If organizations need to learn anything today it’s how to overcome silos. Silos are the number one enemy of productivity and competitiveness, especially in digital transformation. They also seriously threaten the quality of life of employees. An article by former Navy Seal Chris Fussell ‘The battlefield experience that made me realize the danger of silos and isolated […]
How Businesses Can Make the World Better – Whole System Transformation
People struggle to understand big systems, such as nations and alliances. It’s just too big and complicated (what better proof than U.K. citizens voting to leave the European Union.) So they try to break things down into simpler pieces, build walls and set up barriers (silos, fiefdoms, departments). Unfortunately, that just doesn’t work. Why? The […]
Borders, Tariffs and Brexit – Misunderstanding Complexity
Wherever you live and whether you care or not about the UK staying in or exiting the European Union (EU), the result of Brexit in eight month’s time will affect you. The same goes for any Trade Wars sparked through new tariffs. Why? Firstly, because we live in a highly interdependent and therefore complex world […]
Biggest Challenge? Not Technology but the Organization Design
A truth is beginning to emerge about how reality is shifting in organizations. It was voiced clearly in a presentation yesterday by the CEO of a forward-thinking digital solutions provider in Italy, Stefano Righetti of Hyphen-Italia. The truth is this: no company will be able do without Digital Transformation, at least for its core processes. […]
Bulldoze Business Schools? A New Systemic Curriculum for Complexity in Business and Management
Our business world is changing rapidly. Complexity dominates and old solutions no longer work. Some refer to this as the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. Given all these changes, it is remarkable to see that MBAs are offering much the same program content as 20 years ago. A Professor in the UK has gone as far as […]
Managing as a Whole System – A New Learning Path
Most organizations (and business schools) are lagging behind the times as they still work in silos, missing completely the challenge and opportunity of the complexity that now dominates our world. We need to manage organizations as whole systems. Those who don’t know what that entails need to catch on, catch up and embrace a new […]
The Silo Peril and Breaking Down Barriers
“For those languishing at the bottom of a silo, there may be no way out.” This was the chilling conclusion of The Economist’s review of the book ‘The Silo Effect: The Peril of Expertise and the Promise of Breaking Down Barriers’ by Gillian Tett. There is little doubt in our minds that silos and silo mentality are among the […]
Creating, Operating and Getting Results with an Enterprise as a Sustainable System
In this post we look at how we can create a sustainable system, how we can operate as a sustainable system, and the results this will help us achieve. What would happen if everyone came to work and just did their own thing? Even with the best of intentions, this would not be a great […]
The Paradox of Privilege
In a newspaper article this week, ‘Why is Privilege Suddenly Sexy‘, a writer wonders why “the more we are reminded of the sinfulness of privilege the more we wallow in it.” The appeal of the past There can surely be many reasons why, in our times of unprecedented speed of change and social and political upheavals, […]
Complexity and Root Cause Analysis – Where Is the Fit?
We’ve been asked how come we talk about complexity and also root cause analysis. Aren’t they incompatible? The answer is no, and here we explain why root cause analysis is your best friend in managing complex situations and environments. Why complexity and a “reductionist” root cause analysis are not incompatible Let me preface this post […]