The Shrink and The Sage

Let’s start with the FT magazine article by Antonia Macaro and Julian Baggini (aka the Shrink and the Sage) who are a psychotherapist and philosopher respectively. Their article asks the question about what we can do when life loses its meaning.

The “answers”, for some lie in religion, spirituality or existentialism. The upshot is,  I guess, that rather than look for meaning outside of one’s own life, we should look at the meaning in our lives – i.e. what we can put into our lives that is meaningful. Phew – that’s a bit deep and definitely stretches my knowledge of philosophy etc.

Crossing Continents

Anyway, on to Radio 4.  “Not a lot of people know this” to paraphrase Michael Caine, if you exclude the thousands that listened to the “Crossing Continents” programme aired to describe what happens in Senegal. The population there is 90% Muslim. Amongst them there is a significant, and growing group (40%) that belong to “Mourides” , a movement that stresses the importance of a strong work ethic.

The fact that this movement is gaining stature and influence by virtue of its prevalence among the higher echelons of the country’s political positions, poses an interesting question for me. Where does engagement come from and what does this very strong and pervasive value mean for Senegal’s economy?  Can you imagine it being said that in our society everyone wants to work hard, irrespective of their occupation, in the name of some higher force or belief?  It certainly isn’t the usual sentiment of the Daily Mail and I would say that if asked many people would say they only work for “the money”. But is that really true?

In my reading of  Studs Terkel’s book, “Working – People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do” it struck me that there is something in this concept of “meaning in work” that is linked to how we, as human beings, see our performance at work vary over time.   Where there is something meaningful to achieve it makes it that much easier to get up in the morning and give one’s best. We can all point to people who hate their jobs, even when well paid.  We also probably know people that love their jobs, event when not well paid.  They could do something else, they maybe have done something else but when it comes down to it when the work loses meaning, something else in us is lost too.

Are Managers and Consultants To Blame?

When the lean consultants come in, and the six sigma managers are finished with their cost-cutting exercises, when the teams have been dismantled by outsourcing parts elsewhere, and the human service elements have been replaced by automation or self service, and managers warned to guard against “job creep” to keep the wage bill down; and tasks are centralised in the centres of excellence…. and so on…..   isn’t it possible that we have also dismantled some of what it means for the employees?  Isn’t part of what engages them these same things that provide interest, fulfilment and satisfaction for many employees? The interaction, the relationships, the ability to respond and create and take ownership and responsibility etc.?   Once you go through the above, the next wave of consultants coming in are the ones telling you about how you need to engage staff!  So you need more “job enrichment”, create more social interaction, more recognition etc.   The implication and underlying assumption is that managers can manage and control this.  I disagree.

Perhaps the Shrink or the Sage will debate this further at some point – it sounds like their kind of thing after all.  I was introduced to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and many other writers on motivation, many years ago and they have stuck with me.  I often see organisations trying to manage people as though money is the main consideration.  If like the Mourides there really is a “higher purpose” available from work, then shouldn’t we understand it as it must impact on employee engagement.  Think about it!

Formality – The Enemy of Innovation?

Lose Control

So how do organisations become agile and flexible enough to release their potential?  Arguably, it could be through their culture.  The answer may lie in enabling the opposite of what decades of management practice have encouraged – control.  As human beings we are programmed to look for form, create order from chaos, structure situations, define and even encourage engagement!

We dislike uncertainty, so we constantly look for patterns and meaning as a way of dealing with ambiguity. Hence in business we have come to regard building models, making correlations and measures as a way of bringing predictability to our work.  But these don’t always help us in turbulent times and it can be argued that they are the antithesis of the behaviour that gives rise to innovation.  In fact, models and obsessive measurement are often the hallmarks of the bureaucracies and behemoths that entrepreneurs spurn and successful start-up ventures reject.  New technology has led to disruption in many sectors, and means that change is happening at  a quickening pace.

It is people and not technology who have the capacity to innovate

In tough economic times, it could be said that a number of business functions, if not all, have a role in innovation.  However HR and marketing professionals tend to be much better at facilitating and managing planned change compared to opportunistic or the spontaneous kind of change needed when there is no time for detailed forecasting and planning.  Creating a culture that encourages communication of new ideas, releases new initiatives to happen quickly requires different, adaptive ways of thinking and working. Employees require freedom, opportunities, trust, encouragement and support to enable innovation. Furthermore they need to see evidence of it all around them in the attitudes and behaviours of managers and leaders throughout the organisation and a willingness to demonstrate and facilitate their intention to change.

For example, looking at examples of successful start-up organisations, or renowned innovative brands (e.g. Gore) it is clear that some working environments and conditions lend themselves much better to spontaneity and innovation than others.

Co-location in an open plan space contributes to ease of communication between key roles as do flatter structures that take out layers of decision making. Even the more relaxed conditions contributed by having a radio on may well stimulate the kind of conversations and ideas that spark different ways of thinking. Spaces and places to play around with ideas – writing or drawing on flip charts and whiteboards and whitewalls rather than the stiff rules that forbid posters, stickies on the paintwork, and working in virtual silence etc.

Rules send a clear signal  that order and image, individual achievement rather than collaboration, are more highly valued than spontaneity.  Without the right level of disorder ideas are stifled at birth rather than stimulated.

People and Culture

During the recession HR have come to the forefront of business strategy, in the process becoming adept at implementing strategies for survival.  Their innovation and evolution in areas like contracting – zero hours, temporary employment, outsourcing etc. have increased flexibility in the workplace. While they may not be popular with some employees or their representatives, they do also present opportunitiesand they may, in fact, offer a key to innovation.  Most shrewd organisations have not simply sought to reduce head count for easy, immediate savings. They have recognised and sought to retain vital knowledge, as well as potential, in their organisation. Innovation is not the sole preserve of either the longest serving or the newest recruit.  Innovation is about attitude, irrespective of time served, and a mix of valuable skills and knowledge, applied with fresh thinking. In a culture ‘unencumbered’ by history and add in experience and voila! You have a potentially powerful mix.

Innovation is often about right idea, right place, right time, right circumstances or any combination thereof.

Innovation Skills

Good facilitation, engagement and enabling skills are required to build a picture of what is required.  You need to build skills in questioning and listening, encouraging and leading new ways of thinking about solutions, rather than getting fixated by reductive ways of analysing problems and challenges.

Encouraging diversity and rewarding challenge and suggestions are behaviours recognised as good signs of true employee engagement.  Challenges after all are often signals that people care, and signs of potential solutions.  Actively seeking and listening to feedback and a willingness to experiment, take risks, test and measure impact are all behaviours and skills that can be trained and encouraged – or if they are missing, need to be recruited in to build innovation into a culture.

Neontics works with leaders, managers and their teams to introduce innovation to how they think and work to create a higher performance culture. Contact liz@eneontics.com for more details.