A Whole New Solar System

In preparation for an upcoming post on designing organizations without barriers, I would like to take a little detour to share a few thoughts on everyone’s favorite subjects…leadership and management. More specifically, what does the future hold for them?

Part 4, titled “Designing a Future-Proof Organization,” will begin to introduce a few concepts, themes, and principles for those who influence how work gets done in their organization. To prepare us for that dialog, we need to take a deep look at foundational beliefs we hold sacred and are often afraid to talk about, let alone change.

Please understand this post is a working out of my thoughts (and hopes) for the future of organizations. Much of this material is aspirational and meant to provoke conversation and questioning, so I welcome your thoughts.

The Challenge of Foundation Changing

As organizational change coaches and designers, our purpose has always been to introduce fresh ways of working into organizations so an environment of healthy productivity emerges and a culture of trust and joy begins to bloom. We do this by sharing new frameworks, methodologies, and techniques, and by modeling and coaching new behaviors and habits.

As we introduce these new ways of working, rarely do we question existing management paradigms or suggest a change to what is expected of the leaders working within those paradigms. We just accept them as a foundation that can’t be changed or moved.

So instead, we design on top of hierarchies. We design around the bureaucracy of management constructs. We coach through the limitations, constraints, and controls of “performance management” systems and we tolerate the behaviors and habits reinforced by these systems.

And then we wonder why our change energy isn’t translating into meaningful and transformational progress.

Admittedly, bringing up this topic with managers in an organization is a challenge. It’s not often any of us would want to disrupt a system we are a part of (or helped to create). Sometimes this feels like a daunting task and sometimes we know this rattling of cages could cause quite a stir.

So we tend to avoid it.

This avoidance takes the shape of many things. We expect managers to buy-in to new ways of leading – hoping they will be less command-and-control and more self-aware. We try large-scale leadership off-site retreats to inspire managers in bringing their change to life. We send them to leadership boot camps or have them attend “Agile Leadership” training hoping this will ease their transition into new ways of leading. If that doesn’t work we ask them to fill out personal assessments or personality tests hoping to gain insights into why they behave the way they do. Finally, we might create custom leadership workshops or provide intensive coaching interactions with the hopes this will finally make a difference.

But we rarely, if ever, ask the meaningful and challenging question…Does the foundation need to be changed?

Foundation changing is not easy work and requires rebuilding from the ground up but that is the purpose of this post…to be a conversation starter to challenge long-standing beliefs and to shake the foundation just a bit.

Are you ready to rumble?

Our Current Solar System

Let’s begin our exploration of a new leadership paradigm by starting with what is typically seen in most mid-to-large-sized organizations. As companies grow, layers of oversight and governance are put in place to bring a semblance of control to large-group complexities. The phrase “span of control” has been made popular because of this design.

The way I see it, this paradigm has created a solar system with leaders at the center. It looks something like this:

With the boss at the center, people, also known as “direct reports”, circle around their managers throughout their work life. This rotation creates gravitational forces pulling people towards the leader they are assigned to. This is the environment we are facing when attempting to bring agility and change into an organization.

Corporate life becomes dependent on the direct-report relationship with their boss. Success, failure, happiness, and satisfaction boil down to one thing – does my boss think I’m doing a good job?

Gravity Always Wins

The forces generated by the “boss at the center” paradigm pull an employee in many ways and with varying intensities. This gravitational pull takes energy away from what is really important – because gravity always wins.

Let’s take a look at a few of these forces pulling people toward their manager (and away from something else):

The trickle-down of information. When information is trickled down to employees from the top of an org chart, this gravitational force draws people toward their manager as the only source for mission-critical updates on the state of the organization.

The need for approval. Expectations have been set that workers will do as they are told with any new ideas passing-thru a manager before trying them out. This gravitational force is revealed when anyone states, “I need to check with my boss if I should be working on (or make a change to) this.”

The lifeline of sponsorship. Within the current management paradigm, there is a sense of “you exist because I exist.” When managers own the budget, assign workers to projects, are the ones who remove organizational blockers, and are expecting their direct reports to report back on their status, people are drawn to their “sponsor” because they have no other choice to get something done.

Many change initiatives lose traction or get shut down because they don’t have the proper “sponsorship.” A perpetual loop is created because the removal of sponsorship would require sponsorship to remove it. So it never happens.

