Sharing our thinking in the open helps connect with others trying to advance the future of digital working. Our archive of articles and links is open and available below.
Musing on DAOs, Cybernetic control systems and non-hierarchical structures
We are already seeing the decline of hierarchy as an organising principle for leadership in large organisations, and we have increasing evidence, such as this from Leandro Herrero, that positional authority is far less powerful than networked influence as a way to get...
Principles and Patterns over Dogma and Rules
Cerys explores ways to help non-tech teams embrace agile in ways that suit their needs, rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all framework approach.
Overcoming Hidden Obstacles in Transforming Bank Operations
As the COO of a new bank-owned fintech, my first task was to set up the new company's operations to support users on our app and our network of partner merchants. Our goal was to deliver a superior customer experience through intelligent capabilities like...
Getting lost in the organisational cave
Organisations generate rules and guidelines to govern behaviour and to avoid problematic outcomes, but over time these rules can chip away at the sense of ownership, autonomy and accountability that we want to see in a modern workplace. Getting the balance right is...
The Antidote to the Anti-Social Enterprise
Last week, Meta launched its anticipated Threads platform, a Twitter-esque experience, linked to your Instagram account. Ever an early adopter of social media, I signed up, and immediately got a wave of nostalgia from 15 years ago joining Twitter for the first time....
Cracking the Code: Systems, Not Processes in Operations
A couple of years ago, in a fast-growing convenience retail company, I took on a new responsibility - operations. As a newly-appointed Operations Director, I was overwhelmed with the details of how individual processes work, urgent high-risk escalations, and expert...
Continuous Improvement: The big juggle
A common fallacy in team working is the assumption that productivity and continuous improvement are strongly correlated, meaning that when one improves so does the other. In fact, we need to juggle both at the same time, and that means paying attention to the subtle...
Learning, More than One Way
Cerys explores different learning strategies that can enhance the effectiveness of your personal learning system. It is great that employees are increasingly being encouraged to shape their own learning and career development. But for those employees suddenly finding...
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Lee considers the debate around AGI, AI as a platform and the immense potential of modular operations + AI to improve the way we build and manage organisations Making Brains vs Connecting Brains My co-founder Livio and I used to share an apartment in London in the...
Developing Long-Term Workforce Capabilities is Better Than Boom & Bust Hiring/Firing
Thousands of employees have recently been ‘let go’ from some of the biggest tech companies in the world, as evidenced by sites like layoffs.fyi. Why is that? Many of the big players have released statements citing over-hiring during lockdown, when e-commerce surged,...
Organisational Radical Candor FTW
Cerys explores missed opportunities for radical, two-way discussions L&D are avoiding in their quest for simple, KPI-friendly projects. It is both a cliché and a truism that change is hard and that it never ends. And whilst trying to make employees feel safe,...
Organisational Evolution & the Power of Competitive Ecosystems
5 perspectives on how to harness the power of evolution within competitive environments to improve our organisations.