Surviving service market collapse together!

When I (re)started my consulting career at the beginning of 2020 I was so pleased to be on my own again! The feeling of the wind in my hair, endless opportunities, and being a skipper of my own fate. After 4 years it still feels natural for me, it reflects who I am. However, these 4 years turned to be the most challenging period in my career. First due to COVID-19, and this year, 2023, due to the effect of "the most expected recession ever" when companies literally cut all budgets to their roots.

I have been working in IT industry for 20+ years: I followed a technological career path for circa 12+ years, then got involved in running teams and projects, then I evangelised all the best practices of IT, software engineering practices, starting from XP, ending at Enterprise Agility, to massive companies that were lagging behind the innovation levels of their competition. In a way similar to many IT people, I was pulled out from IT work to play a bigger, "societal" mission to help those companies catch up. And then the mission was exposed to the market conditions of 2023. 

Instead of doing purely the domain work I spent a significant portion of my time on pre-sales and marketing activities. (By the way, allow an off-topic here: this is why I claim that companies should replace hiring for positions with hiring to a distribution of roles, where, as in our personal lives, we play multiplicity of roles. Positions are oftentimes to rigid structuring limiting value generation and contributions).

Here are the lessons learnt that I feel I should share with my peers: advisors, contractors, small boutiques, expert think-tanks, etc.

1. You are still the same valuable (wo)man! Your knowledge and expertise are needed. It's not the right time of the cycle though. 

2. Don't panic. Understand and respect the market cycle. There are things you can control, things you can influence, and things that concern you (which you cannot change).

3. Invest in yourself - as countries extend their engagement in public service work during crises, you should also invest in yourself. Get ready for the new cycle! Refresh your value proposition - the market will require more in the new cycle as the overall body of knowledge grows and experiences from the past are processed and transformed into new ideas and needs. 

In my case, for example: I passed SAFe SPC certifications (never needed it - my experience was self-explanatory). I have caught up on th AI / ML trends and progressed on the Google Cloud Machine Learning Engineer Path towards Google Certified Professional exam. (it's been great fun by the way to see all the concepts that were "theoretically possible" when I was a student, implemented at an enormous scale).

4. In parallel - refresh personally: first close all open loops from the past. Process experiences, accept them. Look for what new qualities have emerged through your experiences. Find your preferred channel, reading, writing, physical activities, art, and leverage it to process the cloud of thoughts into clarity. 

In my case, my natural channel is writing (check out my Good Companies book, available on amazon) and (amateur level) sports. 

Before jumping into new endeavors, you need to understand, refresh your understanding, who you are, who you want to be, where your skills are, where your interests are, where your values call you. As they say: start with the end in mind.

5. Take special care of and pay special attention to your relation with your life partner. They may not be fully aware of the sources of your changed behaviors. Put yourself in their shoes and see how this "infected" you infects them, their stability, their roots, so that they do not lose ground under their feet - they are used to relying on you, they have relied on you for years. 

For example: I took my wife on a trip to Paris that we have been postponing for years. This was the best trip ever!

6. Network heavily - during recession there are plenty of people who lost their jobs or contracts. It's not an easy time and you may not want to go through it alone. You also may not want your peers to go through this alone. There is a certain level of pressure coming from societal norms for those labelled as "unemployed". For me, historically, the network has been the most effective source of work. 

Again, what I did in this area: I promised myself to reach out to one person I used to work with in the past every weekday. It really feels great.

p.s. I am planning a separate post on what I did with the blessing of more free time that was usually the case.

Credits: Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

InfoQ article: How to leverage Good Companies to Fight Civilizaitonal Debt?

After my #XP2023 talk, Ben Linders led me through the process of publishing an interview article on InfoQ about my ideas from the Good Companies book (available on amazon). Not an easy task, but here it is. I learnt a lot!

Thanks Ben, I do appreciate!