The maximizing of production. This gravitational force causes employees to operate at a constant “red-line” condition. The maximizing of production becomes apparent when people question if they are doing enough or if they are being noticed for the work they are doing. What was 8 hours a day becomes 10 and 12 hours a day and before long we’re working on the weekends.

In the current paradigm, busyness equals rewards and recognition. The boss looks good when their people are producing.

The source of assessment and compensation. The current paradigm of revolving around our boss forces direct reports to receive an assessment of their performance from their manager. Typically a yearly event everything rides on this assessment.

Merit increases, bonuses, and future promotions are attached to the outcome of this process. While you may hear feedback from your peers, nothing resonates more than the words and rating of the manager.

This force is strong and has, I believe, perpetuated many of the dysfunctions found in organizations today. What is often rewarded are the exact behaviors we are trying to change because we behave in the way our boss wants us to behave (or has modeled).

The treadmill of promotion. Corporate success has been defined as climbing the ladder. Over time, there is an expectation that some direct reports will be able to have their own solar system. High-potentials (or “hi-pos”) are identified by managers as candidates for promotion. Often, this is the only way to receive significant increases in your salary – to have your own solar system.

Each of these forces requires inward-facing systems and processes to sustain them. Because each of these forces requires so much care and attention, the collective energy of all these forces can create an environment of stagnation and deflation among other serious consequences.

Consequences of the Current Solar System Paradigm

For decades, this oversight-focused, hierarchical approach to organizational design has delivered what it was designed for – production, structure, and compliance. In fact, amazing progress and innovation have been made using this model.

But it has come at a price. There are consequences to the leader-at-the-center paradigm and in my opinion, here are the most severe:

The pursuit of manager happiness. Generations of workers are now trained to show up to work and find motivation and inspiration from their managers. Decades of workers with aspirations to climb the corporate ladder have been asking themselves, “How do I make my boss happy enough with me so I can have my own solar system one day?” In many ways, people may not be aware of how strongly this influences their everyday decisions at work. Many people I talk to in organizations are sacrificing their own physical health through overwork, under-rest, and increased stress because of the constant striving to achieve the next level.

The dulling of senses. People are constantly looking up instead of looking around. Because of the gravitational forces pulling them toward their manager, people have lost the ability to sense predators or have the ability to react quickly when something is sensed. People in many organizations are paralyzed. Afraid to move. Afraid to speak up. Afraid to make decisions on their own. Afraid to take action.

The fear of career-limiting moves. Attempting to pull away from managerial gravitational forces will often cause disastrous consequences. Challenging the status quo or questioning the decisions of your manager has a good chance of impacting your performance reviews.

So instead of fresh ideas emerging throughout the organization, the entire organization is asking “What can I do so I can be rated higher (get paid more/receive the next promotion)?” instead of asking “What amazing thing can I do for our customers today?”

The perpetuation of broken systems. Despite the voices crying out for change, existing performance management systems have continued to reinforce the manager at the center paradigm.

One person sets your goals.

One person assesses your performance.

One person determines your salary increases.

One person decides if you are a “high performer” and ready for more responsibility.

This may sound great but one bad manager and your worth (and perhaps your self-esteem) take a hit. All of this may go through a “calibration” exercise with other managers which might help your cause but you are still dependent on the manager you were assigned to.

The centralization of critical thinking. Strategic thinking has been moved farther and farther away from those closest to the customer. Leaders create the vision. Leaders are expected to make big decisions. Leaders know best. The organization follows.

The consequence of this is obvious – visionary ideas and ground-breaking innovation from unlikely people are rarely acknowledged. Who knows how many amazing ideas have been kept in the shadows.

The expectation that change can be managed from the top. I have heard this statement over and over, “We need leadership buy-in or else change isn’t going to happen.” If this is true, don’t count on change to ever happen. Change becomes a waiting game – trying to find the perfect conditions before change can occur. This also reinforces the manager at the center paradigm because “change can’t happen without me”.

So change begins to feel like something is being done to people in the organization instead of coming from within them. People will just need to wait for their manager to change and then wait to be told what to change into. A recipe for a failed change endeavor.

A Whole New Solar System

With all of that said, I would like to share a mental model describing my thoughts for a different future. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and start the hard work of foundation changing.

