Planning in an Agile Organisation
Agility is often mentioned to be the accelerator for performance. And yes, when introduced in the right way, agile working methods can deliver solutions that are closer to what customers need within a shorter time frame. At the same time, I observe that these benefits are not so easily reached. One crucial component is how we are planning with agility. Oh, are we still planning in agile? Yes, we...
In 2019 we had too many meetings - Today we conduct three times more
Yesterday, I talked with a friend about the fact that we tripled the amount of meetings since we enjoyed more freedom of working at home - compared to 2019 where we already complained about too many meetings. The main point we contemplated is that now, we even need to schedule a random chat with our friends. Something went wrong. Let's face it; most meetings are inefficient and lack purpose and...
![[Case Study] How a team switched to a sequential approach to increase productivity](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a5639e95f8f2c71916fa775/1786499964482-VXHA82NHWI6X75RQ8QG9/image-asset.jpeg)
[Case Study] How a team switched to a sequential approach to increase productivity
Over the last decade, I could collect many examples where teams and entire organisations tried to accomplish too many things at the same time - with the result that they are advancing very slowly. I observed this in manufacturing environments, corporate functions, product development teams, etc. And I am sure, many of you agree to this. And still, there are so many important topics; how to...
How to encourage accountability? Give away control!
Many companies are in the process to define the annual performance goals and in this context, we often talk about accountability. Harvard Business Review was recently sharing some interesting insights, how these goals are set; for example, 21% of the employees feel that they can control their goals and 69% of employees feel that they don't perform up to their potential . How are you creating...
I am Proud to be a Change Management Practitioner
This year, I am celebrating my 10 year anniversary as a practitioner in the field of change management. I started to get curious about the topic while I was deep in implementing knowledge management programs at a multinational company. We were constantly presenting new ways of working to our colleagues and it was natural to get closer to the levers of facilitating change. Admittedly, Change...
How is Excellence Distinct from Innovation and Transformation?
In my practice, I am often talking about three different topics: change management, operational excellence and innovation. For many people, they are very different concepts and many companies assign these to different departments. What makes them so distinct? Or are they not? For me, they are strongly supporting each other and tightly interlinked. Let's start with innovation . This topic is about...
Antifragility Study 2021: People Take Center Stage. Vision and direction are lacking
We are excited to provide you with the findings of our follow-up study about how leaders in Asia and Europe are working through the pandemic. If you remember, in July we published the first report: Teams Come First - New Business Models Later . Here comes part two... The second study has crystallized some key questions for the way forward: How do you provide a sense of stability in an uncertain...
Are you ready to let go? Go beyond empowerment.
In the last post , I shared arguments to shift from command & control to guide & facilitate leadership. What does that actually mean? What are the new leadership routines? In the context of positive leadership, I am promoting two key activities for an effective leaders: establish a collective dream and actively let go. Let me start with one question: as a leader, are you controlling your entire...
Leadership towards Creativity & Ownership
Command and control leadership style is outdated - we heard this many times. What makes it outdated? What are the alternatives? How can we establish the right routines for a new leadership approach? There are many debates around this topic and I feel I want to share my belief and opinion. Control - let's start with this as many of us have experienced it in form of micro-management. Frequent...
Is Your Happiness Dependent on Your Goals?
When is the last time that you have been frustrated that you have not reached your objectives? This might be a personal fitness objective, an ambitious result for your sport or a project deliverable at work. In my practice, I observe that most people are setting goals that seem to be unachievable. Which can lead to frustration and in the best case, lack of celebration. Is this in itself a bad...
A New Year with New Priorities - Who Owns Them?
What are your new resolutions for 2021? The start of the new year is usually the opportunity to rethink our priorities, to trigger new behaviour, and to create a new, positive momentum for personal growth . In the last few days, while asking people about their 2021 priorities, I heard a few times the same thing: "I need to see what my boss tells me". And to be honest, I was a bit shocked. Who is...