While we often throw around terms like "the future of work" and "new ways of working," the reality is that much of the wisdom about how to self-organize and self-manage has been around for a long, long time. What we can learn from this is that there's really nothing new about this moment—except for the fact that more and more people are waking up to the fact that the status quo just isn't good enough.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak with Doug Kirkpatrick, author of The No-Limits Enterprise (and many others), about his origin story at The Morning Star Company and what he's learned about self-management in the decades since.

Learn more about Doug on LinkedIn, Twitter, and from reading his book: The No-Limit's Enterprise.

Learn more about The Morning Star Company on their website.

Mentioned references:

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

It's been almost a year of working remotely due to the pandemic. And we haven't exactly been doing it right. We've just been hanging in there with too much Zoom and not enough coffee. As a result, we're a little toasty.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about what they're seeing and feeling, and what it's going to take to make remote work... work. With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up this week in the USA, it seems like the perfect time to talk about how to recuperate, refresh, and return to work with more intention.

Interesting in working at The Ready? Check current openings and apply here.

Mentioned references:

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

If you've been listening to Brave New Work for a while you might be wondering, "Is a self-managing workplace right for me?" Or, if you're already in one, you're probably curious, "How can I better recruit (and screen for) those that are a 'fit' for new ways of working?"

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans are joined by their colleague Ali Randel to talk about what it takes to survive and thrive in self-managing and self-organizing environments, and what we can do to test for those traits and skills before we jump in.

Learn more about Ali on LinkedIn and by reading articles she's written on Medium.

Apply to work at The Ready: https://www.theready.com/apply

Mentioned references:

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

We often wait to talk about the hard stuff until the shit has hit the fan. But what if we made space for difficult conversations before they become difficult? That's the insight at the heart of Radical Alignment, a new book that introduces a four part conversation technique designed to get couples, teams, and groups on the same page.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak with Alex Jamieson and Bob Gower about how game-changing conversations—spanning our intentions, concerns, boundaries, and dreams—can transform our lives at work and at home.

Learn more about Radical Alignment and get a copy from your local bookseller.

Learn more about Alex on LinkedIn and Bob on LinkedIn.

Mentioned references:

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Three months ago, we started a conversation about diversity here on the show. And within our own company, that work has continued in earnest. Yet, we've only scratched the surface on what it means to realize true equity at work. We want to go deeper. We need to do more. And we need to make sure that the momentum of the summer continues into the fall. That's why we're back to talk about JEDI once again.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak with Xavier Ramey, CEO of Justice Informed, about where we stand in the fight for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, both at work and in society at large. This is an expansive conversation that touches on the past, present, and future—and invites each of us to continue taking action.

Learn more about Xavier on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and his website.

Learn more about Justice Informed and their work on LinkedIn, Instagram, and their website.

Mentioned references:

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

Complexity calls for a new way of working—and in particular a new way of meeting. What matters isn't the individuals in the room, but the relationships between them. Indeed, we need new interactions that change the dynamics and outcomes of our gatherings. No more limiting structures, it's time for liberating structures.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak with Keith McCandless, co-author and co-developer of Liberating Structures, about the power of microstructures in meetings and moments of collaboration. The structures Keith and the LS community have developed have shaped The Ready's work since inception. Don't miss the lessons within.

Learn more about Keith on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Medium.

Learn more about Liberating Structures at http://www.liberatingstructures.com.

Mentioned references:

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Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

One of the most common tensions we hear from teams is "our tools and technology are not maximizing our potential." Let me translate: our company uses crap software. We experience this for many reasons—status quo bias, frugality, security, and one-stop-shop pipe dreams. But the problem is that software is not a blank canvas. It's not neutral. It has opinions. And those opinions shape what we can do (and how we do it) at work.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans share how they think about software, and why you should advocate hard for the right tools on the job.

Mentioned references:

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Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

We talk about bureaucracy (and its downsides) on this show all the time. But what about a humanocracy? What would that look like? Luckily, Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini have written a wonderful book to explore that question. And their answer is simple: we have to abandon the ways of the past and allow organizations to be as amazing as the people inside them. Easier said than done, but more necessary than ever.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak with Michele Zanini, co-founder of the Management Lab and co-author of Humanocracy, about the overlap between Brave New Work and Humanocracy, how urgent and vital the work of change is, and how he's learned to approach it. There are few in our space that have written as poignantly and knowingly about the perils and promise of work in the 21st century, so listen and learn along with us.

Learn more about Michele on his website, on LinkedIn, or on Twitter.

Learn more about Humanocracy and get the book or take the Bureaucracy Mass Index (BMI) to see where your company sits.

Mentioned references:

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Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

At a sufficiently large scale, any organization that has maximum "diversity" across all variables will become average. Why? Because taking a stand—any stand—is the basis for the boundary of the firm. It's what separates what's inside from what's outside. We must answer the question: "What makes us... us?"

In order to succeed, we need generative difference—members of different races, backgrounds, and experiences. But, we also need clarity and coherence. We need to be explicit about the lines that matter to us, and have enough alignment and connection that a whole emerges from the parts.

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans talk about what it takes to achieve that level of coherence, and how easy it is to tip the scales too far in either direction.

Mentioned references:

Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com

We recorded this episode in April, and to be honest, it kinda feels like April never left. All the themes that were present then are simply louder now. What has become clear in the meantime is that strategy (e.g. what is happening, what matters, and what are we doing about it) is more important than ever. But how should we think about strategy in an emergent and participatory system? Is it intuitive and built in to the very structure of the org? Is it something we have to do? How should we weigh reflection against action?

In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans speak with Lorin Thomas-Tavel, an executive at Kaplan, about the intersection between strategy and digital transformation, and how their strategy is changing and accelerating on the ground in the midst of the pandemic.

Learn more about Lorin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Learn more about Kaplan at their website.

Mentioned references:

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Our book is available now at bravenewwork.com

We want to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

Looking for some help with your own transformation? Visit theready.com