culture + org design
The English word “company” comes from the French compaigne—the sharing of bread, the same root as “companion.” Interestingly, the oldest Swedish term for business, narings liv, means “nourishment for life,” and the oldest Chinese symbol for business translates as “life meaning.” Perhaps when we rediscover organizations as living systems, we will
... See morePeter M. Senge • The Fifth Discipline
Visa’s founding CEO Dee Hock had a realization. He saw clearly that it was “beyond the power of reason to design an organization” capable of coordinating a global network of financial transactions of the sort that had started to develop.7 Yet, he also knew that nature regularly achieves just that. Why, he wondered, couldn’t “a human organization
... See morePeter M. Senge • The Fifth Discipline
But, functional divisions grow into fiefdoms, and what was once a convenient division of labor mutates into the “stovepipes” that all but cut off contact between functions. The result: analysis of the most important problems in a company, the complex issues that cross functional lines, becomes a perilous or nonexistent exercise.
Peter M. Senge • The Fifth Discipline
As I said, most companies and most interviews focus more on the question: can this person do what we need? But if you’re trying to recruit the best talent in the world, it needs to start with them. Who are they? What do they love doing? What are their ambitions? How does their past shape what they want for their future? What are they insecure... See more
Molly Graham • Fit
Your success here will depend entirely on how successfully you can tell stories, and how successfully other people can repeat those stories, both to themselves and others.Your North Star here has to be: are other people retelling this story successfully?Port cities around the world are more similar to each other than they are to their inland... See more
Welcome to Dancoland • World Building
cohorts deliver unexpected outcomes. And here’s why you should really care about cohorts - businesses and individuals operating in uncertain environments and looking to do new things (“innovation”) need operating principles that enable and empower new outcomes.
Cohorts - inside the organization, outside the organization - are the operating logic of... See more
Cohorts - inside the organization, outside the organization - are the operating logic of... See more
Brian Dell • LF11 - Cohort Futures
When hiring, look for people with the right attitude. Skills can be taught. Attitude changes require a brain transplant.
Walter Isaacson • Elon Musk
I also love the point being made in the video above about how people can be a part of culture by just enjoying it, you don’t have to be a model or a ‘somebody’. It connects directly with a conversation I saw playing out on TikTok this week between Rian Phin and a few other folks, who ultimately stated they preferred fashion analysis from outsiders,... See more