So…

Instead of continually asking leaders to change, we introduce new expectations and capabilities for them to enjoy.

Instead of expecting leaders to do more, we have them jettison their baggage and do something different.

Instead of needing leaders to buy in, we ask leaders to exchange existing beliefs about how work gets done for something liberating.

Instead of asking leaders to head off to another off-site leadership retreat, we bring leaders closer to the work.

Instead of boxing leaders in the center of hierarchies and hoping employees can thrive within those boxes, they are invited to explore a whole new solar system.

Our new solar system revolves around those who receive value from the existence of our organization. Value-receivers are your customers, constituents, congregations, patients, members…anyone who pays for or receives a benefit from your organization.

While this may seem obvious, in this paradigm every word, action, system, process, and as much human energy as possible is fully aligned to serve those who need us most. Internally-facing forces are replaced with only what is needed to deliver value.

To do this, value receivers are surrounded by people wrapped in the capabilities needed to produce and support value. Here is a mental model demonstrating what this could look like:

Capabilities are placed in light-weight orbits with the orbits farthest away from the value-receivers supplying guidance and strength to the closer orbits.

Each orbit has a specific reason for being there. Let’s explain this mental model.

The Orbit of Doers

The first orbital, the one closest to our value receiver, consists of the capabilities needed to do the work of delivering outcomes for our customers. For the Agilists out there, this would consist of a community of people in a constant cycle of delivering small increments of value through sprints.

The “orbit of doers” consists of three capabilities:

Creators. Those who are designing, building, and testing valuable things and experiences for their value receivers. They are doing things directly with and for our customers.

Service Givers. Those who are responding to the needs of the value-receivers to enhance experiences or help when the value hasn’t been fully delivered.

Experimenters. Those who are working with the creators and service givers to introduce and suggest new things to try. They are always watching and learning and working with the others in this orbit to ensure the status quo doesn’t take over.

This orbit is where things happen. Constant increments of value are flowing out of this orbit and into the life of our customers. Real-time experiments are the norm in this orbit.

The Orbit of Guidance

The farthest orbit, the orbit of guidance, provides the system with direction.

Two crucial capabilities are revolving around this orbit:

Sensors. Those who are sensing the current terrain by looking for trouble spots and discovering opportunities to pounce. They are always asking “Where are we vulnerable?” and “Where do we have the advantage?”

Futurists. Those who are mapping out a future that does not exist today. Futurists are inspiring the organization to think about visionary things and often start their sentences with “Imagine a world where…” The futurist is using the data from the sensors to be preparing the organization for what is ahead.

This orbit is traditionally an exclusive club for senior leadership teams or steering committees. Our new solar system invites those with strong sensing and visionary capabilities into this orbit with open arms.

The Orbit of Connection

The middle orbit connects the guidance orbit with the doer orbit. The exercise of blending where we are going with what we are doing is accomplished here.

These unique capabilities will provide the organizational glue to keep our orbits in sync and to produce in healthy and vibrant ways.

The capabilities inside this orbit include:

Systems thinkers. Those who have an acute awareness of how work gets done. System thinkers design simple systems to move ideas quickly into the hands of our value receivers.

Connectors. Those who assemble teams and connect dependent teams together. Connectors play an “air traffic controller” role by ensuring communication flows naturally within the orbits.

Energizers. Those who have an acute awareness of the health and well-being of the humans in the system. While the systems thinker is watching the work, energizers are watching our people.

This orbit infuses the organization with strength and confidence by removing unneeded steps and processes and providing the nutrients needed to keep people healthy and productively happy.

The Beauty of Orbits

Before we describe how our new solar system would work in practice, understand the orbits do NOT represent a hierarchy. They represent a logical mental model for navigating the needed capabilities to produce value with minimal overhead and friction. Nothing is wasted.

The beauty of this mental model is how easily people can move between orbits. We can begin to introduce the concept of “seasons” and how everyone can and should spend time in each season for a spell.

Creators would spend most of their time actually creating things but should spend short seasons as an experimenter to have the freedom to try new things and as a service-giver to experience first-hand what is happening with our customers.

During a given month, leaders would spend time in each orbit as a futurist, a system thinker, and a doer.

