June edition of “WYT” (Worth your time)— Agile for real
The discussion and online dialogue on new work, future of work, leadership 4.0 or agile leadership, is exploding. Wading in a deep pool of endless news and information, it can be daunting to figure out where to start and what’s really useful. Being on this journey to discover and deepen our knowledge about what the future of organizations, leadership and society really holds, we thought you might find it useful to get our curated list.
Before we dive right in — who are we? We are Katrina and Susan, two curious global souls with current homes in Copenhagen, Denmark.
.Each month going forward, we’ll be sharing our WYT list of the past month with you — anything we’ve come across, read, listened or watched that intrigued, surprised or puzzled us when it comes to thinking about how to re-define, re-organize and re-humanize organizations.
So, without further ado, here’s our list of WYT for June:
- Renegades at NASA — MIT Sloan’s case study of a group of young rebel engineers who turned an administrative-heavy research insitutition on its head through renegade activism to innovate mission control for the International Space station. Their principles hold the test of time and are definitely worth your time.
The history of renegade groups shows that changes occasioned by such groups are not just cosmetic or superficial. Transformational changes can be achieved because renegades challenge the status quo with credible solutions and because these innovators have intrinsic motivation to make a difference.
2. It’s the Manager — CEO of Gallup, Jim Clifton, released a new book “It’s the Manager” in May 2019. He and the co-author, Jim Harter, Chief Scientist of Workplace and Well-Being at Gallup, describe 6 management changes that will transform your business culture:
· Employees need a purpose as well as a paycheck
· Team members want development plus satisfaction
· Your people will expect more coaches than bosses
· They want ongoing conversations, not just annual reviews
· Don’t fixate on team weaknesses — capitalise on strengths
· A job can no longer be treated as just a job — it’s your life
“My generation got married like 15 years earlier on average than this generation. We had a bunch of kids and we also owned our homes. But all of that means that when I went to work, I really wasn’t concerned with what the mission or purpose was of the organization. I mean this is a striking difference, but now I’m staying with millennials because they’re 40% of the workplace when they come to work. They’re saying, my life now merges with the workplace, not with my family, and I need to know that if I’m going to spend all this time here, how does that fulfill that need? Because my job is much more a part of my life than any generation ever.”
Read more here and hear a podcast interview with Jim Clifton here (skip ahead and start the podcast at 10:30 to get straight into it).
3. A Call to Courage — A Ted-Talk-type of video released in April 2019 on Netflix, where research professor Brené Brown walks us through some highlights of her book “Dare to Lead”. We would have preferred to watch her present to a group of sceptics rather than adoring fans, which appears to be the case, but audience aside, Brené Brown has a strong point to make. Based on her years of studying courage, shame, vulnerability and empathy, she argues that you can’t be courageous without vulnerability — and for that reason encourages us to “step into the arena” in our lives.
How does this relate to the world of organization and leadership? If you read the book, you’ll find 10 behaviours and cultural issues that leaders identified as getting in our way in organisations across the world, these include avoiding tough conversations (including productive feedback), diminishing trust, and that perfectionism and fear are keeping people from learning and growing. Daring Leadership is Brown’s response to these obstacles — of which courage is at the heart.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again … who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
We’d love to make this an interactive discussion to exchange thoughts, share opinions and build a common repertoire of language and experiences around the topic of new work, future work or agile for real.
Leave a comment below to share your favorite read/listen/watch of the past month with us.
