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Organise without managers: is it possible at scale?
Organise without managers. A dream that many seem to nurture. A few months ago, I already wrote a post with what I thought was a thought-provoking title: do we still need managers? The answer I tried to give back then was that we certainly need proper management, but this does not automatically equate to keep the old hierarchy of managers. The debate about organising without managers is not...
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#Movember
I’m joining the Movember movement this year, growing a moustache in support for raising awareness on some of the biggest health issues faced by men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention. Started by the Movember Foundation in 2003, it quickly has grown to a large scale movement, with more than 5 million people supporting it every year. How can you...
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Jazz and Leadership: 6 big lessons from Herbie Hancock’s Concert.
Yesterday I attended the Herbie Hancock concert at the Conservatorio of Milan, opening act of the JazzMi Festival. It was a genuinely great experience, to see such a master of jazz play. We had perfect placing (third row). Not more than 10 meters separated us from this real master. But am not here to comment on the (exceptional) music. Instead, as the concert rolled, I could observe...
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The future of HR? Is Human.
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reasoning (again I would say) on the role of HR. I’ve been especially challenged by the idea that “HR is a job for losers“. I have tried to understand where we can still make the difference, which around (re)taking ownership of the relationship between the “work” and the way the organisation uses it. I think I’ve now...
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How do we get sh*t done. The Future of Work and a new paradigm for HR.
Too many HR professionals still consider traditional employees to be their only “customer”. Companies today however have redefined the concept of work by interacting with multiple types of talents. If this is clearly defining a new future of work, it also impacts how we define the role of HR. Since the beginning of organisational theories, social scientists and managers kept struggling on how much...
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«HR is a job for losers»
I’m working out of the Denver office this week. Yesterday evening I was sitting at the bar of the hotel pub, sipping a pint of local pale ale, when I accidentally overheard a conversation a lady was having via FaceTime (considering the high tone of voice, I guess everybody listened…). What? HR? Come on, that is a job for losers. Only people that are...
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What’s new about Digital Leadership?
Understanding the concept of Digital Leadership is not an easy tasks. Multiple points of view, different approaches, a lot of partial answers, all contribute to a scattered scenario. If we want to really focus on digital maturity though, we need to approach this concept as the fundamental component of Culture Change. Digital Leadership is another concept, together with of Transformation, that is really “hot”...
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Design Thinking for HR
Design Thinking has already been identified as a key transformation element for HR, in its quest to improve Employee Experience. However I argue that in many cases this is just used as a make-up methodology, without a full understanding of the potential for change. Design Thinking is one of the key components of the “Digital DNA” that I suggest based on the Three Mindsets...
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Digital Transformation in Store
As the role of the physical store gets redesigned by the impact of technology, there’s more evidence of the centrality of retail associates in delivering successful experiences and drive sales across channels. Simply plunging technology in stores has failed in accelerating this: to succeed employees in store need to be at the core of the Digital Cultural Transformation of the company. Perhaps no other...
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Building Digital Transformation: a Role for HR
In a very interesting article just appeared on the McKinsey Quarterly, Tanguy Catlin and his collaborators address four “key fights” that organisations need to address to be able to achieve a real Digital transformation. If there’s one thing a digital strategy can’t be, it’s incremental. The mismatch between most incumbents’ business models and digital futures is too great—and the environment is changing too quickly—for...