Patterns
Pull Systems for Knowledge Work
04 months ago
I’ve recently started working for a company that consults on Agile Software Development, which is sortof like Toyota Lean for software. For those of you who don’t speak business jargon, let me briefly explain.
Toyota has the most efficient manufacturing process in the world, and it is very different because it attempts to do away with inventory. It achieves this by “pulling” work from the end of the assembly line rather than “pushing” it forward from the beginning. This way, there is less likely to be a backlog along the way because the person in front of you is always ready for what you’re about to pass over to you. There’s a lot more to it than that, but we’ll start with that.
Agile Software Development achieves a pull system in the sense that tasks are not assigned to workers by managers. Instead, a team collaboratively lists all the things that need to get done, and chunks them out into tasks that can be finished within a day. Then, team members go to the board and signs themselves up to work on the tasks they think they are most qualified for and excited about. When they are done, they pull another task to themselves.
Just this one process makes the work environment so much better. It gives workers both a sense of independence but also their context within the team is visible- everyone knows what they are working on and when it should be done.
I have a hunch that this kind of freedom and self-determination helps create a happier workplace.
A task “backlog” for an Agile development team.
What am I trying to figure out?
35 months ago
Image via blog.archpaper.com
Purpose? Personal development in teams? Happiness?
I’m circling around a bit in my inquiry. I have this hunch that it will pencil out if companies and organizations invest in the personal growth and happiness of their employees. My thinking is that resulting improvements in team communication, drive and creativity will more than pay for the efforts to support those qualities. Oh yeah, and its the right thing to do. Oh yeah, and maybe the purpose of our companies should be to make the people within then (and without them) happier.
The issue is, “personal growth” is horribly vague and subjective, and a culturally loaded term.
It has something to do with people finding deeper meaning in their lives, and showing how that ripples positive effects all around them- including through their work.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about psychology and behavior change but I feel like I’m just scratching the surface. I would love to sit down with someone who is a PhD in behavioral psychology or brain science or consciousness studies and learn all the established facts about how people tick.
One thing I have learned is that happiness appears to be a fairly objective and observable phenomenon using EEG machines to monitor brain activity. So perhaps I need to switch to talking about happiness.
I need a stronger framing for how I’m looking at this question. Perhaps I need to learn more about the flow state, positive psychology, the benefits of meditation, etc. and begin to look at how companies can create work environments that help people get into those states. Is that it? Is anyone already doing that?
I’m running up against the limit of what I can do as a guy reading books and writing blog posts. I need to talk to other people who are actually doing this stuff! Help me out!
(For the lineage/background of this post, check out the posts that have led up to it in the “co.purpose” tag)
Investing in Employee Happiness
05 months ago
What actions and tactics can be taken to transform a company into a place where people become more happy?
A few weeks ago I started working for a technology consulting company. One of my coworkers has the role of supporting the evolution and maturation of team dynamics, communication and culture. You might say she is tasked with supporting the happiness of employees. It is definitely forward-thinking of the company to empower someone to focus on this stuff, and yet there is no clear path forward. We had a long lunch discussing the challenges she’s having in implementing change.
Workshops and Trainings?
Her next attempt revolves around trying to get everyone on a team to attend a multi-day training in a decision making process and communication format for meetings – what amounts to a cross between a day-to-day governance model and some guidelines for effective, empathic communication. As much as I’m sure this model is great, the hope behind the workshop tactic is that everyone will magically adopt this system hook line and sinker. The truth is, this is not realistic, and at worst, you’ll get a lot of eye rolling and resistance from the team.
How to make it real and important?
What we don’t want is for people to view culture change efforts as annoying, cheesey, touchy-feely stuff met with the jaded reaction, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had time to discover our selves?” People need to be exposed to the pain points, to see how the current state of culture is slowing us down and making us struggle. Then, perhaps, they can get on board and begin to OWN the need for change and growth.
What have you found? Please share!
Sweet Tools, Frameworks and Resources for Making Change
35 months ago
Go-go-gadget manic archivist!
This list will be updated periodically. Because life goes on.
