🌿🧭🌳 OD02: 160+ Org experiments, Corporate Rebels book mindmap, Tweet for Thought and a guest lecture at the Masters in Org. Psychology
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1. 160+ Org experiments
The first resource we’ve picked this week is this fine list compiled by John Cutler with more than 160 organizational experiments of varying complexity, grouped in 8 areas like collaboration or learning.
The added value comes from the insights about which experiments worked for the teams that contributed to the list. Even though no organizational context is 100% alike, these examples can serve as inspiration for you as org. developers.
Practical ideas
Browse the 8 areas to find one that resonates with your current context
Pick 1-3 experiments to share with your team
Start experimenting for a period of time that works for you (e.g. 1 month)
Review the results of the experiment(s) and the lessons learned
Corporate Rebels book
The Corporate Rebels team is launching its book soon. They’ve travelled the world interviewing many progressive organizations and “rebels” who change the status quo of frustrating workplaces. Based on this experience, they’ve identified 8 patterns or “trends” - which are actually transitions from traditional organizations to progressive ones - along with how these transitions look in practice.
We got an early access to the book and we enjoyed the stories and the practices shared in it, so we’ve created a mindmap with the key concepts so you can start putting these ideas into practice.
Quotes that we particularly liked
One thing we have learned, is that there is no holy grail, no silver bullet, no one-size-fits-all. The point is that every organization should dare to experiment to gain new insights and see if there is a better way.
We often live in the past, with structures and processes that were designed for a world that no longer exists. It’s like playing the latest Rockstar game on a Nokia 3310.
One of the pitfalls is that companies turn to fixed, off-the-shelf solutions such as Agile Scrum and Holacracy. Others copy-and-paste models from companies such as Spotify. They force their teams to work exactly as the new method dictates but forget the principles on which they are based. While the intentions may be good, the outcome is often top-down decision-making and reduced freedom. True progressives share authority. They create a workplace that is more than a façade of fancy ideals.
Tweet for Thought
Inside/outside of a system
Guest lecture & sharing case studies
2020 started with a guest lecture last week at the Masters in Org. Psychology at the University of Bucharest, where Bülent shared practical examples of two organizational development programs.
The students were curious about the advising approach, about the challenges that we encountered and also about how we take notes (and make sense of them) from the many 1:1 and group interactions during the OD interventions.
One key takeaway for us was that there is value in sharing these case studies (and how we work, in general). So we’ve outlined them in a 2-page pdf - early access for our readers.
The OrgDev newsletter is curated by Raluca and Bülent Duagi, the team behind Sense & Change. We work as Organizational Development Advisors, helping organizations develop by learning faster what they need and what works for them.
Do you have ideas or tools that could help leaders develop their organizations?