For example, a State Governor would serve at the Department of Motor Vehicles for a day. Senior leaders spend 4 hours a month answering customer support phone calls. Hospital administrators spend a shift in the emergency room. New hires are included in visioning sessions to share their fresh perspectives. Creators spend time in the connecting orbit to learn how the system really works and how their decisions impact others.

Rattling Your Paradigms

What will it take to begin to create this whole new solar system? To start with, you may need to begin to look at long-lasting and stubborn paradigms and loosen your grip on them.

Here are a couple of paradigms you may need to rattle:

1. Vision and strategy are not a monopoly of a few people at the top of a hierarchy.
2. Everyone is a “doer.” Everyone takes an opportunity to do micro revolutions around our customers.
3. From governance and approvals to trust. Decisions are handled as close to the customer as possible. Leaders and managers are no longer expected to make all the decisions. Any needed legal, regulatory, or compliance requirements are embedded inside each orbit.
4. The corporate dictionary is replaced. Language of exclusivity (steering committees, strategy teams) and of hierarchy (direct reports, sponsorship) will need to begin to evolve.
5. Everyone is an A+. Existing ratings and review systems are removed. We expect everyone to be a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5. When it seems someone isn’t functioning at their best, the system rallies around them to see what is happening and will do everything to help. More to come on my thoughts on how performance reviews should be handled within our new paradigm.
6. Goal setting is customer-focused. Individuals set their own goals aligned with the aspirations of the organization and with help from their community to challenge them to new heights when needed.
7. Personal growth is also community-driven and not driven by a manager. Each individual is wrapped inside a community designed to care about their personal well-being. Those closest to us will help build our capabilities through apprenticeship and shared experiences.
   

There will be others but this would be a good start. As I said, changing the foundation will take a lot of work.

So, what should I do with all of this?

The spirit of this mental model is to expand our thinking about how work gets done in the future. As Leandro Herrero stated, “The hierarchy of leadership does not disappear but it becomes invisible.”

All of this may seem a bit radical but if you enter into a space of creativity with an open mind, here are a couple of ideas to get you started:

Figure out what you believe.

Do you believe others “below you” can make meaningful decisions without your help or input?

Do you believe autonomous, self-managing teams can produce value without oversight and governance from a hierarchy of managers?

Do you believe only a select few in the organization have a monopoly on vision and strategy?

Look at these questions again. What do you really believe? Knowing that your answer may change your amount of fill-in-the-blank (compensation, power, control, status), do you still believe?

If your belief about how work can get done aligns with the current hierarchical leadership paradigms, then this post would probably end for you here. If you’re ready for a whole new solar system, let’s get busy!

Change your language.

Do projects or initiatives in your organization require a “sponsor?” Do vision and direction come from “leadership teams”, “strategy teams” or “committees?”

Begin taking a hard look at the language being attached to structures and capabilities others can participate in. Can you begin to remove the language of exclusivity and hierarchy? Do you still identify people based on the level of the hierarchy they are at? (i.e. we need a level 8 or higher for this role) If you really want everyone to be leaders, stop calling only a few people leaders. Find a few small areas to make these changes real.

Change your habits. Nibble away at abolishing your solar system. Notice when you are the center of attention. Notice how often you speak up first in meetings. Notice how people defer to your opinions and ideas. Notice how many decisions you are making that others could easily make. Join a team and spend a season becoming a doer. Spend an afternoon DOING things you would not normally be expected to do as a leader.

Change your calendar. How many calendar entries are internally focused vs. externally focused? Do you still have status meetings? How much time is allocated to visiting actual human value receivers? How many meetings are created for your convenience and not for the benefit of your customers?

Model accountability. Begin having conversations with your colleagues about the future of work. Ask them the same questions you answered above about what they believe. Dig deep and challenge each other.

Shake the foundations. Challenge existing systems and long-lasting strongholds. Question everything….do you need managers of managers? (People watching people watching people work.) Are our existing performance management systems producing transformational behaviors, habits, and outcomes? Do you currently put a limit on trust? (i.e. only certain people can make decisions over a certain dollar amount)

As I mentioned earlier, changing foundations is not easy and can actually be painful. We are working out old scar tissue so new muscles can develop. Painful but necessary.

Future generations are counting on someone to start changing the foundations. Might as well be us.

In the next post, “Designing Future-Proof Organizations” we’ll dig deeper into how to put these thoughts into practice.