Here is the link: https://www.infoq.com/news/2023/11/good-companies-civilization-debt/

#goodcompanies #infoq

Whole-Mind Thinking by Alan Seale and my renaissance of Human Integrity

One of the books that took me by surprise is Alan Seale's Transformational Presence. 

I may say I have a resonating relation with this book. The book first surprised me with novelty of its narrative, then gave me relief that I was not alone, apparently not the only one who thought this way, helped me make sense of what I had sensed yet could not name for a long time, equipped me with a frame and vocabulary to use, and gave me strength to talk about the new perspective I learnt openly. 

I am grateful to Alan for enabling all those above-listed personal developments of myself. 

I am also surprised what a strong mark the social formatting I received in childhood left on my mind. For years I was not aware of this transparent layer of norms through which I was perceiving the world.

Examples of my discoveries in the book are The Whole-Mind Thinking and the The Whole-Being Awareness. They are central concepts which put together define the mental frame presented. I pictured the essence of The Whole-Mind Thinking on the poster below while I leave it to you to find out what The Whole-Being Awareness is.

I used The Whole-Mind Thinking in my book Good Companies to illustrate the wholeness and architecture of human intelligence in the first transformation story: Story 1: Renaissance of Human Integrity. 

I believe Story 1 is the most natural place to start the transformation - in order to transform the world, we first need to be strong and integral ourselves. The mission we need to accomplish needs us strony and integral! 

The Integral Economy Framework

Transformative efforts in companies require a lot more than changing behaviors on the surface. Nothing new. Without a deeper change, new behaviors by themselves won't last long. Nothing new again. A more enlightened approach calls for understanding the invisible forces, principles and assumptions driving companies. They originate from the principles and assumptions of the economy. The why of the economy, in turn, originates from how societies understand the meaning of business. Finally, the meaning of business originates from our understanding of our needs as humankind.

Let this iceberg help you adjust the course. It will tell you why transformations struggle. It will open up a space to lead the dialog on the necessary change. I call this iceberg The Integral Economy Framework.

The Integral Economy Framework helps understand the visible behaviors of companies as a result and a consequence of the deeper / hidden levels of logic that we have created based on our wisdom.

Every existing model of the economy can and should be evaluated using the Integral Economy Framework, first as its validation, second to ensure transparency of all levels of its logic, not just the level of Business Behaviors of companies. Only full transparency allows to assess coherence and intentions of a particular economy model.

Conclusions. A transformation is required on a much deeper level. This transformation is not about how we do things, aka "Speed & Value", but why we do things and what the meaning of the things we do is. 

Once you can see through stereotypical biases and get it right, there is no way back. Once the deep shift happens, it becomes easy to build on the deep change, help it bubble up and manifest itself in behaviors of companies.

Throughout this year, 2023, I speak and run workshops about Good Companies Economics, based on my book, about the most important transformation, the one which is closest to my heart.

Wroclaw, Poznan, London, Amsterdam and Warsaw. Next is Scotland, and then Copenhagen.

I am thankful to these who help me spread the news.

Role of Leadership Teams at Scale

The role and nature of leadership differs depending on the size of a company.

In small companies, everyone is a leader. People have direct access to the Source - the primal purpose of the company. Oftentimes, they were among the initial cohort that founded the company, or were hired as the first after co-founders. In such an environment, it is natural to be driven by purpose and play multiple roles. Thus, it is natural for everyone to be a leader and participate in the organic dynamics of peer leadership and situational leadership, stepping in and out of this role based on skills and interests. I call this leadership dynamic, an organic leadership.

This is by far my favorite environment, which mimics life dynamics very closely. Notice that in our lives we play multiple roles, e.g., fathers or mothers, husbands or wives, shoppers, chiefs, renovators, taxi drivers for kids, romantic lovers, etc. Also notice how we share the leadership role with our partners, neighbors, and local communities.





What about leadership in big companies, a.k.a. leadership at scale? To some extent, big companies can copy the blessed dynamics of organic leadership from their smaller cousins. The divide & conquer principle is a mechanism to achieve this via tribalization and delegation.

