“When we combine the insides of both, a clearer picture emerges:
We want to go toward a world of self-determining people. We recognize that many people need to make a major transition, and that they will arrive there faster if given outside support.”
– Will Schutz, “The Truth Option”, 1984
… and it originated in myself – in the circumstances I would like if I were a coworker
— Mats Birgersson on his approach for decision making closer to the “doer” at Fresh
… from interview with Karin Tenelius (in Swedish) https://youtu.be/GWsXOjMrUVY
Here’s a favourite tool for the workplace or elsewhere. Say you’re working on something and you’d like feedback – this tool helps you get feedback and suggestions on improvement in a way that’s almost pleasurable. I know, sounds improbable.
It goes like this …
First, requester asks “perfector” to play “the perfection game” on something requester is working on.
Assuming they agree …
Requester shows perfector the “thing”
The perfector rates the thing on a scale 1–10 according to how much additional value s/he thinks s/he can add (if perfector cannot say how to make the object better, s/he must give it a 10!)
Perfector says “What I liked about the thing was …” and proceeds to list the qualities of the thing s/he enjoyed
Perfector says ”For it to be a 10 for me, it would …” and describes what s/he sees
Commitments
Requester accepts perfecting reflections without argument
Perfector gives only positive comments: what s/he likes and what it would take to “be a 10”
If perfector cannot specifically say how to make the object better, she/he must give it a 10
“Perfection Game” is created by Jim and Michelle McCarthy, one of their many great “apps”.
“Paradoxically, our [principle] that there is no single way to manage corporate issues well presents corporate personnel with the challenge of taking risks – even as they are aware that they cannot know the best course to take.
This means acting on their best educated guesses. And because every action is based on a guess, leaders cannot be blamed for guesses that prove to be wrong.
Gathering the courage to act, they let others know of the limited knowledge upon which a decision is made, and then move forward. In a sense, every action is a “draft”. RHD is an organization in the process of continually and consciously creating drafts.”
The excerpt is from the book “The Common Good Corporation” (2006) by Robert and Barbara Fishman. The book tells the story about RHD, (Resources for Human Development Inc.).
The company founded in 1970 provides mental health services, community living for special groups and more.
In RHD much of decision-making is with the working individuals and teams, guided by values and assumptions, as the one exemplified above.
In 2006 when the book was written, RHD’s turnover was $162 million.
“In pursuing these values, our staff has generated a surging revenue stream, with a growth averaging 28% per year during our 37 years of existence.”
“In a Concordant decision I can get anything I want, but not necessarily everything I want.
I am forced to choose between getting what I want and getting my way.”
Source: “More On Concordance”
I heard this story in a podcast last summer and was moved. It’s a 3-minute sound clip and needs some context …
Here, Dee Hock (91 years old this year) speaks about a moment in 1970, Dee was a 41-year-old bank manager at The National Bank of Commerce and had experimented with self-organisation and was now trying to form a new form of collaborative organisation between banks for a credit card – one that would become VISA, the largest commercial enterprise on earth at some point.
When the story begins, Dee has just asked his boss, the bank’s President Max Carlson, to be allowed to work for the experimental project on the bank’s expense, as it had no legal entity or budget of its own – to which Carlson agreed. Dee needed, however, additional aid …
———
The whole story is found in a fascinating 7-part interview on the podcast “The Innovation Show” with Aidan McCullen: – “Dee Hock, VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organisation”
“But a large auditing firm confirmed it: the 3.3 million SEK in profit was there. The year before there had been a loss of 4.4 million SEK.
So the company was profitable, the team was now in charge and I was able to move on. Looking back, it’s clear the team made this transformation possible:
When I added it up, during the eight months as CEO of Komanco I had worked a total of just 18 days.”
– Karin Tenelius on her input as interim CEO of consulting firm Komanco in 2001. From the book “Moose Heads on the Table” by Karin Tenelius and Lisa Gill (2020).
This one is exceptionally only in Swedish. It’s about a pioneering Swedish entrepreneur, who let his emplyees make decisions. If someone wants to translate in the comments, feel free.
Nedanstående citat låter som: Karlssons på taket förbättrade samlingar
Nedanstående citat är: En svensk redovisningsföretagares ledarskapstips
“Intuitionen har många fiender. Den allvarligaste är regelverk. […] I KAPITLET OM ATT SKROTA BESTÄMMELSER ger jag exempel på bestämmelser som lämpligen kan slopas i första hand.”
Mera? Jaaa:
Låter som: utopister
”I Björn Lundén Information [AB] får varje medarbetare själv fatta beslut om inköp utan någon övre beloppsgräns.”
Är: ett gäng som sedan uttalandet gjordes år 2001 har vuxit till ca 115 anställda från dryga 30.
Bägge citaten ur ”Ledarskap och företagande – speed intuition management” av Björn Lundén
#annatärmöjligt #inspiration
In their blog, Corporate Rebels write about Viisi, a Dutch financial services company where …
… every employee knows what he or she will earn in the future.
This means … during the job interviews I will know:
1) what I will earn if I join, and how much I will earn during all the years I work there
2) what everybody else in the company earn
What?
“The candidates have responded very positively to the fact that they no longer have to negotiate.”
What’s the logic behind all this?
“The starting point was the question how we could least disturb the intrinsic motivation of the employees and how we could take out demotivating or counterproductive forms of extrinsic incentive.”
What if I get attracted to a competitor who woos me with bigger pay?
“Because we are at the top quarter of the benchmark and salaries are rising automatically […] this creates psychological safety and you don’t have to worry about it all the time.”
With no reflection in pay … how will I stay motivated to do my best?
“… insufficient performance is solved by the group. If the framework conditions are right, people have an intrinsic need to become better […] and in a team, people help each other.
Only if someone is a real “asshole” or does not do his or her part, will the team colleagues not accept it. In the long run, the person then leaves on his or her own, because you can’t stand the pressure of the group for long.”
“But what we do have is a participation in shares. Ten percent of the shares are reserved for employees. Everyone gets one point every year, regardless of job function and working hours.
In the event of a sale or IPO, all points are added together and the value of the employee shareholding is divided by the number of points.”
Exciting! I love it when people try things out and find new ways to choose from. Article on Corporate Rebels: https://corporate-rebels.com/why-we-should-not-punish-intrinsic-motivation/
I found this Inspiration section you are reading as I skimmed through the website archives, having unpublished it in 2015. “This is good stuff”, I thought. So I opened it again.
