Category Archives: Control

Inconvenient Truths

Posted on October 5, 2022 by julianstodd

Just because something is easy to understand does not make it true, and, conversely, just because something is complex, incomplete, and distasteful to our current conception of the truth, that discomfort alone does not make it wrong. Whilst we enjoy … Continue reading →

Posted in Complexity, Control, Failure | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Failure, Complexity and Control

Posted on March 31, 2022 by julianstodd

With some irony, i am deep in complexity as i design a workshop for next week of the same name: this is a familiar feeling. Typically i start by trying to ‘say’ too much – too many slides, too many … Continue reading →

Posted in Complexity, Control, Failure | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Crowds

Posted on March 13, 2018 by julianstodd

I recently shared a taxonomy of Social organisation, looking at ‘tribal’ structures, ‘communities’, and ‘organisations’. I’m continuing to evolve this, partly to allow me to try out new language. The vocabulary we use, to describe things, is laden with predetermined … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Conformity, Control | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Intertwined Systems

Posted on November 27, 2017 by julianstodd

There’s an illusion of a woodcut that you may have seen: look at it, and you see the silhouette of an old women, but then, the image shifts, and you see a young woman’s face. Concentrate hard, and it shifts … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Complexity, Concepts, Control | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Types of Power: Manifestations of Control

Posted on August 31, 2017 by julianstodd

I’m reflecting on inertia today: many organisations desire agility, want to change, intend to do better, and yet fall to constraint. Within the work on the Socially Dynamic Organisation, ‘constraint’ is a state of well intentioned inability: an inability to … Continue reading →

Posted in Control | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Vertical Mechanisms of Control: The Evolution of HR

Posted on May 11, 2016 by julianstodd

The architecture of many modern organisations is rooted in the iron and steam of Victorian engineering. Massive pillars: mechanisms of control, exerted by the organisation over the individual. HR, despite it’s best intentions, despite it’s desire to change, is all … Continue reading →

Posted in Control | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Reflections on CIPD 2015 HR Conference

Posted on November 4, 2015 by julianstodd

There’s an inescapable irony in the fact that the first time i asked someone “What’s the best thing you’ve seen at the HR conference today“, they replied with a case study of a company that’s ditched HR. If the writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Control | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Uncertainty is the only constant

Posted on October 2, 2013 by julianstodd

The Social Age is about constant change: the evolving nature of work, a changed relationship with knowledge, agile technology and the blurring of the space between formal and informal spaces. This is not a period of transition between stable states: … Continue reading →

Posted in Authority, Challenge, Change, Collaboration, Community, Control, Culture, Innovation, Leadership, Meaning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Graffiti: the stories we tell

Posted on September 23, 2013 by julianstodd

I found a new Bortusk poster in Amsterdam today. A slightly torn and weathered neon monster staring out at me from the side of a skip as i cycled past. I think that brings to about fifteen the number i’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Adaptability, Aesthetics, Art, Community, Control, Culture, Environment, Graffiti, Learning, Meaning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 137 Comments

Changing culture: evolving values and needs in the Social Age

Posted on September 6, 2013 by julianstodd

You can view organisational culture in two ways: created by the organisation and inhabited by people, or co-created by the people and framed by the organisation. I subscribe to the latter view, recognising that tribal knowledge and experience massively influences … Continue reading →

Posted in Adaptability, Agile, Authority, Challenge, Change, Collaboration, Community, Control, Creative, Disturbance, Effectiveness, Innovation, Leadership, Narrative, Social Learning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments