What’s Wrong With My Organization

No one wants to hear they have spinach caught in their teeth—either literally or figuratively. And yet we all actually do want to know that we’ve got spinach in our teeth—so that we don’t ramble on embarrassing ourselves. What makes it so hard to say these things—or hear them? Are organizations better at hearing this type of feedback than I am? I mean: they are paying for people to tell them these things.

When we still had newspapers, the joke was that yesterday’s news was used to wrap fish today. With one crisis following the next, it does rather seem that if you just wait a day or two, the next crisis will come along and turn into…fish wrap. Which ones actually are important, and are signs of important changes—things that you do need to adjust your business model for? Let’s take up the topic with our consultants and get some perspective on it.

Maybe not classical Greek philosophy, but “no regrets” holds up as one of the top tattooed beliefs. “Think positive” or “be happy”--  we’re bombarded with messaging that constantly pushing us to make lemonade out of those lemons. Is a positive mindset and no regrets the key to organizational success? Should we be making all that lemonade? Is failure merely a result of a lack of optimism? And what does that look like when put up against climate change, pandemics and war?

Quite the series of branding updates going on—at M&Ms, the green M&M now wears track shoes. Over at Disney, Minnie Mouse just got a pantsuit. What’s led to this fashion update—what do brands expect to gain from it? In the words of Oscar Wilde— there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. We’re certainly talking about these brands, but are they getting more from this than just idle chatter?

News from China is concerning—not just in regards to supply chain questions, but human rights as well. There’s also reason to worry about what’s being discussed in regards to the Ukraine and Russia. How will all of that play out—does it actually matter to my small business in Bremen or Boston or Barcelona? And how would I know if it does or not?

As we begin looking at 2022, I can’t say the news really looks like a rebound to the “Roaring 20s” that forecasters were promising us a year ago. Is that something that a small business needs to be thinking about—or is it just distracting drama?

Scanning the headlines the newest topic regarding remote working is the disadvantages that it brings with it. Experts rattle off the problems it will bring with equitable promotions and women’s representation. Should we proceed anyway? How do we view the articles insisting on the flaws of remote work?

So, where do you think this wave of expert advice is coming from?

How are we defining legal accountability in the pandemic world? What has changed and who is responsible for employee safety? Do employers have a legal responsibility around vaccination choices?

We will explore these and other questions. We can offer insight but not legal advise as none of us are allowed to practice law in any location.

Part of your organization design and development work is to challenge the way organizational

leaders think.

When you think about how you influence the path your organization is on, there are of course

costs. And there are people — and maybe the technology investment.

So—true or false: if you give your staff training and get them a new IT platform, will that fix

your problems?