I came across an interesting article in the Mckinsey Quarterly today which argues that companies need to take the power behind informal networks and create formal networks. Their consultants state that:
- Most large corporations have dozens if not hundreds of informal networks, in which human nature, including self-interest, leads people to share ideas and collaborate.
- Informal networks are a powerful source of horizontal collaboration across thick silo walls, but as ad hoc structures their performance depends on serendipity and they can’t be managed.
- By creating formal networks, companies can harness the advantages of informal ones and give management much more control over networking across the organization.
- The steps needed to formalize a network include giving it a “leader,” focusing interactions in it on specific topics, and building an infrastructure that stimulates the ongoing exchange of ideas.
I found a great website today which takes the lampooning of this part of Boomer management lore a step further. And it will save you about $ 25,000 in consultant’s fees, and two days of your time. The Dilbert website has a corporate mission statement generator that does a brilliant job of churning out the standard garbage that most away days do. 
I am sitting in a full day session with Gary Hamel. I didn’t pay enough money to be alone with him, so I am sharing the hall with a few hundred other people, representing many of South Africa’s top corporates and leading businesses. Gary has been great. I enjoy his style (his PowerPoint slides are are shocker, but he is a relaxed and engaging presenter). His content is compelling. He knows his stuff. It’s been woirth the time and money investment.
Pfizer has recently launched a wonderful new initiative for their most talented staff: the outsourcing of the drudge work associated with most jobs. It’s quite a simple concept, really - top end, talented staff spend a fair proportion of their time doing admin or dreary work that does not best utilise their talents. If you could someone else to do that work for them, you’d free up your top talent, keep them focused (and excited) and get more out of them. Nice.
Crowdsourcing is a technique that progressive companies are using to translate the enthusiasm of their most highly-engaged customers into valuable marketing, branding, or product-development insight. Dean van Leeuwen, TomorrowToday’s UK and European director, who has an MBA and extensive work experience in marketing, looks at this new trend and provides practical guidelines for customer-led organisations.
Many people will agree with Pete Laburn, strategy consultant and part of TomorrowToday’s network, that strategy just doesn’t work in most companies. Its either about just getting a plan done for head office, or we actually don’t have the time to lift our heads above the daily grind to see into the future. In this article, Pete argues that there is one dominant reason why strategies fail, and that is that the only strategy that organisations will deliver is the one that they are capable of delivering. He suggests three critical elements for developing organisational capability for implementing strategies.
The 2007 Cricket World Cup was a dismal affair for English and South African cricket fans alike. The hosts would also not be proud of their efforts, while Australia has marched on from strength to strength, not even missing Brett Lee and saying a mighty farewell to Glen McGrath.
Every business has customers who are convinced they can design a new product that is better than the product they are being sold. So the question is why not let them? Crowdsourcing is a new and innovative research methodology that allows customers to help design the products they want online. It’s a methodology that is saving companies thousands of pounds on research bills and is proving highly effective because customers are getting the chance to mould and shape the products they are going to be buying. And because products are not being designed by remote head office R&D teams the chances of product flops are greatly reduced. 
I spend much of my time helping companies to create corporate cultures that will attract and retain talented young people. This involves looking at everything from terms and conditions of employment, remuneration policies and bonus schemes, to office layout, use of technology, management styles and team dynamics. One of my biggest frustrations is that very often those within an organisation who understand what needs to be done to get top talent to work there are overruled by those who are focused on saving money, efficiencies and creating “lean and mean” environments.
In the past two e-zines, John Maxwell has 
South Africa’s top cinema chain, Ster Kinekor, uses the tagline, “Always better on our big screen” in their advertising. Well, the last few times I’ve gone out to a cinema, I’ve had exactly the opposite experience.
In this article, Aiden deals with the complex issue of change management, convincingly showing why many of today’s interventions fail. He provides a new starting point, using Organisational Narrative Mapping as a mechanism for profound change.
Tomorrow, I am speaking at South Africa’s “
Motorola, (in South Africa at least) has reportedly been experimenting with a shift to more work-life balance in their working hours and office inhabitation requirements. 
Watching the longest Tour de France stage yesterday (230 km’s!!), with an early breakaway of 5 riders, that eventually put more than half an hour between themselves and the peleton, it struck me that professional cycling provides a great example of co-opetation. Those five riders had to work together and co-oridinate their efforts in order to get ahead of the pack. But they all knew that about 5km from the end, one of them would break ranks and force the competition to re-emerge and dominate for the last sprint to the line. As soon as the first person broke ranks, the co-operation would be over. But until that point, they’d work well together and get an advantage.
by Michael Treacy and Fred WiersemaAddison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1997 edition
To build a better work space, consult the worker bees. In a poll conducted by Knoll, a furnishings maker, and research firm DYG, 850 workers at companies with 100 or more employees were asked what surroundings made them productive. Some 45% said they work best in private offices. The rest prefer collaborative spaces (16%), their homes (18%), or other sites outside the office (22%). 
SAP, the conservative German software company announced a month or so ago that it will pay out $ 381 million in 2010, to a few hundred managers, if the company is able to increase its market cap by 100% from a $57 billion starting point in 2006. The explanation to shareholders was “if you want extraordinary performance, you have to offer extraordinary incentives”.