Wednesday 29 October 2014

Reinventing organisations


I loved this book so much it makes my top 21 business books you must read list.

It is very well researched, contains great case studies, and is a manual for creating an organization to be truly proud of.

Frederic Laloux also provides a great companion website.

In the book Frederic traces the history of organizations from red (metaphor wolf pack), to amber (metaphor army), to orange (metaphor machine), to green (metaphor family), to teal (metaphor Living organism or system).

Orange organizations perhaps still rule the world. Look out for green and particularly teal.

Better still build and grow a teal organization. This book details why this really matters and how to go about it.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Monday 27 October 2014

Can we have a conversation not a quarrel please?

Josie Taylor who presents the 7.30 report program on ABC television in my home state made the following request of two politicians before interviewing them:

"Can we have a conversation not a quarrel please?"

She didn't get her wish as typically the two politicians failed to answer questions, instead trotting out their own rhetoric (often irrelevant to the questions), talked over the top of one another, and lacked civility towards Josie and each other.

Josie's question is insightful for us when there's conflict, difficulty or disagreement.

How do you set the scene when possible trouble looms?

I often say something like The reason we're here today is to ... We're going to have a conversation that results in a shared-view about the way forward together. Is this you're expectation?

How you do you set the intent?

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Sunday 26 October 2014

How are you helping others to change?

This Sunday's sparkenation.

Unfortunately old management still has a hold on many people. It's about control and the functions of planning, organizing, directing, controlling. Most people have had enough of this.

See here for what management in the 21st century is really about.

Modern leadership is about inspiring, influencing and impacting people. It's about helping people to change, never telling them or directing them to change. As Peter Senge says “People don't resist change. They resist being changed.”

One way to help people is to give them tools for change. I provide many such tools for my clients. The key though is not my tools, rather it's people using them in their own way.

"You can’t change the way people think, all you can do is give them a tool, the use of which will change their thinking."
Buckminster Fuller

How are you helping others to change?

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

More sparkenations here.

Friday 24 October 2014

Please join me online at the Global Impact Summit

I’m thrilled to be speaking at a very unique online event in November as one of 30 thought leaders.

It’s called the Global Impact Summit and it gets underway on the 10th of November and is LIVE online for 15 days.

All the Summit delivers is impact. And ONLY Impact. No selling of stuff. Just impact, pure and simple.

Since registration opened a week ago there's already been 59,069 giving impacts including…

•    360 days of education support were provided to children in Botswana.

•    58,400 days of access to life-saving water were given to people in Ethiopia.

•    68 coaching sessions were given to Social Entrepreneurs in India.

•    240 children received improved learning environment for a year.

Please click here to find out more, to register, and to make your own impact.

Even if you can’t get to every one of the sessions live, register now. They are being recorded so you can watch the replays. It’s a wealth of inspirational business insights for you to keep!

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Talent trends you really need to take notice of and then change what's normal

I hate the term 'human capital' as I do referring to people as resources or assets. We are none of these things. We are human beings. The big challenge facing many leaders is they have forgotten what it means to be human (see my previous post on culture).

Nevertheless there are some great insights in the Deloitte slideshare below into trends about talent we all need to take notice of and then change what's normal when the status quo is no longer serving us.



Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Monday 20 October 2014

What does it mean to be human at your workplace?

Corporate anthropologist Michael Henderson says

"Culture is;

“ What it means to be human here.”  (‘Here’ being wherever you are referring to when talking about a culture.)
“ An unwritten social contract that turns a person into a people."

and Michael says A High Performance Culture is;

"A culture that clearly defines and inspires people to be at their best, perform at their best and serve others."

I love the above definitions.

What does it mean to be human at your workplace?

How are your people allowed to be human?

Do your policies, procedures, practices, processes, and systems make it simple for people to bring their best to their work?

Your answers to these questions will tell you the truth about your culture and where your business is really heading.. As Peter Drucker once remarked "Culture eats strategy for breakfast."

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Sunday 19 October 2014

The challenge of leadership

This Sunday's sparkenation.

The late Jim Rohn was a hero of mine. His words below sum up for me the challenge of leadership.

The challenge of leadership is 
to be strong, but not rude;
be kind, but not weak;
be bold, but not bully;
be thoughtful, but not lazy;
be humble, but not timid;
be proud, but not arrogant;
have humour, but without folly.

How well are you meeting the challenge? How could you be better?

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

More sparkenations here.

