January 13, 2005

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Principle # 2 - Managing in a Wired World

January 13, 2005 in Main Page | 4 comments

The second of 10 …

 
 
Principle # 2
 
The organization chart usually reflects power and politics in the organization … more often than not, customers and employees find work-arounds to create the experiences that delight
 
 
Most organization charts reflect an organizational design that is intended to deliver a strategy developed by a small group of people sitting on the top of an organization.
 
 
 
Evaluating and ordering jobs in terms of their size and importance is often used to implement the organizational design.
 
 
 
Most methods of job evaluation use factors, logic and language that was developed in the 1950’s and 1960’s – perfect for the Industrial Age, less than perfect for the interconnected Information Age.
 
 
 
Often, reporting relationships and chains-of-command get in the way.
 
 
 
Why do you think the Dilbert comic strip has been so successful for so long ?
 
 
 
Probably because people know that lots of time, energy and effort is expended keeping bosses happy – usually at the expense of customers.
 
 
 
Many managers aspired to, and spent the last twenty years, learning how to become “bosses”.  Do you know what prison guards are called by the inmates ?  You guessed it –
 
 
 

Boss

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Ten Principles For Our Interconnected Workplace

January 13, 2005 in Main Page | 2 comments

About a year and a half ago I wrote what I intended to be a little booklet that set out one principle per page, just a few bullet points … ten principles in all … based on my past experience consulting to organizations about work, workers and management/leadership development.

 
I find myself wondering if I could work it up into a ChangeThis manifesto.  What does anyone think ?
 
I’ll post one per day for the next 10 days anyway, just to keep the stuff fresh.  While it may seem obvious to some, and overly “democratic” to some, I’m pretty sure that this is what many many workers think and want (or some variation thereof … witness the sustained success of Dilbert).
 
 
Principle # 1
 
 

Customers, employees and other stakeholders are all interconnected, and have access to most, if not all the information that everyone else has

 
 
 
This fact has large implications for any organization.  It means that you can’t hide – anywhere.
 
 
Michael Schrage of MIT puts it very succinctly:
 
 
 

Networks make organizational culture and politics explicit

 
 
 
It’s essential, in this interconnected age of instant accessibility to information and knowledge, that as a leader and manager you are aware of the potent force that is contained in networks of connected information and people.
 
 
The implications are clear.
 
 
People have to understand and believe in what an organization is doing, why the organization is doing what it does, and how it’s doing it.
 
 
The messages have to be clear and believable, and the culture that carries out the organization’s mandate and mission has to be flexible, responsive and open.
 
 
Fear and cynicism, being driven to perform – as opposed to being invited to contribute your best – can’t carry the day.
 

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I’d Swear …

January 13, 2005 in Main Page | No comments

… it sure feels like the intervals between reporting the next-millionth blog are shortening.

It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that I noted on this blog that the Technorati blogometer turned over 5,000,000 blogs being watched, and here we are again.

As of 9.00 p.m. PST, Technorati is tracking 5,959,830 blogs.

I’ll bet that the 6,000,000 mark is passed by midnight tomorrow, January 13th.

Check back later and I’ll report on how long it’s been since the 5,000,000 blog mark was surpassed.

Update

The roll-over of Technorati’s blogometer as the 5,000,000 blog mark sailed by was on December 11, 2004. If the 6,000,000 blog mark is surpassed tomorrow that will be 34 days in which 1,000,000 blogs have been created and have come to the attention of Technorati.

That’s roughly 30,000 per day during that period. Either something’s off in terms of the counting, or the rate of blog creation has significantly accelerated … because for quite a while the rate of blog creation seemed to be holding reasonably steady at about 12,000 to 15,000 per day, if I remember correctly.

Update #2

6,001,998 weblogs watched - as of 8.50 p.m. Pacific Standard Time