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Quickies

Quickie: Organisational Psychotherapy Defined

September 2, 2023
Organisational effectiveness, Organisational Therapy, Quickies
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Quickie: Organisational Psychotherapy Defined

Ever wondered why some organisations just seem to get it right while others lag behind? It’s not just about strategy or tech; it’s about collective assumptions and beliefs.How is your organisation curating its shared assumptions and beliefs?

Dive into the fundamentals of Organisational Psychotherapy and learn how these shape your organisation’s destiny. Intrigued? Find all the juicy details in our blog post, “OP 101: The Core Essentials of Organisational Psychotherapy.”

Read the full article here

Quickie: Who’s Got Your Back?

July 8, 2022
Experts, Quickies, Remuneration, Training
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Who’s got your back when it comes to remaining relevant in a fast-changing skills market? Who can you rely on to point out new skills that will become vogue in one, five, ten years’ time?

Given the time it takes to develop such skills to the point where they become useful to clients and employers, when do you start ramping up new skills in anticipation of emergent demand for them?

Especially when some new skills area suggests a sea-change from your existing skill set and comfort zone?

Or maybe you’re just accepting of increasing irrelevancy and declining rates of pay?

Quickie: Not A Software Developer

July 3, 2022
Antimatter principle, Coding, NoSoftware, Quickies
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I’ve not called myself a software developer for at least thirty years. That’s not to say I’ve stopped coding. Far from it. But the end in mind has changed. From “developing software” to “attending to folks’ needs”. Seems to me that latter frame offers far more potential for satisfaction – both for me and for those I serve – than coding ever did. See also: #NoSoftware and the Antimatter Principle.

Quickie: Why Are Toasters Like Employees?

June 25, 2022
Leadership, Management, Organisational effectiveness, Quickies, Reflections
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This is my DeLonghi four slice toaster. It’s been doing sterling service in my kitchen for the past seven years. If you’re looking for a toaster, you could do a lot worse.

Only last week I (finally!) discovered the “bagel” button. Which turns off one element in each slot so as to toast only one side of a bagel, burger bun, etc.

What’s this anything to do with employees?

It strikes me we often treat employees like I have treaded my toaster. We overlook some of the things they can do, really useful things, through familiarity and/or lack of attention. Their talents in some areas go begging because we’re habituated to seeing them in only one light. We succumb to the functional fixedness bias (not limited to objects, methinks).

Aside: FWIW I’ve never used the “defrost” or “reheat” buttons either. I guess my toaster is currently quietly looking for a new, more appreciative boss.

Quickie: Back on Twitter, Kinda

June 21, 2022
Alien tech, Community, Quickies, Quintessence, Social media
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I’m back on Twitter. Kinda.

Yes I said years ago I wouldn’t be returning. And I have not exactly returned. Judge me as you will.

I’m now one of the folks tweeting on behalf of The Quintessential Group. Twitter handle: @AlienTechGroup

Tweeting about The Group and all things Alien Tech and Quintessential.

BTW Also on LinkedIn – in person and as The Quintessential Group.

Maybe we’ll see you out there?

 

Quickie: Love Of Coding

June 18, 2022
Alien tech, Coding, Culture change, Lamentation, NoSoftware, Organisational effectiveness, Quickies, Quintessence, Technical
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After all these years, I still love coding (as in writing software).

It’s just that it’s tainted by the certainty that there’s so many other more effective ways of adding value and meeting folks’ needs.

Spending time coding feels so… self-indulgent.

Quickie: Organisational Inanities And Insanities

June 16, 2022
Business, Culture change, Organisational effectiveness, Organisational Therapy, Quickies
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Almost everybody complains about the inanities and insanities of organisational life. The inanities and insanities of their organisation. And yet, nobody seems to want to do anything about it.

Where do these inanities and insanities come from? What are the causes? If we can understand the causes, perhaps we CAN do something about them?

This is an underlying premise of Organisational Psychotherapy. OP posits the cause to be the collective assumptions and beliefs of the organisation. And the remedy? Surfacing those assumptions and beliefs and providing everyone, collectively, with opportunites to reflect on them.

Are you piqued by your organisation’s inanities and insanities? How do they detract from your aims, ambitions and success? Would you be interesting in looking into a remedy?

Quickie: Flexible Working

June 15, 2022
Antimatter principle, Play, Quickies, Quintessence
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Flexibile working means choosing the places and times of your working as meets folks’ needs – each and every single day. Needs change, sometimes daily. And it’s not just about you and your needs.

And while we’re at it, how about we swap out the idea of “working” for “playing”? #DoNothingThatIsNotPlay #SeriousPlay #Schrage