As long as big companies understand the natural beauty of organic leadership, and would like to copy the dynamics, there are limits to this copying. The vertical structure is a clear limitation. As long as organic leadership can blossom on a single level of an organizational structure, it is difficult to replicate it across levels. Leadership at scale enforces intentional leadership - senior managers need to assume they will not be able to interact with every individual and every team directly. The techniques and tools of communication need to take this landscape characteristic into account.

Hierarchy and structure introduce containerization and divisions, which define boundaries for organic leadership. The further up the hierarchy we take into account, the more pressure and ego are at play, and the more individuals are expected to impose their will and control to deliver the results expected by shareholders. Inevitable division between the powerful and the powerless starts to play a dominant role in defining the style of leadership.

In parallel, as another limitation of structuring, big organizations are simply addicted to imposing strict and narrow roles & responsibilities, fixing the scope of their expectations of individual contributors to be experts in one or few disciplines. This is already visible during recruitment processes, which are usually focused on hiring individuals possessing specialist skills ready to be exploited here and now. A talent-oriented approach to hiring is, in my experience, a myth. Conformance to the existing culture and leadership style is oftentimes a non-verbalized requirement.

All the circumstances above act as filters that narrow down and weaken the will and opportunities for individuals to use their organic leadership.

Accepting, for the sake of this discussion, that these aspects exist as a part of the reality of big companies, the question about the role of leadership in big companies remains relevant. Senior leadership teams still have a key role to play. It is a part of their responsibility towards each single individual who spends their irreversible time trying to contribute to a company.

In my opinion, the key role of leadership at scale is to tell a compelling story. A story of why it is important that we are all here and of what it enables in the future. The compelling story opens up and enables employees to build their identity as employees of a particular company.

Identity is one of the highest levels of the Dilts neurological levels model.

Employees driven by their identity are attracted to the goals of a company with unmatched strength. They are able to go through daily burdens and systemic crises much easier. In fact, to some extent, they are liberated from focusing on what’s not working and focusing on what needs to be done. Such reframing makes their lives easier and makes them see the meaningful goal and not the obstacles. The story enables them to grow.

Identity bonds individuals with organizations, makes it easier to socialize, to feel needed, and, in the end, to contribute. Identity is born of a compelling story provided by a leadership team. If you are a leader, start your day contemplating what story you offer to the people you lead. How do you express the story, and most importantly, how do you live this story?

The task seems simple, yet it gets obscured easily without proper attention, reflection, and action. Maintaining your ability to be consistent and persistent in sticking to the story you share requires a dedicated effort. Make sure you devote proportionally relevant time to this task individually. Make sure you devote proportionally significant time to this task as a leadership team. Invite HR people into this conversation. Make it a habit. Etc, etc. I am sure you can handle the how and have plenty of your own ideas by now.

As an executive coach or advisor, make sure to prioritize maintaining the leadership story on the leader’s agenda. It has a higher chance of paying off in the long-term than many of operational activities you need to support, like performance optimization, urgent interventions, crises management, etc. Establishing the mechanism propelling a compelling story will make your work more fulfilling, not to mention - easier. I argue that a compelling story is a necessary condition in the journey of creating a healthy organization.



Photo by Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

This article was also published on my LinkedIn page.

The Good Companies Economics - 11 Paradigm Shifts within the Integral Economy Model

Why seeking redemption, or 'giving back', has been the mantra of successful business people while they should, and promisingly could, focus on changing the game!

Really, why is that? Why are so many successful business people blind to this option? Why does it take half of a human life to realize the simple truth that the only thing that matters is to Leave This Planet a Better Place? And why, even when conscious of that, do they pursue the wrong path?

I dedicated my Good Companies book to research this, and our other surprising blind spots, and irrational actions of business world today. I come back from this journey with an overwhelming load of evidence of our foolishness, but also as a new rebuilt me, with the reinforced agenda to change it! There are many calls for us to wake up and many aspects we need to revisit.