Friday 17 October 2014

Innovation is

“Innovation is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no on else has thought.”
Albert Szent-Gyorgi, 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine

Every day in every way opportunities to innovate are right in front us.


The next time your performance dips think what no one else has thought and change what's normal (innovation).

And always be thinking about this journey


You can choose to drown in information like most other people or you can find the insight, get inspired, and turn your inspiration into an idea. Innovation is then the successful implementation of your idea.

There's a lot of talk about 'disruptive innovation'. The biggest disruption we need to make often is to disrupt ourselves and to change the status quo when same is no longer serving us.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Reimagine Business Excellence in A Disruptive Age

Tom Peters is one of my heroes. This Reimagine Business Excellence in A Disruptive Age presentation is a classic from him.



What/who (maybe you) do you need to disrupt in order to bring your best to your work?

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Sunday 12 October 2014

What you don’t know that you must do

This Sunday’s sparkenation.

Over the past 25 years I have had the honour and privilege to be a mentor to more than 1000 business leaders in over 40 countries. Without exception their journey has been one of doing what they know that they should do that they were not.

In this doing each person (at unique turning points for them) has discovered critical actions that they didn’t know that they must do. Herein lies the key to optimum performance.


Are you doing what you know you should do?

If not I can help you.

My promise to you is that through working together you’ll do what you know you should and discover what you don’t know that you must do. Imagine that.


From now until the 1st February 2015 there’s a window of opportunity for you to join a Maverick Thinkers Farm for a very special fee. 

As well as doing what you know you should, and discovering what you don’t know that you must do, you’ll increase the number of your employees bringing their best to their work. 

Imagine that too.


Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Friday 10 October 2014

Are you a player or a spectator?

Insightful blog here from Mark Hodgson about the 90/9/1 rule.

Are you a player or a spectator?

Your business results are a direct reflection of your answer.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Six ways to ensure your values are virtues and not vices

I agree with Kevin Roberts in this post about 6 mental virtues that the way we think influences everything about us.

I'd go further and suggest that what we intend, and how we feel and think and act determines whether our values are virtues or vices.

The full article about the 6 virtues by David Brooks is here.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Monday 6 October 2014

The future of learning is not online

I read a post last week from a person I respect that said "the future of learning is online."

I have a different view. You?

I believe that the future of learning is both in person and online.

Do I believe technology is great? Yep. Do I believe that Artificial Intelligence does and could bring great things to us? Yep.

I don't live my life inside a computer though. I live it with real human beings. Technology or AI that doesn't enhance my life and help me to better my relationships with other people is of no value to me. You?

I believe we've got carried away with how clever we are to make and provide amazing things using technology.

I also believe that learning not applied in real life isn't really learning. You?

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

"... what matters is not what is taught or sold, but how it's delivered, and how that made someone feel as she walked out the door."
Bernadette Jiwa

A test
Have a hour free from any kind of technology this week. Today preferably.
If you can't do it without feeling lost technology is your master and you aren't living your best life.

Sunday 5 October 2014

Friday 3 October 2014

Beating bias and living beyond beliefs

Every day we encounter bias, our own and other people's. We are also confronted by beliefs different to ours.

The 12 cognitive biases that prevent you from being rational by George Dvorsky is an article I often refer to in helping myself and other people to beat bias.

Beliefs can be a bigger hurdle to handle.

Here's the thing, You and I are not our beliefs. We are all trusted or not by what we do.

Many belief systems are tied up in a faith of some kind. Faith by definition cannot be proved. If it could be proved it wouldnʼt be faith! The Ê»proof of the pudding is in the eatingʼ the saying goes, meaning what we do counts for far more than what we believe. As one of the Apostles of the Christian Church is reported to have said, “Faith without works is dead.” I would add that faith lived out in ways that harm others is also dead.

I respect and honour you whatever your bias or beliefs. 

It's what we each do though that really endears us to others, or not.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Are your planets aligned and orbiting the sun of 21st century business?

Every business wants profitability, sustainability and stakeholder engagement (particularly employee and customer/client). For some these are reasons for being. None are reasons. They're all results of how we see and treat people and how good we are at the functions of business.

For me, regardless of product/s and/or service/s on offer, the journey to the results we all want begins with valued, values, and value, the sun of 21st century business.


This sun is the life force of modern business. Without it we lack the energy to be fully alive on 8 essential planets. There are a zillion stars in the business galaxy yet only 8 planets where humans live.


My latest white paper is all about keeping these planets aligned and orbiting the sun. If you'd like this paper please email ian@ianberry.biz and request it.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian