What makes you most cross about how things work or done within your organization?
In my 40 years of working in large organizations that thing that bugged me most was the lack of transparency.
[TL;DR Lack of transparency in organizations leads to power struggles and destroys collaboration efforts. Jump to action list at end.]
G’day, Richard here
We often talked about values and how we should live by them to collaborate in order to get big things done.
But then there'd be this bloody power game - constantly - about what information could or couldn't be shared with whom. All that did was drive competitive forces that destroyed the whole ambition for collaboration.
So, is this whole issue of transparency, something that's just nice in theory, hard in practice?
I think it is hard in practice. And perhaps the hardest practice for me was bringing transparency into the raising of our [two] teenage daughters, which is long since back.
But there were competitive forces between them, my goodness me, that at times brought my wife and I to tears.
And I imagine some people could feel like that within their organization, that the lack of transparency brings you to tears.
Well, we stuck with it through our daughter's teenage years. And 30 years later, my daughter comes back from an overseas holiday. Gifts me and pair of socks. [picture black socks with bold white NO BS on leg].
Something about the value of transparency - no bullshit - stuck with her, influencing her identity and how she sees me and my identity. It’s something I'm immensely proud of.
I love wearing those socks. And I would encourage every executive to get a pair of those socks and wear them to remind you to stop the power games. Start sharing information, being as transparent as you can, to engender the collaboration we so much need.
No problem is too big when we work artfully together, we will leave the world better for what we've done.
Come on. Let's get on with it.
Let me know what you think. Pop a comment onto LinkedIn. And I look forward to coming back and speaking with you, there, on Friday.
Cheers now...
Richard
#NoProblemTooBig
#AnchorOnValue
#Mentor #Speaker #AntiComplexity
Hi, I’m Dr Richard Hodge. I help people challenge their ways of thinking, leading and learning in a complex world. I help increase engagement by shifting leadership from positional power to working artfully with your people co-creating the generational change they seek.
Action Items:
[ ] Stop the power games that limit transparency and information sharing within organizations. Take steps to be as transparent as possible.
[ ] Share information freely to enable collaboration so that no problem is too big to solve.
[ ] Engender collaboration by being transparent.
[ ] Wear socks with "no bullshit" on them as a reminder to be transparent.
[ ] Bring transparency into personal relationships and parenting.
[ ] Stick with transparency despite difficulties to develop open and honest relationships.
Let me know how you get on.