Star Wars Can Teach Us About Org Structure?

This time I go through a scene from the TV show Andor…so it’s better to watch me do this on video.  To do that, click here.

And if you can’t…I’ll go through it now.

Have you seen the show Andor?  I’ll bet you didn’t know there’s a lesson in there about organisational structure!

The show is part of the Star Wars pantheon, but it’s different.  Deeper, and goes right into the effects of colonisation, imperialism and how that can turn individuals. 

And…we get to see what’s called the Imperial Security Bureau in action, which we can picture as an Executive Team of an organisation.  Here they are:

The scene I go through is a meeting of the ‘Supervisors’, who are the equivalent to Executives, with the boss being Major Partagaz who we might say is the CEO.

Retention Strategy? No! Do this instead.

(Prefer to watch rather than read? Click here, 5 mins, with captions.)

“We need a retention strategy”.  A common cry.

The thing is…you don’t.  What you need is to set things up so talented people want to stay.  And the good news is…they are the same things that make your organisation productive.

Which is good.

There are just two things:

1. People can use their abilities to be useful
2. People don’t mind who they are working with.

That’s it!

Wait, Broccoli Is A System? A Primer on System-Thinking

(Prefer to watch rather than read?  Click here, 5 mins with captions.)

“System-thinking”.  It’s been around for decades and gets increasingly more popular as complexity ratchets up.  But what does it mean?

Broccoli

I recently had 24 hours off life (I have three  kids) and took the chance to read “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, great writer from the New York Times.  One piece stood out to me as a great way to explain systems thinking.

Pollan talks about “nutritionism”, the idea that we can work out what’s good in food by breaking it down to its component parts.  Take broccoli – we generally consider that to be healthy, and you might know about anti-oxidants, those things that fight baddies inside us.

Here’s what’s interesting – when certain anti-oxidants are isolated, removed from the food and administered, they don’t always have the same healthy effect as when they are consumed as part of eating the vegetable.  This means there’s something going on in the way the whole thing works together to create the healthy effect…broccoli is more than just a delivery system for anti-oxidants. 

In other words…broccoli is a system!

You are not failing! Understanding organisational growing pains

Prefer to watch on video rather than read? Click here, 5 mins with Captions.

I often help growing organisations that have been successful, yet are starting to feel like they are overwhelmed as well as grinding to a halt.  This often comes with a feeling of failure in the CEO and perhaps the Exec team, with good old imposter syndrome usually raising its head.

The good news is…. the situation is not a failure at all.  It’s completely normal. 

And to explain this as well as to know what to do, I often lean on the brilliant work of Dr. Ichak Adizes, in particular his Business Lifecycle.

The 4 S’s That Will Move Your Culture

Prefer to watch on video rather than read?  Click here, 5 minutes with captions.

Getting your culture moving in the direction you need doesn’t have to be a mystery.  There are tangible actions you can take right now that will make a difference. 

I’ve named them the 4 S’s, and if you know the work of Frances Frei and Anne Morriss in Unleashed, and the body of work known as Systems Leadership developed by Ian Macdonald, Catherine Burke and Karl Stewart…you’ll already be familiar with some of these ideas.

First – my definition – culture is the shared understanding about the way you need act to fit in around here.  Don’t get too caught up in it…this works fine.

Culture Change – The Simple Lesson from Ted Lasso

This is definitely one that’s better to watch on video.  Click here, 5 mins, with captions.

Have you seen the show Ted Lasso?  You should.  Warms the coldest heart, and it’s funny.  And…we can find lessons in there about how we can make our own workplaces better.

Don’t Bother the Barista – make any work system better

Prefer to watch on video than read?  Click here, 6 mins with captions.

If you’ve been with me for a while, chances are I’ve run through this with you.  The purpose of this is to put it all in the one spot.

This is about understanding the focussing point required to get any system (any system) to work better.  And by ‘better’, I mean better for customers, better for those working in it, and better for the bank balance and purpose of the organisation too.

Time & Attention – your most unmanaged resource

Prefer to watch on video than read?  Click here – 4 mins with captions.

What makes it hard to get stuff done at work?  Interruptions.

And even if you’re not constantly looking at email (or some other interruption device you’ve installed like Slack), there’s an awareness of a constantly building-up bunch of stuff coming towards you…so the urge to check is strong.

A Better Way

Some companies are deliberately doing something about this, and one that stands out to me is the software company Basecamp which is run by Jason Friend and David Heinemeier Hansson, who look like this:

Something to listen to…

Hey, I’m still on a break, but thanks to post scheduling, I’ve still got something for you…from me. And a colleague…

It’s…the episode I did with Daniel Franco a few months ago on his Creating Synergy podcast. Along with the wonderful Michelle Holland, he’s a Director of SynergyIQ where I’m based in Adelaide, South Australia.

We covered a range of stuff on why organisations do and don’t work, and I had a great time talking to Daniel who totally knows what he’s doing to get a guest talking away and enjoying themselves.

If you’re reading this on your phone, depending on your preferred method:

Click here for Apple Podcast

Click here for Spotify Podcast

Click here for Google Podcast

…or type “creating synergy adam” into your Search box.

I’m sure you won’t find it as weird to listen to as I always do when I hear myself!

Failure Demand – it’s hidden in plain sight

Prefer to watch on video than read?  Click here – 5 mins with captions.

Less cost, happier customers, happier staff, happier you. 

There’s something hidden in plain sight which is inhibiting these from happening – John Seddon’s Failure Demand.

It’s not a new concept, but John’s naming of, and describing of the concept is brilliant, which leads to understanding and action.  His book Freedom from Command and Control is a must-read for anyone involved in service centres, along with the more recent Beyond Command and Control.