On this episode, Rupert and Shradha interview Don Miller from Deloitte about the concept of digital twin and its relevance in organizations. A digital twin is a replicated scenario or live model of certain elements in a system, allowing organizations to explore and make decisions without affecting the actual people and systems. Don emphasizes the importance of using digital twins to scenario model organizational moves and workforce planning, especially for global companies with labor regulations. Don cautions the practitioners on over-engineering of data and and offers practical guidance for organizations to define their strategy and make better decisions.

00:00 Introduction and Background

06:09 Exploring the Concept of Digital Twin

28:06 Avoiding Over-Engineering and Using the Strategic Choice Cascade

In this episode, Jade Christie, Director of Workforce Planning at Lululemon, discusses the importance of workforce planning in a rapidly growing organization. She emphasizes the need for a strong partnership between workforce planning and financial planning and analysis (FP&A) to ensure accurate and actionable data. Jade also highlights the value of seeking to be approximately right rather than precisely wrong and the importance of asking the right questions to drive meaningful insights. The conversation emphasizes the art and science of workforce planning and the impact it has on employee engagement and decision-making.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

01:34 Introducing Jade Christie and Her Role at Lululemon

08:18 The Importance of Workforce Planning in a Rapidly Growing Organization

15:08 Partnerships and Stakeholders in Workforce Planning

20:49 The Partnership Between Workforce Planning and FP&A

25:10 The Art of Workforce Planning: Being Approximately Right

28:36 Asking the Right Questions for Actionable Insights

31:21 The Impact of Workforce Planning on Employee Engagement

33:17 Summary and Closing Remarks

On this episode Rupert and Shradha interview Sharon Dye Yates, an org development and org design professional. Sharon shares her journey into the field of organizational development and discusses her three passions: culture, change integration, and organizational design. She emphasizes the importance of establishing tangible and measurable culture and for a robust change integration approach to ensure org changes are fully integrated and not abandoned after the initial implementation. She highlights why it is important to align org design to culture and change integration to adapt to a dynamic ecosystem.

00:00 Introduction and Welcoming Sharon Dye Yates

01:28 Sharon's Journey into Organizational Development

09:17 Culture Eats Strategy

24:36 Organizational Design

26:17 Tools for Success

28:25 Avoiding the Trap of Arrogance

Jules Siegel-Hawley, a clinical social worker and organization design transformation expert, shares her journey and insights into the world of organization design and job architecture. Jules emphasizes the importance of clear communication, meticulous project management and involving people managers in overall change. Jules also highlights the need for a comprehensive social, legal, and risk assessment in the implementation process.

Key tip - the conversation guide was inspired by the Harvard and Ariadne Lab “serious illness conversation guide”. You will be surprised how we can draw parallels in organizational change management.

Shradha and Rupert are joined by Otto Pretorius to discuss job architecture and its importance in organizations. They explore the evolution of job architecture, the role of data in job design, and the connection between job architecture and skills-based approaches. Otto emphasizes the need for a structured and sustainable approach to job architecture, highlighting the importance of building what is needed at the present while keeping room for future additions. He also addresses the impact of AI on job architecture and the integration of external data sources.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

02:05 Otto's Background and Journey

05:13 Understanding Functional Architectural Models in HR

06:55 The Importance of Job Architecture and Role Grids

08:37 The Role of Elliot Jacques and Stratified Systems Theory

10:39 Evolution of Job Architecture and the Skill-Based Economy

25:03 The Impact of AI on Job Architecture

27:26 Distinguishing Stable Internal Infrastructure from External Data Sources

29:26 Recommended Resources: 'Data-Driven Org Design' and 'A for Accountability'

32:36 Closing Remarks and Farewell

Himanshu Tambe, an adjunct faculty in Indian School of Business and Singapore Business University, emphasizes how organizations of the future are shifting from traditional hierarchical models to networked fluid models. He highlights the need for the CEO to take the ownership of org design aligning it to the strategy and business objectives. Himanshu called out the importance of technology, such as the Orgvue platform, in designing organizations by evaluating different scenarios and following a robust approach since there are severe cost implications of inadequately thought-out org design changes.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

08:20 The Paradigm Shift in Organization Forms

13:40 The Role of Technology in Organization Design

27:42 The Role of CEOs in Organization Design

In this episode, Rupert and Shradha discuss the connection between understanding the work and the value chain of a business. They explain that the value chain is the process of transforming inputs into outputs that generate revenue, and it varies across industries. They also introduce the concept of the hedgehog concept from Jim Collins, which involves being the best in the world at something, being passionate about it, and ensuring it is economically viable. They emphasize the importance of every leader in the organization immersing themselves in understanding their own value chain and how they make money.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Question

06:47 Optimizing the Value Chain and Work

11:23 The Role of Organization Design

This conversation explores the concept of the gig economy and how organizations should approach designing for it. It discusses the challenges of incorporating gig workers into organizational design and the need to understand the work and the role of gig workers. The conversation also touches on the importance of considering the ego and biases in decision-making, as well as the practical aspects of resource management and capacity planning. The key takeaways include considering gig workers as part of the workforce, providing them with similar benefits as full time employees, and including them in decision-making processes.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Discussion of the Gig Economy

04:25 The Continuum of Augmenting the Workforce

09:10 Inclusion and Practical Considerations for Designing for Gig Workers

The conversation explores the relationship between the level of work and hierarchies within organizations (yes, these are two different concepts). It discusses how the wrong levels of work can lead to the manifestation of wrong types of hierarchy, resulting in micromanagement and confusion in reporting structures. The conversation introduces the work of Elliott Jacques, a Canadian behavioural scientist, who developed a stratified system to categorize different levels of work based on time horizon and cognitive complexity.

This week, our guest is Amy Kates. A guiding force for all of org design practitioners and enthusiasts out there. Amy shares her impressive journey of becoming an org design industry leader and an entrepreneur as she talks about STAR model of org design, concept of Minimum Viable Structure and the importance of taking time and space to do org diagnostic. Join us to hear her talk about how a good org design helps shape desired human behavior at scale.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:20 The Parallel Between City Planning and Organizational Design

08:56 The Craft of Organization Design

13:57 The Role of Technology in Organization Design

25:38 The Importance of Diagnostics in Organization Design