Today’s corporate organizations are powerful entities, a collective of individuals with a shared purpose capable of remarkable achievements, from developing advanced AI technologies to launching next-generation space explorations or pioneering renewable energy solutions. But with great power comes great responsibility. The corporate world plays a pivotal role in tackling some of the world’s most pressing […]

Part 2 The organization as a whole system In part 1 of this blog, I argued that organization design is ‘all about the people’ and also ‘all about the work’. When you bring these principles to life in an organization design effort, you’ll have a good chance of creating change with a real impact. At […]

Part 1 People and work In my consulting work, I’m a witness to the incredible potential within organizations. They are filled with smart, talented individuals fuelled by a shared motivation to make a positive impact on the world. Frustratingly, this talent and enthusiasm sometimes collides with organizational barriers such as unnecessary bureaucracy, multiple reporting requirements, […]

Today’s leaders increasingly need to adjust their strategy in ‘real time’. This can create mis-alignment throughout their organization, because such rapid or repeated change calls into question the way teams are structured, how roles are defined, how performance and governance is enabled and measured, and whether previously successful behaviours will be right for a new […]

I’m not the first (and won’t be the last) person to point out that we’ve just been through a dramatic if not seismic period of disruption across pretty much every sector of society and the economy. We are undergoing regular and repeated ‘shocks’ caused by global pandemic, climate emergency, extreme weather events, protest and political […]

If the transition to a more remote way of working feels like a seismic shift, you are not alone. Before the pandemic, only around 50% of companies allowed employees to work from home – now it is more than 99%, according to a Josh Bersin Academy report. In conversations with our client network, we heard […]

You can also listen to the podcast on this topic recorded with Louis de Schorlemer and Corporate Diplomat. Every merger starts with strategic intent If you are involved in supporting a merger or acquisition, how well do you understand the strategic intent of the transaction? Any well-planned press release will mention the strategic benefits of […]

Finding a qualified consultant can be challenging. When you need professional consulting support for an important project, are you scrambling to find the right fit? Maybe you trust your gut feeling, rely on word of mouth recommendations, review their website, or invite them to pitch in a “beauty contest”. But even if you identify someone […]

Recently at the Mannheim Drucker Forum I listened to a talk from Jos de Blok, Founder of neighbourhood nursing group Buurtzorg. Maybe you’ve heard of Buurtzorg, a Dutch company that is leading the way in transforming healthcare with an organization model based on purpose and self-management principles? If not, check them out here. Before hearing […]

My head is still buzzing after joining the Atlassian Open in Vienna. Atlassian is a company that provides software tools to help teams “unleash their full potential”. Atlassian is also known for their refreshingly direct company values, such as “Open company, no bullshit”. But they don’t just publish their values to sound cool. They develop […]

My work focuses on building trust into the system to create a trust-based way of working. I will help you to apply design criteria to elements of the organization such as structure, processes and policies. If the criteria include trust, for example, then a trust-based culture is likely to be one outcome of the organization […]

If you want to redesign how you work in your team, I will introduce you to a variety of techniques that make teamwork surprisingly more effective. I can share many examples of how other companies changed the way they organize and work. You will try different approaches and then decide what and how to integrate […]

Surprising news! The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer found that people trust their own employers more than any other institution, 75% of respondents said they trust “my employer”, that’s more than those who expressed trust in government, business in general, NGOs or the media. Trust is associated with employee engagement and company performance, so this is […]