🌿🧭🌳 OD85: 6 Dimensions of Strategy ⬡
Hybrid Work Insights and Tools ∙ Where to Play & How to Win ∙ Org Design Report ∙ Framing Organizational Challenges ∙ Price & Cost of Everything ∙ FTI Tech Trends 2022 ∙ Roman Road Construction
Join 4,000+ others who get our bi-weekly Strategy & Organization resources on Business Strategy ∙ Org Design ∙ Org Development and adjacent fields like Change ∙ Foresight ∙ Complexity ∙ Leadership and others.
Dear readers,
As a continued focus on Hybrid Work and Return to Office programs, we’re sharing with you the set of tools and insights that we’re using in practice:
You can get all of them as a bundle or by joining the next Hybrid Work & Return to Office Masterclass.
If you’re curious about some of the insights in the executive summaries, we invite you to join the free webinar on March 24. For those of you working specifically on Return to Office programs, we’ve prepared a dedicated webinar on March 31.
Wish you all a beautiful week 🌿
Raluca & Bülent
Strategy & Organization Goodies
1/ Strategy: This week we’ve revisited this excellent review by JP Castlin of Roger Martin’s Where to Play & How to Win strategy framework.
Then we realized that we haven’t shared with you yet the 6D of Strategy model that we’ve created and using in our practice.
The 2 dimensions highlighted by the Where to Play & How to Win strategy framework are:
Space: Where are you playing?
Plays: How are you playing?
The other 4 dimensions in our model are:
Intention: Why are you playing?
Time: When are you playing?
Links: Who are you playing with? and
Focus: What are you playing?
Where playing means being active.
Which dimensions are you playing with?
2/ Org Design: We enjoyed this review of Josh Bersin’s Definitive Guide to Organization Design from Sergio Caredda, titled There’s nothing Definitive in Organisation Design (highlights ours):
Bersin’s report has the enormous added value of bringing organisation design to the centre of the current management transformation. Topics such as Hybrid Work or The Great Resignation cannot be addressed by simply focusing on compensation, a few policies and some philosophical adaptations. They are all about the fabric of how Work gets done and ultimately affect the way business goals are achieved as an organisation.
All in all, I see this as a highly positive step forward.
The most damaging aspect, though, is the idea that you can encompass a “definitive” approach to Organisation Design into a report. Doing so exacerbates the approach that there is only good organisation design. Which we know is not valid.
The true lesson is that there’s is not a definite organisation design, but only an evolutionary pattern of continuous improvement, made by intentional choices of the entire organisation.
3/ OD: For those of you who are interested in the practice of framing organizational challenges, this framework created by Kees Dorst might be useful:
The core frame creation model centers upon a 9-step process that addresses open, complex, dynamic and networked problems by creating a new, broader context for the problem, and then concentrating on the emergence of underlying “Themes” that lead to the creation of “Frames” for action.
Archeology
Analyzing the history of the problem owner & the initial problem formulation;Paradox
Analyzing the problem situation: what makes this hard?Context
Analyzing the inner circle of stakeholders;
Field
Exploring the broader field;
Themes
Investigating the themes that emerge in the broader field;
Frames
Identifying patterns between themes to create frames;
Futures
Exploring the possible outcomes and value propositions for the various stakeholders;
Transformation
Investigating changes in stakeholders' strategies and practices required for implementation;
Integration
Drawing lessons from the new approach & identify new opportunities within the network.
Interconnections
Picks from disciplines (vaguely?) connected to Strategy, Org Design & OD
1/ Economics: Nicklas Berild Lundblad writes about the price and cost of everything.
Old fortifications were physical representation of the price of war for the attacker, and a cost born by the defender: building walls and trenches to keep others out.
2/ Foresight: FTI has published their newest Tech Trends Report. Lots of hidden gems through the massive 668-pages report. We will update our own Trends Mega Map based on many of the latest trends reports published by the tens of entities active in this area.
For closer links with Org Development and Org Design, you might want to check the Work, Culture & Play (volume 4) of FTI Tech Trends 2022. All their reports are freely available until April 20.
Example scenario:
Hyperlocal Communities - far future neutral scenario
Designed to meet the demands and limitations of the new environment, these self-contained communities are entirely self-sufficient. Every need is drawn locally—vertical farms grow crops, biofoundries synthesize medicine, and 3D printers churn out construction materials, clothing, and other goods. There is no reliance on outside supply chains, and travel is naturally limited because of the dangers posed by the climate.
3/ History: A 2 minute glimpse into one of the biggest enterprises of the ancient times, Roman road construction. Along with an imagination exercise of the associated organization needed to build those roads 🚧
ForBetterOrgs Events
March 24: Executive Summary: Hybrid Work webinar
March 29: Fireside chat - Creating your L&D Strategy, in partnership with Offbeat
March 31: ‘Return to Office’ plans webinar
Learning Programs & Masterclasses
For people actively working on Hybrid Work setups and ‘Return to Office’ programs:
Hybrid Work Masterclass - a 3 hour synthexperience sharing challenges, executive summaries of data, models and tools and two practical exercises: using the Hybrid Work Readiness Index and designing better hybrid work setups. Reservations open by: April 13
For L&D Professionals, in partnership with Offbeat:
Offbeat Career Booster - a 6 months mentorship program enriched by group coaching, peer coaching and a reflection platform. Application deadline: April 20
Creating your L&D Strategy - a 9 week program focused on upgrading strategic thinking and increase the effectiveness of L&D strategies, plans and budgets. Application deadline: April 22
Thanks for reading the OrgDev Newsletter!
See you again next week. ✌️
This newsletter is curated by Raluca and Bülent Duagi,
creators of ForBetterOrgs.com, with the aim to inspire and equip leaders like you to build better organizations in times of uncertainty.
Thanks for quoting ;-) And great work!