Clik here to view.
network leadership = adapting to perpetual beta
Even five years ago it was not the norm to work at a distance. Employers wanted to keep workers on-site when it made no sense. Some asked for people to do virtual work, but still required they be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
principles of networked management
At Red Hat, the enterprise IT company, “managers focus on opportunities, not score-keeping”. ‘We also rely on associates’ peers and communities to informally assess how people perform. We pay...
View ArticleClik here to view.
diverse networks, strong relationships
Sharing complex knowledge requires trusted professional relationships. You cannot just throw people together and hope they will work effectively on difficult problems. “strong interpersonal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
leadership archetypes
Ubiquitous digital networks are extending our capacity to listen and speak with others. In a hyperlinked world, we can tap multiple global perspectives and easily push our own views through various...
View ArticleClik here to view.
you are only as good as your network
I’ve worked as an organizational learning & performance consultant since 1998. Every year I get new challenges but usually I have something in my toolbox that fits the requirement. Then one day in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
the network era trinity
Governance, business, and learning models are moving from centralized control to network-centric foundations. For instance, coalition governments are increasing in frequency, businesses are organizing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
the trinity model
Following up on my last post, the network era trinity, I have put together two images to synthesize the multiple concepts behind them. These images are my attempt to create a simple model that explains...
View ArticleClik here to view.
a triple operating system
Governance, business, and learning models are moving from centralized control to network-centric foundations. For instance, coalition governments are increasing in frequency, businesses are organizing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
the self-governance maturity model
“If we emphasize Autonomy, the Node Artifact, Autonomy as the core organizing principle, this will result in individuals, small groups and tribes, forming complex responsive flows e.g. through...
View ArticleClik here to view.
connecting cooperation and collaboration
According to The Collaboration Paradox: Why Working Together Often Yields Weaker Results, some of the reasons that workplace collaboration fails is due to: overconfidence in our collective thinking;...
View Articleno organization is an island
Organizations are alive when people can exert their autonomy in ethical practice. This aligns with self-determination theory, which puts forward three basic needs for people: competence, autonomy, and...
View Articletransparency sets the stage for trust to develop
Business value increases with transparency. ‘In 2006, restauranteur Jay Porter banned tipping in his San Diego restaurant, the Linkery. Instead, he implemented a service charge, and split...
View Articlecooperation for the network era
Clark Quinn recently asked, as have many others, the difference between collaboration and cooperation, and why it is important. “collaboration means ‘working together’. That’s why you see it in market...
View Articlea simpler approach to km
A recent posting for a six-week knowledge management contract was posted by the UNDP. When it comes to requests for proposals, if you ask for something, you will definitely get offers to produce it....
View Articlecomplexity in the workplace
In my post on complexity and learning, I said that work in networks requires different skills than in hierarchies. Coordination is making sure things get done effectively and efficiently. Most...
View Articleenabling enterprise social networks
Mark Britz says that, “your organization already has an enterprise social network (hint, it’s people not technology). A platform just exposes it.” But it’s not not about the tools either, as in many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“We made up these rules, and we can change them”
Now is the time for a serious rethinking of how we organize in our society: from businesses, to schools, and as communities. We need to base all of our organizations on the principle of temporary,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
human networks connect through empathy
We are only as good as our networks. Our decisions reflect the diversity of our networks. Complex problems usually do not have simple solutions but require a deep understanding of the context. How do...
View ArticleClik here to view.
principles and models for the network era
The End of the Market Era Capitalism today is the ultimate expression of a market dominated society, where money is made from nothing, as financial traders manipulate stocks, currencies, and whatever...
View ArticleClik here to view.
implementing network learning
In the network era, developing the skills of a master artisan in every field of work will be critical for success. While getting work done collaboratively will continue to be of importance in all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
implementing a triple operating system
A triple operating system aligns work and learning and has a network perspective. It is based on three interrelated processes, first proposed by Valdis Krebs: Awareness, Alternatives, Action. My...
View ArticleClik here to view.
enabling self-governing teams
“All forms of governance are failing their citizens — dictatorships and communism failed in the last part of the 20th century, and in this century democracies are not meeting citizen expectations. No...
View ArticleClik here to view.
a new business ideology
“Ideas lead technology. Technology leads organizations. Organizations lead institutions. Then ideology brings up the rear, lagging all the rest—that’s when things really get set in concrete.” – Charles...
View Articleit’s not a skills gap
The lack of skills is not the main problem facing most organizations today, in spite of what many managers and executives might say. Researchers Dave Swenson and Liesl Eathington identified several...
View Articleworking out loud in perpetual beta
So it’s international working out loud week and this year people are encouraged to follow a seven-day structure. Share a purpose Make a connection Make a contribution Share your progress Share a need...
