We are becoming increasingly aware of the need for collaboration and cooperation. This is not yet the mainstream for management and organizations, but the more complexity becomes the backdrop and context of what we do and experience, the more we need to find up-to-date ways to exist within that complexity. Is it just about being […]
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 […]
Creativity, Reliability and Predictability – Are They at Odds?
In times of turbulence, shock and awe, it’s hard to keep a sense of balance and where our attention needs to be. There is so much noise and so much confusion, so this post aims to remove some confusion in the world about creativity and variation. Seth Godin, so wise about many things concerning marketing […]
Understanding Uncertainty and Systemic Risk in Organizations
If we could predict the outcome of everything we do with mathematical certainty, then our lives would be much simpler. In reality, we exist within a complex web of interdependencies and such certainty is not possible. Hence, we live with uncertainty and its inevitable companion: risk. We perceive a risk any time we feel that […]
Using Constraints as a Leverage Point for Sustainable Growth
Whether you’re aware of it or not, every organization has a constraint, something that currently limits output. Correctly identifying the constraint is the key to managing the entire organization in all its complexity with greater precision and predictability. As we have said many times, every human process, from getting to work in the morning to […]
Ethical, Sustainable and for the Common Good – a Playbook
As Super Bowl fever rises, it’s worth recalling that Chrystia Freeland, global editor at large for Reuters, reviewed a book that suggests capitalism has something to learn from the NFL; it is the duty of society to ensure that the rules of capitalism are working for the common good. The NFL continuously tweaks the rules […]
Why a Performance Review Makes No Sense – a Systems View
A company is not a collection of individuals. Contemporary science helps us to understand that organizations are, instead, “complex systems”, ruled by non-linear interactions that make it difficult to make any prediction when any change is effected. That’s why any approach to improve the system has to be “holistic”, and consider all the interactions/interdependencies. The […]
Resource Optimization – Don’t Make the 100% Efficiency Mistake
Do you think getting everything in your system/organization to work at 100% is the right way to create maximum efficiency? Dr. Giovanni Siepe explains how we can learn from management science (and other sources) that there is a better way. Not too long ago I was reading about “Sukkot”, a holiday celebrated at the end […]
Freedom from the Trap of Silos through a Network of Projects
Many organizations still have traditional hierarchies and silo their people into functions. But the complexity of today’s reality needs something different. With the exponential growth of interconnections and interdependencies, a traditional organizational design can undermine productivity and sustainable growth. Here we summarize the organizational design we propose, based on two decades of international work, specifically applied to […]
You Can’t Cut Through Complexity – KPMG Got It Wrong
KPMG has the tagline “Cutting through Complexity” which suggests they really don’t understand complexity at all. In order to deal with complexity, we first have to understand it, and then we can manage it. How? What does complexity actually mean? “Complexus”, the Latin word for “complex”, roughly means “twisted together”. In other words, when several elements come […]