The alternative implementation of all the levels of the Integral Economy Model, or IEM in short, I present in #goodcompanies book, offers an alternative approach. Rooted in our deepest humankind needs of fulfillment by Leaving This World a Better Place, it restores the meaning of business and the economy as tools in hands of societies, as #transformation agents and as vehicles which will drive us to a meaningful future.

The roots of these otherwise irrational behaviors are located in our value systems, i.e. in the Mental Model of Humankind, in the Societal Meaning of Business, and in the Mental Model of Companies. In order to change the behaviors, we need to start transforming ourselves as humankind on these three invisible levels of the iceberg.

For example, we are trapped by our understanding of success, and by its relation to happiness, purpose and fulfillment in life. We are trapped by our understanding of the role of companies, business and the economy for societies. Also, we are trapped by our anxiety, a.k.a. the Civilizational Debt, caused by the pace of change on this planet. Yet, predominantly we are trapped by the belief of our impotence - that we are too small, and the system has been too dominant for us to change it.

The choices our grandfathers took when they were building their world are no longer helpful. It is time to contribute our generation's best and update these choices for the sake of the future generations.

Otti, thanks for the inspiration for this post in your post. p.s. Well-designed personas, I must say! - a medieval baron, a lawyer, and a businessman. A representative set indeed 😂

Two Transformation Intention Checks

I think we all deserve a dose of vaccination against glorification of "arbitrarily chosen shared values" as the pivotal transformation axis.

What resonates strongly with me in Otti's post are the two elements that open up space for trust and prove the intentions of originators of a transformation, namely

1. the need for redistribution of power and wealth, and
2. the goal of mitigation of the root causes vs taking the risk of reinforcing a rotten system

These two Intention Checks, as I decide to call them, are core to bear in mind, strive for, track and validate continuously when designing and leading a transformation.

These two Intention Checks are also promising candidates for becoming the pivotal transformation axis, and for becoming an explicit element of a transformation contract.

And also, these two are the litmus paper test, or smell sensors, of openness so necessary in organizations.

See also LI posts to read the whole discussion.

Myth Busters Series: VUCA SUCCs (sucks!)

I need to admit I have long felt uncomfortable with the VUCA world framing. At some point I discovered more people not quite happy with it. (e.g. see the post of Dr Claudia Gross here.)

Historically, the VUCA term was originally coined in geopolitical context to frame leadership theory during the post-cold-war era. Its first application was in the context of military leadership at United States Army War College. (Wikipedia will introduce you to the story best.)

But then VUCA was quickly adapted by management consultancies which transferred the term into the business world. Equally quickly it became a buzzword in the context of transformation, a buzzword aiming to create a sense of urgency for a change. 

I never felt comfortable with how VUCA is used in the business context. Here goes why.

First, it brings wrong metaphor of military leadership, battlefield, etc. Companies are not battlefields for me. The framing in consequence implies focus on operational context, which is important at a battlefield, while I believe companies currently need strategic awakening. All the effort to make companies operationally excellent forgets that it is direction of development that matters in the first place. Speed of operation will build up as a consequence of people's deep connection to the direction.

Second, I saw VUCA being used as a technique for creating an artificial sense of urgency by consultants and managements of organizations. And there is little worse than that - after a few times of using this technique employees grow cautious of the intentions behind the technique and grow immune to similar "change marketing" statements. They become untrustful and thus reserved to enrolling in successive transformation efforts.

Anyway, enough on the old VUCA. It's neither a good metaphor nor a good starting point.

What is true for me in the business context is the following: Simple, Unequivocal, Consistent and Certain (SUCC). Let me bust the myth of VUCA and demystify its individual components one by one while introducing their SUCC counterparts. 