View Articleperpetual beta working model
The perpetual beta working model is just that: a working model about working. I have developed several models that inform my professional practice, such as the network learning model that shows how...
View Articledesigning the emergent organization
In The Rise of Emergent Organizations, Beth Comstock, Vice Chair at GE, provides some rules of thumb to guide organizational design for the emerging network era. It is wonderful to see a large...
View ArticleClik here to view.
innovation in perpetual beta
The perpetual beta working model tries to show how work and learning are related as we negotiate various types of networks to get new ideas, test them out, and innovate how we work. We seek, sense,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
we need faith in the future
This evening I will be presenting a session on Working in Perpetual Beta, at Implement Consulting in Copenhagen. I will be discussing the economic, technological, and communication shifts that are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
one person at a time
Are networks the new companies? Can our markets shift from capitalism to cooperativism? Can our institutions become networks? Can any of us escape our tribal roots and become network era citizens of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
networked knowledge triad
There are three structures that exist in all organizations, with three different sources of power, and three types of leadership required for each structure. This is the thesis that Niels Pflaeging...
View ArticleClik here to view.
networked knowledge creates value
As we enter the network era, the dominant technology is the internet and working knowledge is distributed through professional communities. Compare this to the last 75 years where the company was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
7 essential facets for enterprise knowledge sharing
Most large organizations today have some suite of social tools to share information and knowledge. But how do they know if they have the optimum tools for their context? Too often the tools are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
leave the hierarchies to the algorithms
What happens when you connect unthinking computer programs with a culture of obedience and compliance? Algorithms run much of society and business today, from applying for a mortgage to determining...
View ArticleClik here to view.
life in the jungle
How can you survive in the jungle when you live in a zoo? “Our silos (I won’t even mention cubicles!), like the cages in the zoo, exist to control behaviour and reduce complexity by creating...
View ArticleClik here to view.
filter failure is not acceptable
Fake news. PR hype. Content marketing. Advertorials. Click bait. Propaganda. Doublespeak. Newspeak. Yellow journalism. Shock jocks. Post-truth. Spam. Phishing. Digital information comes from all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
perspectives on new work – synopsis
Perspectives on new work: Exploring emerging conceptualizations, edited by Esko Kilpi, was released by The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra in August 2016. I received a copy last week and found it a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
humans working socially
A lot of traditional human work is getting automated, by machines or software. routine cognitive work is declining manufacturing production in the USA is increasing but jobs are not even the banking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
networked social capital
When FiveThirtyEight published the details of 3 million trolls and bots that were linked to the Russian-based company Internet Research Agency, they were merely providing data. Two researchers...
View ArticleClik here to view.
sense-making beyond the outrage
A number of people I know have recently left Facebook and/or Twitter. I can understand why, as I left Facebook about eight years ago. I was an early adopter and thought it was going to help make a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
curiosity and resolve
Jony Ive, Chief Design Officer at Apple, was the first recipient of the Stephen Hawking Fellowship at Cambridge Union. His lecture to a crowd of about 400 was covered by The Independent — Apple...
View ArticleClik here to view.
changing structures
“For the first time since the industrial revolution, organizations are changing at a fundamental level. The change is very much a work in progress in most organizations. But we now have many examples...
View ArticleClik here to view.
hybrid sailors
According to The Atlantic 2019-07, the US Navy has been piloting a new way of manning its Littoral Combat class ships, which are modular by design. The crew are all multi-purpose, with several roles...
View ArticleClik here to view.
co-learning is better than marketing
Work is learning, and learning is the work. Marketing, for the most part, is about learning. What’s interesting is that ” … the content developed by most marketing departments is used in less than 7...
View ArticleClik here to view.
the knowledge artisan
An artisan is skilled in a craft and uses specialized tools or machinery. Artisans were the dominant producers of goods before the Industrial Revolution. Knowledge artisans are similar to their...
View ArticleClik here to view.
optimizing distributed work
Now that distributed work has become the norm — permanently for some and temporarily for others — there are two things any organization can do to work, learn, and innovate in internet time. Optimize...
View ArticleClik here to view.
the new normal of remote work
“Working from home is not an option for every job, but there is clear evidence that it can have major advantages in the right applications and with the right workers. And as we show in this report it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
stories for the network age
The TIMN model [Tribes + Institutions + Markets + Networks] developed by David Ronfeldt has influenced much of my own work in looking at how we are moving toward a network society and must create...
View ArticleClik here to view.
unity, not uniformity
One hundred years ago, management pioneer Mary Parker Follett wrote that “Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
a decade of digital transformation
With a focus on improving collaboration, sensemaking, and knowledge sharing in teams, communities and networks, I have had the privilege of working with a wide variety of clients. Ten years ago I tried...
View Article
