232: Changing The Way We Work

Autonomy leads to less bureaucracy between teams and the whole organization

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Unrelated: Break Free from the Vicious Cycle of Bureaucracy

It is important to simplify our roles, rules, and processes to avoid the adverse effects of organizational debt. Creating a flexible system that can adapt and learn as necessary is crucial. Organizational debt can lead to bureaucracy, reinforcing it and creating a vicious cycle. Corporations often focus on revenue and earnings growth, which can lead to a fixation on share prices. We must think and challenge assumptions to break free from this cycle. To value people, we must trust and empower our colleagues. 

Building trust within our teams and thinking about new working methods is necessary to move forward. But, we face challenges because many of us are resistant to change. We can either accept the traditional power structures or continue our ineffective patterns. We must trust each other to make the right decisions.

The default assumption is that you can do anything unless a specific policy or agreement prohibits it. We're starting from a position of trust. More freedom leads to more learning, and more understanding leads to better performance. Focusing on execution limits the system's growth potential. By making ourselves indispensable, we make our teams and organizations less resilient. Once a decision has been made, it should be shared along with the rationale and perspectives that shaped it so that others can learn, too. Consensus is impossible at scale and needs to reflect how adaptive systems work. Recognizing that freedom and autonomy feed motivation is essential. Creating an environment where it is safe to try and fail allows teams to learn and grow in extraordinary ways. It is crucial to trust individuals to recognize opportunities and pursue them. An authentic culture of innovation should not differentiate between operations and invention. We need to understand that innovation is unpredictable. A certain level of variation and divergence is necessary for a healthy self-renewal ecosystem. 

Off Topic: Creating a Culture of Innovation

In a cause-and-effect system, problems can be solved. Yet, organizational culture is not a problem that can be fixed. It is an emerging phenomenon that needs to be developed. Traditional leaders view everything as a factory where working hard and long enough can solve any problem. 

Leaders and teams must understand that how we work is a human-made construction that can be changed. Every organization has a purpose, but not all ensure their purpose is visible at every level. The team's purpose should serve the same function as the organizational one. Legacy organizations use measurements to control and often penalize weak performance. 

The sense at the top is that compliance is needed, but the reason at the bottom is that leadership does not trust anyone. At the bottom, the perception is that leadership only trusts people if the goal is clear. Dealing with complexity is a challenge for bureaucracies. So, leaders and teams must understand that their work is not set in stone but a flexible construct. Instead, using metrics to make decisions and take action is essential. A clear purpose enables freedom and autonomy by ensuring consistent action. 

In today's job market, workplaces are complex and competitive. Meetings are for gathering information and reaching a consensus. It is challenging to lead an organization toward a future where managers have less control than they do now. How can people who are used to being managed learn to self-manage? How can organizations that rely on planning and management recognize that there are better ways to manage risk? How can leaders who value their status and position realize their power doesn't define their worth? These are some of the difficult questions. Culture cannot be designed or controlled, but it will emerge.

Current Work: Changing the Way We Work towards Agility

Agility is key in organizing the learning process and checking the results of our work. This allows us to adjust our direction and ensure we are on the right path. By prioritizing value, we focus on completing the most important tasks first. Through this approach, we may realize we don't need to complete all tasks or that some tasks are no longer necessary. The principles of agility bring our team together to work towards a common goal, fostering unity and purpose among team members. However, gathering evidence and making informed decisions is vital before beginning any task.

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