Western companies have to remove managers and their egos which are essentially blocking creativity. In a world of change this is critical. Forget the protocols, forget the rules, forget the processes and standard operating procedures. Forget "thinking outside the box" why put a box there in the first place? Free your mind from restrictions and allow free thought with others. The results are spectacular. The sum of ideas is always greater than the component parts. 2+2 really can = more than 4
I've just finished reading a great book "Start Up Nation" and this idea that out of chaos comes order and vice versa. How non-hierarchical structures allow for the free flow of ideas and creativity, versatility, adaptability, flexibility and the ability to respond to the environment which of course is ever changing. Israel has become the idea capital of the world as a result. A melting pot of so many nations coming together in a world of chaos. Now they produce world leading companies. Intel
I saw coordinated behaviours without control. Too much L directed thinking with leaders and organizations as machines and it causes us all to be blind to our own abilities and the networks of others-blind spots and potential interferences. The people all displayed momentum to the objective, this shows how essential a horizontal network is. This displayed order merging from the individuals all working together-a complex shape emerged from them aligning themselves.
I think this demonstration actually proves that we do need leaders. In this example, the people did do what the manager asked (the talk host) because he gave them all a single direction or goal to follow. If the peope were left by themselves with no direction then eventually there would be chaos as everyone has their own ideas and goals. We need a single person in charge to decide on a single direction for all to follow in order to create harmony, the people just didn't need much instruction.
Yes I guess the facilitator set the direction - but it had some subtlety and if you read "How we went difital without a strategy" in Harvard Business review by Ricardo Semler you can see how direction can be set by the people - so the task of leadership is to enable self-orgnisation to emerge and sustain itself!
Once it was agreed that all has been sorted the knowledge is still implicit. How can an organization gain from this game? How would an organization gain the knowledge in an explicit manner so that it could do something with the knowledge?
Under 1 minute to organise all those people in such a complex task.
As you say, what would have happened if a manager had been assigned!?
Clearly, it's so complex, s/he would have had to set up a committee. The committee would have decided to write a strategy paper, which would never get finished.... LOL
And all you did was let the people sort it out themselves... and they could.
If you read my boook "Complex Adaptive Leadership" there are many examples in there - it is now published and available at a special discount via my web site...
The last sentance is "What would have happened if we had put one of you in charge?" Erveryone laughs as they realise if that had happened they would not have been able to achieve!
The last sentance is "What would have happened if we had put one of you in charge?" - Everyone laughs as they realise if I had, they would have taken far longer to solve the problem.
Western companies have to remove managers and their egos which are essentially blocking creativity. In a world of change this is critical. Forget the protocols, forget the rules, forget the processes and standard operating procedures. Forget "thinking outside the box" why put a box there in the first place? Free your mind from restrictions and allow free thought with others. The results are spectacular. The sum of ideas is always greater than the component parts. 2+2 really can = more than 4
Dandaniels1978 1 year ago
I've just finished reading a great book "Start Up Nation" and this idea that out of chaos comes order and vice versa. How non-hierarchical structures allow for the free flow of ideas and creativity, versatility, adaptability, flexibility and the ability to respond to the environment which of course is ever changing. Israel has become the idea capital of the world as a result. A melting pot of so many nations coming together in a world of chaos. Now they produce world leading companies. Intel
Dandaniels1978 1 year ago
I saw coordinated behaviours without control. Too much L directed thinking with leaders and organizations as machines and it causes us all to be blind to our own abilities and the networks of others-blind spots and potential interferences. The people all displayed momentum to the objective, this shows how essential a horizontal network is. This displayed order merging from the individuals all working together-a complex shape emerged from them aligning themselves.
angeliacartwright1 1 year ago
I think this demonstration actually proves that we do need leaders. In this example, the people did do what the manager asked (the talk host) because he gave them all a single direction or goal to follow. If the peope were left by themselves with no direction then eventually there would be chaos as everyone has their own ideas and goals. We need a single person in charge to decide on a single direction for all to follow in order to create harmony, the people just didn't need much instruction.
Hask79 1 year ago
Yes I guess the facilitator set the direction - but it had some subtlety and if you read "How we went difital without a strategy" in Harvard Business review by Ricardo Semler you can see how direction can be set by the people - so the task of leadership is to enable self-orgnisation to emerge and sustain itself!
NickObolensky 1 year ago
Very interesting exercise. Very good example of why delegation and empowerment may increase efficiency.
But will this always work? How to apply this concept to other scenarios?
ViannaTavares 1 year ago
Once it was agreed that all has been sorted the knowledge is still implicit. How can an organization gain from this game? How would an organization gain the knowledge in an explicit manner so that it could do something with the knowledge?
jjfbbennett 2 years ago
Awesome Nick!
Under 1 minute to organise all those people in such a complex task.
As you say, what would have happened if a manager had been assigned!?
Clearly, it's so complex, s/he would have had to set up a committee. The committee would have decided to write a strategy paper, which would never get finished.... LOL
And all you did was let the people sort it out themselves... and they could.
freejohnuk 2 years ago
So the message is? Complex systems can be self-organising when the control is distributed freely among the parts???
What would a real-life example look like of this in practice?
freejohnuk 2 years ago
If you read my boook "Complex Adaptive Leadership" there are many examples in there - it is now published and available at a special discount via my web site...
NickObolensky 1 year ago
What is the conclusion ? I don't understand the last sentences that are pronounced.
becomepostal 2 years ago
The last sentance is "What would have happened if we had put one of you in charge?" Erveryone laughs as they realise if that had happened they would not have been able to achieve!
NickObolensky 2 years ago
The last sentance is "What would have happened if we had put one of you in charge?" - Everyone laughs as they realise if I had, they would have taken far longer to solve the problem.
NickObolensky 1 year ago