MANAGERS ARE BUSY. THEY COPE WITH THE URGENT, BUT PUT OFF THE TRULY IMPORTANT.

One of the most important things managers can do is to create a bold Vision of the future. Bold enough to excite the youngest recruit. And, bold enough to excite the oldest recruit who has seen it all before.

The Vision needs to find exciting answers to the following questions:

*What legacy will we leave behind for the organisation, New Zealand and the world?
*What will we do that no one else can do?
*What will make us unique?
*What will our business be?
*What will we not be doing?
*How will we add value?
*Who will our customers be and what will they be saying about us?
*How will we treat our people and other key relationships?

This link shows you how:
http://www.virtual.co.nz/uploads/BruceHolland/Strategy%20and%20Alignment.pdf

What else do you think is truly important?

HAVE WE CREATED A BUSINESS MONSTER?

The monster I have in mind sucks the life out of its victims. The traditional top-down hierarchical business model sucks the life out of millions of people at a time when we need every ounce of creativity and human energy more than ever before. The best managers know they are managing a network of living systems. They are not managing a bureaucracy or a machine. What is your experience? Listen to my talk 5m14s:

http://www.virtual.co.nz/uploads/BruceHolland/AnnaNetworks.mp3

USING SYSTEMS THINKING? HOW SUCCESSFUL IS IT?

I think systems thinking is a powerful business tool.

We tend to think of organisations in mechanical terms that can be understood by analysis of the parts. 

With systems thinking we get a totally different understanding. It helps us look at organisations like living systems. Living systems can’t be understood by understanding the parts. They are far more than the parts. Just like the human body is far more than the individual organs that make it up.

Systems thinking explains the ‘emergence’ of many important things like trust, culture, relationships and self-reliance that cannot be explained with mechanical thinking. All emergence takes is for each person to follow a few simple rules.

Systems thinking helps understand “wicked problems”. These are problems where the solution is technically difficult and there is no consensus about how to fix it.

Bruce Holland explains the benefits to business of systems thinking:

http://www.virtual.co.nz/uploads/BruceHolland/AnnaSystemsThinking.mp3

SHOULD YOUR MANAGER MANAGE THE WORK OR THE WORKPLACE?

Irresistible leadership is not about the work. It is about the workplace. It's not about double checking the work of others. It is about creating a workplace where everyone can do their best work, then getting out of the road as much as possible. It's about trusting the system, not over managing. Share your stories about busy-body and/or irresistible managers so we can all learn. Listen to this secret 2m51s: http://www.virtual.co.nz/uploads/BruceHolland/AnnaWofrkplace.mp3