Systems Thinking
The Twelve Leverage Points for Intervening in a System
The Iceberg Model
Causal Loop Diagrams
Snowden & Boone’s Complexity Framework
Design Thinking
Co-Design Processes
Collective Action Toolkit by Frog Design
Just one sample from the toolkit, lots more juice in the full PDF.
IDEO Human-Centered Design Toolkit
Check it out here.
Rapid Prototyping
The Business Model Canvas
Mind-Mapping
Asset Mapping
Permaculture Design Patterns
Gaiacraft Cards. Designed by Elves in British Columbia.
Biomimicry Design Spirals
Gamification – 4 types of fun
Ecological Economics
The Natural Step
Herman Daly’s Ends/Means Pyramid
Image by Jon Erickson (2005) via Jim Pittman
The Quadruple Bottom Line
New Economy, New Wealth by Art Brock
New Economy, New Wealth on Prezi (requires Flash)
Reliable Prosperity
A pattern language for the sustainable economy.
Social Equity & Community
The Wheel of Diversity
Stakeholder Engagement
Appreciative Inquiry
Team Agreement Formation
Storytelling
The Six Stories You Need to Know how to Tell: Annette Simmons
Made to Stick
Personal Development, Influence and Behavior Change (aka jedi mind tricks)
Influence
Switch
From the book, “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard”
- Direct the Rider. What looks like resistance is usually a lack of clarity. If the Rider doesn’t know where to go, they spin the Elephant in circles. To direct the rider, create a crystal clear vision of the outcome. This includes when or how much, along with a specific set of actions and tactics to get there.
- Motivate the Elephant. What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. Make your audience feel the need for change. Analytical appeals don’t cut it. Knowing is not enough. Get beyond the knowing and make it possible for people to feel the impact. Win the heart and the mind follows.
- Shape the Path. What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. Make it easy to embrace the change. Make instructions simple with step-by-step guidance. Provide support groups. Create training. Pair people up with mentors. Create peer pressure and social proof. Behavior is contagious.
The Empowerment Dynamic:
Immunity to Change
From the book, “Immunity to Change: How to Overcome it and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization” by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey.
Theory U
From the book, “Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges” by Otto Scharmer.
Flow & Positive Psychology
From the book, “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“ by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Even More!
Check out Venessa Miemis’s 21 Card Decks for Creative Problem-Solving, Effective Communication & Strategic Foresight.
The Emotional Elephant in Your Room
05 months ago
I’m obsessed with motivation. It can be such a slippery quality- there one moment, gone the next. Some of the most frustrating times are when we know we need to do something, and yet somehow we spin circles of avoidance and procrastination around ourselves.
This is because our rational mind is only the rider of an elephant – it has limited power to direct.
Behavioral research has found that the vast majority of human decisions are made based on emotions. Emotions are the Elephant.
I’ve been reading this book called Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard. The basic premise is this:
Our emotions are in control, so we’d be smart to take heed and craft our change-making efforts around cat-herding our emotions.
An except from Switch:
- Direct the Rider. What looks like resistance is usually a lack of clarity. If the Rider doesn’t know where to go, they spin the Elephant in circles. To direct the rider, create a crystal clear vision of the outcome. This includes when or how much, along with a specific set of actions and tactics to get there.
- Motivate the Elephant. What looks like laziness is often exhaustion. Make your audience feel the need for change. Analytical appeals don’t cut it. Knowing is not enough. Get beyond the knowing and make it possible for people to feel the impact. Win the heart and the mind follows.
- Shape the Path. What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem. Make it easy to embrace the change. Make instructions simple with step-by-step guidance. Provide support groups. Create training. Pair people up with mentors. Create peer pressure and social proof. Behavior is contagious.
Since emotions drive behavior, smart companies will learn to use this to their advantage not to manipulate customers, but to genuinely motivate employees.
As Daniel Pink shows us, when it comes to creative problem-solving, people don’t perform better because of monetary incentive. People perform better when they find meaning in what they are doing. They perform better when their emotions are aligned with the task at hand.
This all leaves me with a big question:
How exactly do we leverage our emotions toward desired outcomes?
I don’t know! Lets figure it out together! What other tools have you found that might help us make positive use our emotions?
