Work is defined as activity involving mental or physical effort done to achieve a purpose or result. It's not necessarily paid work or work in an organisation; however, since this piece is about future-proofing your organisation, one of the more succinct statements of a fulfilling week comes from Doc Searl's acronym: TBIF - Too Bad It's Friday. If people could get to Friday and say "TBIF", would this organisation be rewarded with profit and longevity well beyond 50 years? We think so.
Unfortunately, TBIF is not all that common. Gallup research of New Zealand workplaces shows 15% are 'actively disengaged' and 68% are 'disengaged.' Only 17% are 'engaged' and this is down from 23% in 2002. Gallup estimates the annual cost of this is NZ$3.67 billion. Liberating the human spirit at work has been my quest for over 20 years.
Unfulfilling work results from constraining Stories and Structures. Most attempts to make work fulfilling have focused on changing constraining structures like technology structures, organisational structure and process structures, mostly because they are concrete and easy to change.
While these are important it is easier, far cheaper and more effective to start by changing the constraining stories:
Current Constraining Stories
- People are human resources or hands
- Change processes need to be controlled top-down
- The world is like a machine
- We are all separate
- Competition is the natural order.
- Together people are can do anything. We need to tap into body, head, heart and soul
- Change processes need to be top-down and bottom-up
- The world is a living self-evolving system
- We are far more closely connected than most people realise
- Collaboration is the natural order.
Can you imagine the success and longevity of an organisation that was truly successful in creating fulfilling work for everyone? This organisation would definitely be rewarded with profit and longevity well beyond 50 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment