’ (solution) that separates the need from the conflicting position. In this way, it invalidates an assumption which connects the conflicting position taken by one of the sides to the need they are trying to satisfy.
By educating and training digital cowboys to think and act systemically using the Thinking Process Tools, we allow them to articulate their fears and desires in a way that will enhance their contribution rather than create friction. When they learn to see conflict as an opportunity, then innovation becomes a means of operation. By systematically surfacing and invalidating their own assumptions and those of others in the organization, they are poised to continuously create breakthrough solutions.
Designing the Organization to Drive Out Fear
A split between work and personal satisfaction is created when we are forced to function within an organizational structure that inherently debases what we do by creating artificial barriers and ceilings. This is the reality of the traditional hierarchical organization divided up into functions. When the structure interrupts the natural flow of the goals we are trying to achieve, when nonsensical policies and agendas force us to do things we fully perceive to be without meaning, or worse, prevent us from improving our performance, we naturally look elsewhere to express our potential or vent our frustration.
It does not have to be like that and we do not have to be like that. Science, civilization and individuals have evolved beyond the strictures of hierarchy/functions as we understand them today. Contemporary science has revealed the inadequacy of that model. Today we have the science, technology and knowhow to shape organizations into what they intrinsically are – a system. We know that every living system is a network, and we can work within them to maximize quality, flow and involvement.
There is a price to be paid, however, for growing our intelligence and our freedom. When we remove the barriers, the ceilings, the ‘stupid’ boss who forces us to underachieve, when we take away all this paraphernalia, we are left with ourselves. We are left with the responsibility of no excuses, and the stark and terrifying prospect of truly exploring the boundaries of what we can achieve. This style of organization is neither for the faint-hearted nor for bullies, and it is one that many will continue to reject and undermine. However, the systemic enterprise can be the natural habitat for post-digital talent and digital cowboys to flourish.
See also:
No Fear in the Workplace – Making It Happen
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