Category Archives: Change

Evolving the Organisation

Just a quick #WorkingOutLoud post today, sharing an illustration around ‘evolving the Organisation’. This plays on the notion of the Structural Organisation (the parts we can engineer, see, own, and control. The building blocks of the formal space. Perhaps as … Continue reading

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Change as a Social Movement: The Language of Protest

Change is afoot: the burning of headscarves by schoolgirls in Iran, the scaling of bridges in the UK, massed tractors in France, or Occupy movements on Wall Street. We see people #TakeAKnee, or glue themselves to roads, throw soup, paint, … Continue reading

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Death of the University: Exploring the Bastions of Quality

That nothing persists should be the foundation of our thinking: not nations nor mountains, beliefs nor blossoms. Everything that is built will erode and fail. Whilst the mechanisms of judgement may range from the erosive quality of sand and wind … Continue reading

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Early Stage #WorkingOutLoud on Social Movements and Change

I feel like i am chasing around an idea at the moment, and the work i am sharing today is not an end point, but perhaps an iteration: it is a chance for me to revise some language and explore … Continue reading

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Performance – Culture – Agency

I’ve been exploring aspects of culture this week, and the following work is a reflection on the relationship between ‘Culture’ and ‘Performance’. In it, i am presenting a hypothesis more so than a comprehensive exploration, and the hypothesis relates to … Continue reading

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#FutureWork – a Series of Imperfect Essays

This week i’m sharing a short series of imperfect essays exploring aspects of the evolution of work, and the Organisations that it takes place within. Specifically, i am not trying to make this a coherent and congruent view: there may … Continue reading

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5 Broken Things in the New Normal

Amidst much hype of a ‘New Normal’, some things may well have actually changed for good. The Pandemic carries with it two fundamental truths which have finally fractured some dominant narratives of the past. Firstly, real change happened fast, imposed … Continue reading

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Diagnostic to Mechanistic

When we seek to understand something, there is great value in frameworks or tools that can let us observe, categorise, quantify, and assess. Our quest for knowledge leads us to take things apart as we learn how they operate: anything … Continue reading

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But what if the Future is Terribly Messy?

The future is bright, or so we are told: we strive to transform our Organisations, to unlock new potential, to achieve great things. But what if all we do is make a mess? The challenge may come because we come … Continue reading

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‘The Socially Dynamic Organisation’: Domains, Hierarchy, and Investment

The first chapter of my new book on the Socially Dynamic Organisation considers the origins of our existing Organisational Design, and the ways that ‘domains’ were established. These Domains have gone on to influence everything else: the ways that power … Continue reading

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