Decrapify Work or Die (save someone, save yourself)
Movin' out
I am moving this not-newsletter across to Substack, so it will look a bit different next week and you might need to fish it out of your junk mail folder. Substack is a bit more elegant in how it works and, crucially, creates an archive automatically, which I currently have to do manually on my website. So it will make it MUCH easier for you to go back and read past issues, which I know you will all want to do in your upcoming summer holidays! (Because, if you’re in the UK, you ain't going anywhere and it’s bound to rain, so what else are you going to do?)
Right said Fred?
This journey started for me when I read Frederick Laloux’s ‘Reimagining Organizations’ and started to meet other people who were interested in changing the world of work. Up to then I’d just been fulminating to myself and so finding others was a big step forward.
In a presentation at the ‘Teal around the world’ conference, Otti Vogt challenged Laloux’s work and he and Antionette Weibel have been working on a ‘Teal 2.0’ that grounds it in management science (as they explain in this article).
I didn’t entirely agree with Otti’s criticism but, like all good provocations, it got me thinking. Laloux’s book came out 6 years ago, it’s probably time for an re-appraisal.
One of the points in the book, and something he repeated when I saw him speak at the RSA, was that the organisation cannot progress beyond the consciousness of the leader. The leader must do the inner work to raise their own consciousness before they can move the organisation up to ‘TEAL’ or something similar.
At the time, this resonated with me and seemed to make obvious sense. After all, change is an inside-out process, it all starts from within, with a transformation of self. And obviously, you can’t have an enlightened organisation if the person at the top is a managerial neanderthal, it just doesn’t work.
But now I can see there’s a couple of problems. Firstly, changing self is not the solution, it’s only part of the solution. We see this today as organisations roll out wellness and personal development initiatives without making any changes to the system and expect that to produce change (it doesn’t, other than changes in personnel). It’s like handing out crutches but not stopping the system breaking their legs.
Secondly, if the CEO has to go through a personal awakening and raise their conscious to a higher level before the organisation can develop to a higher level (be that TEAL or whatever), that’s a bloody big ask. Told they have to do that, most leaders will run a mile, ensuring this change goes even slower than female equality in the workplace. (I’m skating over the fact that this also prolongs the ‘hero leader’ narrative, that’s a whole other piece).
The other part of the equation is system change, the environment that we exist in. We are not in a bubble, we interact with the world around us and that context interacts with our inner world. There is an interplay between the system and the self that can spiral down (which we see too often) but can also spiral up.
I’ve always led teams by creating an environment in which people thrive, which starts by setting boundaries and norms of behaviour. A positive environment encourages positive behaviour, it brings out the best in people. (The converse is true, of course, which we see in toxic environments).
So the system has to change at the same time as the individuals and if we get the spiral going in the right direction, the one will drag the other up and vice versa. This is a much more attractive proposition for leaders because their personal journey is implied rather than front and centre (this is, of course, true for everyone in the organisation). Changing the system is a more comfortable idea, it becomes an intellectual challenge, whereas personal transformation is unknown and likely to trigger a fear response (at which points, all bets are off).
Now, you may think there’s a certain deceit involved here, a sleight hand, sneaking the scary personal bit in under the cloak of the comfortable stuff. I’d say, perhaps, but we do many things in life that, when we look back, we say “It would have been a whole lot easier and much less painful, if I’d have known about it at the beginning. However, if I had known what I was letting myself into, I wouldn’t have started in the first place. But now I’m really glad I did.” Seems to me that’s how we need to approach reinventing organisations.
I think the work that Otti and Antionette are doing is really valuable and I look forward to seeing where they go with it. I still love ‘Reinventing Organizations’ though, despite its flaws. As well as connecting me with like-minded people, it gave us a whole new language to talk about organisations, gave us some real-life examples and, most importantly, gave us hope that things could change for the better.
(I’ve probably mangled all the concepts here and mixed them up hopelessly but this me ‘working out loud’, so if you think I have misunderstood something, get in touch and let's have a discussion.)
He’s not heavy, he’s my brother
Have you heard of Camerados? I had cause to mention this wonderful organisation to a few people this week and I think it deserves a wider audience.
What is it about? As they say in their own words “People in the Camerados Movement believe that the simple act of being more human by ‘looking out for each other’ can be transformative, especially when people are experiencing tough times.” They are encouraging us to help each other, and by helping others, help ourselves.
They do this by creating ‘public living rooms’, where people can just drop in and be listened to. And often, that’s enough to make their struggle a little easier.
It taps into the huge capacity we have as humans to support each other, to show empathy and just be there for people. It’s a grass roots movement, it’s a reaction to centrally-driven projects that its founder had got totally frustrated with. It’s change ‘done by’ the people, rather than the usual ‘done to’ the people.
It’s encouraging people to take agency and impact their immediate environment, which I see as a parallel with Be More Pirate and what I am trying to do with Decrapify Work.
I have a strong belief in our ability to come together to heal each other, figure out what we need and support mutual thriving. So does Camerados. Maybe we should be tapping into this energy and realising this latent potential more centrally in creating the future of work and reinventing organisations.
In the flesh
I’ve met loads of people during COVID, particularly through LinkedIn and Drinking Dialogues, but those relationships have all been conducted online. Yesterday, I got to meet someone IRL! Unlike many of my new friends who live in different counties, if not different countries, Sharon Anuja lives nearby and suggested we meet up for a coffee.
Well, not only was it lovely meet her but it turned out we had lots of common contacts and interests and we nattered away for nearly three hours, sharing our experiences, insights and ideas. It was great.
I came away buzzing. But also exhausted! Gosh, being with people is intense, isn’t it? I’m just not used to it! Hanging out with friends and family is not the same thing at all.
Looks like we’re going to have to build up our social muscles again as we come out of our COVID caves and engage with the world again. But it will be well worth the effort.