As a reverse fairy tale for the CEO set, the reality television program Undercover Boss is fascinating, not so much in the witness-to-a-train- wreck mode of the rest of the genre, but because it is so revealing of our conflicted relationship with "the boss." The premise of the show—that the only way to get a clue about what's really going on in his (or her) organization, is for the boss to go undercover on the front lines—is all too often the actual reality in organizations of any size. Yet, at the same time, the view of the boss as the ultimate authority with the heroic power to swoop in and save the day—whether that means paying down a mortgage, granting an instant promotion, or banishing a reviled policy—holds sway in real life as well as on "reality" TV.
An Anglican parish launches a bold experiment with a radical model of how to “do church,” by replacing hierarchy with communities of passion, and unleashing the capabilities of its c
In October, 2012, iHire transitioned its culture to a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), which is a management philosophy in which the focus comes off where, when and how long employees are working
In this document we explain how we went from being an organization of hierarchical bankers, to a team of 16,000 systematic innovators who learn every day and believe that everyone can be innovative.
To varying degrees, everyone has self-centered ambitions: to become rich and famous, to win the race, to have some power over others. Such forces can drive people to work hard and produce results.
In Parts 1-3, I recounted the Pull Replenishment saga of how a small team started a bottom-up movement that generated millions of dollars in profit, improved shipping performance to the customer, and
In an era when recruiting and training more closely resemble “speed dating” than traditional apprenticeship, world-leading ophthalmic lenses manufacturer Essilor International pioneered th
Our big goal here at the MIX is to inspire and unleash as much collective aspiration, audacity, imagination, energy, and passion as possible when it comes to making all of our organizations fit for the future--and fit for human beings. We've said it before: so much is broken when it comes to how...
Implement an organization-wide initiative in which employees have a mandated "disconnect" from their work, allowing them necessary space to re-engage and rejuvenate. Giving space
