Leadership is no longer what it used to be. Traditional leadership models emphasised a person’s ability to set out a clear vision and mission and then to mobilise an organisation guided by best practices and aligned action. Although still relevant, the current pandemic has offered new and compelling insights into what gives an organisation strength and agility.
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As restrictions ease, merely getting together to do activities, or what is often referred to as ‘team-building’, is a massive missed opportunity. The coming months present a unique opportunity to build from a period of uncertainty and turmoil, and create teams that become more deeply connected than ever before. Teams that have the ambition and capability to cause outstanding breakthroughs.
How 6 people and a coach designed and built a new global operation in 3 months
Meet the Intrapreneurs. They already work for you. They have ideas and insights that will elevate the company’s impact and are prepared to take on and lead this challenge. They are the source of ideas that could rejuvenate your company, get you back on top of your game in difficult times and be the attractor for extraordinary talent to seek your company out. But, how do you find them, retain them and partner with them to make this happen?
"The programme guides you inwardly at the way that you are as a human being. It's teaching you to think about yourself and the way that you are, rather than filling you with loads of facts. This programme is more mentally challenging than any other training most people have been on. A lot of training has an afterglow which might last a month or two, but I want something that has a sustainable impact and we now have that."
An interview with Prof. Dave Snowden, creator of the Cynefin Framework, founder and CSO of Cognitive Edge. An extremely interesting episode for people who want to learn more about managing complexities in their lives.
“Creating this intergenerational cooperation is the essence of the on-going modernisation of this organisation. This is new and untested territory that we are going into. In my staff team we often say that we are flying a plane as we are building it – which is a deadly dangerous sport. It is a very interesting management experience, though!”
When there is a commitment in place to go beyond incremental performance improvement and the 'wisdom of the crowd' is required, collaboration is the only way to go. However, any collaborative environment is highly complex, but in service of highlighting some important points it is worth considering that there are 6 Levels of Collaboration and the delivery of extraordinary results through collaboration is dependent on how far up this hierarchy one is willing and able to go.
Leicester was a 5,000-to-1 shot at the start of the season. They had just a fraction of the payroll of the financial mammoths at the top of the league. What emerged in Leicester’s 2016 team was an alignment of strengths so effective that it transcended the relative weakness of their individual players. This synthesis of strengths is what the most outstanding organisations achieve at their zenith. The question is, how can we achieve this consistently?
"I wanted to work in a company that makes a direct difference to people’s lives. If you’re driven that way, and an engineer, becoming the CEO of Network Rail must be the best job in the country! I have to rely on my engineering skills, technical judgement and experiences that I have had in my life, and the job affects the lives of 45 million people every day."
Why Agile transformations must start from within.
Looking at the reality of plans in complex environments.
Introducing a simple technique for keeping meetings energised and focussed.
A case study in using complexity concepts to understand human systems.
How an understanding of neuroscience might help us think about organisational change.
The case of one hospital's success in adopting a reflective approach to achieve lasting change.
An alternative take on the 'meetings problem' trope.
Introducing a powerful mapping technique for evaluating business opportunities: Wardley Maps.
FirstHuman is delighted to announce its partnership with Cognitive Edge for the deployment of SenseMaker for culture change. SenseMaker is a ground-breaking platform that enables leaders and change makers to gain greater insight into what's really going on in their organisations. Executives and team leaders use it make better decisions when seeking to change their culture or when looking for innovation ideas that are likely to stick.
6 lessons learnt from our partner Richard Atherton when he led an award-winning transformation.
Why Lean Change? Because it works better. We know that taking Lean and Agile approaches have proved to be significantly more effective in developing software. However, as change leaders and managers, we work at a level of complexity equalling if not exceeding that of software challenges. When we take a Lean/Agile approach, we markedly improve our effectiveness.
To take part in our executive roundtables and events with leaders who are committed to changing the world of work, please get in touch.