Archive

Patterns

Riding Productivity Waves

September 24, 2023
Article, Business, Culture change, Memeology, Organisational Therapy, Patterns, Productivity, Psychology, Quintessence
Leave a comment

Riding Productivity Waves

Inspired by James Lawther’s recent book “Managed by Morons”

What Defines Productive Behaviour?

James Lawther’s recent book “Managed by Morons” provides sharp insights into organisational behaviours that make or break productivity. Highly productive organisations often display patterns such as open communication, frequent knowledge sharing, and constructive feedback loops. These patterns create a conducive environment for efficiency, adaptability, and consistent growth.

What Leads to Dysfunction?

On the flip side, dysfunctional organisations exhibit signs of poor communication, stifling bureaucracy, and a toxic work culture. These negative behaviour patterns often stem from flawed management practices, including the suppression of employee autonomy, micro-management, and an emphasis on rigid protocols over innovative thinking.

Are There Middle-Ground Patterns?

Yes, some organisations walk the tightrope between being productive and dysfunctional. Such organisations may have sporadic spurts of productivity, followed by phases of stagnation. Identifiable patterns in these organisations might include inconsistent management styles, fluctuating employee morale, and a lack of stable systems or processes.

How to Shift from Dysfunction to Productivity?

Organisational psychotherapy offers a profound approach to transition from dysfunction to productivity. Unlike traditional methods that may only tackle symptoms, organisational psychotherapy aims to address the root causes of the issues plaguing the workplace.

  1. Open Dialogue: Initiating open conversations allows for the identification of deeply ingrained patterns and beliefs that are contributing to dysfunction.
  2. Safe Space Creation: A non-judgmental and confidential environment enables employees and management to express and discuss concerns and insights that might otherwise remain unspoken and undiscussable.
  3. Deep Inquiry: This involves asking thought-provoking questions to stimulate critical thinking, and fostering awareness of underlying issues that demand attention and remediation.
  4. Shared Understanding and Action: Once there’s clarity about dysfunctional collective assumptions and beliefs, the organisation can decide on actions to disrupt the dysfunctional patterns and encourage behaviours that enhance productivity.
  5. Ongoing Reflection and Adaptation: Organisational psychotherapy is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. Consistently review behavioural patterns and make adjustments to ensure that the shift towards productivity is enduring and effective.

By utilising organisational psychotherapy, you go beyond surface-level fixes to foster a workplace culture that is inherently more adaptive, engaged, and ultimately, more productive.

Final Thoughts

In any organisation, behaviour patterns can indicate the level of productivity or dysfunction. Identifying these patterns early on can save an organisation from a downward spiral or propel it to new heights. It’s crucial to examine these cues critically and, when necessary, take decisive action to instigate change.

Culture isn’t just one aspect of the game, it is the game.

~ Lou Gerstner, former CEO, IBM

And what dictates the culture of any organisation…?

The Great Mexican Standoff

September 17, 2021
Article, Lamentation, Patterns, Reflections
Leave a comment

The Great Mexican Standoff

I’ve seen dozens of organisations from the inside over the past decade. And hundreds over my career.

In almost all of them I’ve noted The Great Mexican Standoff standing tall astride any path to “progress”.

The Standoff

The organisation (more specifically, the management) steadfastly refuses to adjust to the requisites of collaborative knowledge work.

The workers, noting their bosses’ obduracy (and some regarding it as idiocy) pretty soon withdraw all discretionary effort and, effectively, work to rule.

(A Mexican standoff is a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory.)

The Result

An “us vs them” standoff where the status quo rules, quality remains poor, costs remain high, customer satisfaction remains low, engagement remains minimal, and managers’ frustrations remain maximal.

– Bob

The Antimatter Pattern – Update

May 31, 2015
Antimatter principle, Management, Marshall Model, Organisational effectiveness, Organisational Therapy, Patterns
Leave a comment

The Antimatter Pattern – Update

Last year I published a post “The Antimatter Pattern” which provided an Alexandrian-style pattern setting out how the Antimatter Principle provides a solution to one of the most intractable problems in modern business:

Problem: How to create a climate, context, or situation in which folks will want to change their behaviours to the benefit of all.

Or, how to set about fixing the pandemic of workforce disengagement and disinterest so widely reported in the past few years.

I just updated the original StartingTheWheelOfChange pattern (pdf, version 1.1a) which appeared in that post to a newer version: StartingTheWheelOfChange pattern (pdf, version 1.2a).

– Bob

The Antimatter Pattern

August 31, 2014
Antimatter principle, Management, Organisational effectiveness, Organisational Therapy, Patterns
2 Comments

The Antimatter Pattern

Some fifteen years ago now, patterns seemed like they might become a widely adopted way of capturing and sharing knowledge and know-how. It also seems like they never really caught on in the software development field.

Personally, I still find them useful for organising and recording my own thoughts, and, occasionally, for sharing those thoughts with others. This post presents the StartingTheWheelOfChange pattern, which proposes the Antimatter Principle as a solution to one of businesses’ most widespread and seemingly intractable of problems:

Problem: How to create a climate, context, or situation in which folks will want to change their behaviours to the benefit of all.

What Is A Pattern?

A pattern is the formalization of a problem/solution pair, potentially useful in making design decisions. The purpose of a pattern is to codify existing design knowledge/experience so that folks can avoid constantly re-inventing the wheel. Also, by naming such patterns, people can more easily reference and share them. The term pattern was first popularised by the architect Christopher Alexander working in the fields of e.g. building design and town planning.

Some folks refer to collections of patterns – relating to a common domain or discipline – as Pattern Languages. My interest these days is primarily in Pattern Languages for business management and organisational improvement.

My Pattern Form

Most of the patterns I’ve written over the years have shared a common form. You can see an example of this form in the StartingTheWheelOfChange pattern which is the subject of this post. Briefly, this form starts with a header, and then has the following various sections below that:

  • Context: The context(s) in which the pattern might be relevant.
  • Problem: The problem this pattern purport to solve.
  • Forces: The forces at play in the problem domain described by the problem and context sections. Sometimes also known as the trade-offs.
  • Solution: The solution which proposes to solve the stated problem, in the stated context, and resolving the stated forces.
  • Examples: One or more practical examples taken from the author(s)’ personal experience in applying the solution to real-world instances of the stated problem.

Starting The Wheel of Change

The StartingTheWheelOfChange pattern suggests a solution to the question of “How to encourage widespread learning and improvement in a community such as a for-profit organisation. The full pattern is presented as a pdf.

– Bob