Volatile? - Our efforts are rather persistent and Consistent - we have been very determined in implementing the technological layer between us and the natural environment. And yes, we have been consistently yet unconsciously suffering from the effects of this separation (see Awakening from the Meaning Crisis by John Vervaeke)

Uncertain? - our future is Certain - we are going to cause the extinction of humankind and the planet or at least cause irreversible changes to those.

Complex? - our world is pretty Simple. We are all, i.e. individuals, societies, governments and institutions, slaves of the economic system we have created, (see the lifetime works of Professor Stefano Zamagni), The economic model is based on our atavistic, reptile-level assumptions and principles. And yet we are not capable of changing it.

Ambiguity? - our world is Unequivocal. We have been destroying the planet and ourselves being stuck in the mental frame of exploitation. What also is unequivocal is our lack of capability to accept and understand the results of our actions. 

This bias in our collective understanding, the blind spot, the degenerated least common denominator of supremacy of humankind which we agree to be the cornerstone of the collective understanding, is exactly the root cause of why we have been hurting ourselves and everything around us.

All right, so how do we use the new SUCC acronym? I suggest we stop the destructive self-deception and replace the false VUCA business world framing with the VUCA SUCCs demystifier.

This is not to celebrate our SUCCess in this very focused and determined effort of our worst collective ego to exploit the world as a defense against the made-up threats of VUCA. What I mean is to stigmatize VUCA once and forever.

Stigmatize it with what calls us so strongly on individual level, with what everyone of us feels, senses and experiences through listening to our inner voice - how this VUCA journey SUCCs (sucks)!

From now on I am always going to use these two acronyms together - VUCA SUCCs.

#goodcompanies 

XP2023 Amsterdam conference Experience

I had a chance to participate in XP2023 conference in Amsterdam. It was a unique experience, that's why I am writing this blogpost.

Let me share it with you. XP2023 Amsterdam conference was an experience of slow food in a good restaurant versus fast-food I experienced at typical theater conferences. 

What I liked best was that the whole conference felt like a family gathering. Quite a big family :) 

I also liked the fact that speakers were present, available and approachable throughout the whole days. For example, I easily got a one-to-one time with Dave Snowden in the lobby, shared a table with Michael Hamman, and Scott Seivwright was sitting in the first row during my talk! How cool is that? 

Speakers actually participated in their tracks from the morning till the evening. And then they participated in afternoon meals and drinks, and all the chatting that was going on. It was so different from a typical conference experience where speakers are just speech delivery cogs in a bigger talk-delivery machine: come just before and disappear right after their talks. The presence of speakers contributed to the atmosphere of being collectively completely immersed in the flow of the track.

The presence of conference track owners was also a very positive experience. They owned and shaped their rooms. Their presence was starting in the mornings, often with a check-in with speakers, and they also stayed in the room throughout the day. There was no template they followed, everybody was herself or himself bringing their personal style, and open inclusive hearts, and auras into the room. As a consequence, each track had its own personalised atmosphere. 

And guess what, there were no headless chickens running around trying to fix something at the very last moment :) 

Honestly, there is a lot of inspiration in the work of the XP2023 team. I'd definitely try to recreate many aspects of this experience once I organize a similar event.

p.s. And this is Sabina and Torsten, Chairs of the Leadership track, collecting feedback from Janusz and myself on our conference experience. Yes, we do keep in touch!

UNMESS book by Morten Elvang

UNMESS book by Morten Elvang is the best piece on lean portfolio management I have read since the release of SAFe LPM.

I had a chance to read the book on my way back from #XP2023. I like it a lot. For precise language, for funny bits of dialog with the reader, for jargon vocabulary one can only learn in the field, for the 5 questions, 3 interactions, connections to #cynefin and for the dancing metaphor.

Introducing the Collaborative LPM, the author managed to cross the "framework / process feel" which is present in SAFe LPM and navigate me as a reader through Complex area of Cynefin. CLPM fits there naturally as it is aware of the nature of complexity in this quadrant and applies the style of action recommended by Cynefin. This is a powerful promise to me. I'd really like to see CLPM in action!