The Loop Approach: How to Transform Your Organization from the Inside Out

by Sebastian Klein, Ben Hughes

How best to adapt established companies to a rapidly changing economy has long been a topic of debate in both the corporate and academic worlds. This challenge is especially pressing for large organizations that may have grown top-heavy and rigid with time but now need to be light on their feet to stay relevant and profitable. Until now, the best attempts have consisted of plucking tools and methods from the world of start-ups and applying them wholesale in large corporate environments. Most of these efforts have either fizzled or failed outright because they lacked a framework for a comprehensive corporation-sized rollout. The Loop Approach introduces a new series of methods that could help change the course of operations for even the most colossal organizations. Sebastian Klein and Ben Hughes provide a wide-ranging set of guidelines for achieving corporate agility, complete with checklists and worksheets that should prove instantly applicable. Want proof? The methods outlined in The Loop Approach have already been successfully implemented at such European corporate giants as Audi, Deutsche Bahn, and Telekom.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Nonfiction, Management

232 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[Katlu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts with a nice summary of some trends in organizational development, blending inputs from Laloux, Holacracy, systemic organizational development and mindfulness. As such, it is a very readable and stylishly illustrated primer on these subjects, but not more. The second part is about team development, with some very detailed agendas of team workshops. This part I liked best, even though I have some serious question marks about their approach regarding conflict resolution and feedback.
My big disappointment however was with the backcover claim that the book would be about “transforming organizations bigger than a startup”. The book definitely fails to deliver here - 90 percent of the book deal with the transformation of singular teams, not even links to other teams are mentioned! The remaining 10 percent present theoretical principles of change management, which are all good but neither new nor particularly applied to the team-based approach (“the top level must support the transformation”).
All in all, the book seems mainly written as a marketing tool for the corresponding workshops offered by the authors.

[Khôi Trần · Rating 4 out of 5]

Same concept with the book 'Reinvent oganization'. All about building a democratic organization structure which is quite popular in European companies. And for many people working in hierarchical companies, this is indeed a too-good-too-be-true framework.

Main idea: Focus to solve the tension. An evolutionary ogranization should give their people autonomy. Conduct IDM. Develop roles adapting with market context. Meeting to give 360 feedback...

[Paiman Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Loop Approach never ends. It fosters continuous learning and improvement.

Classify every inbox
- Irrelevant. Discard it.
- Information - File it.
- Events - Mark them on your calendar.
- Actionable items - Sort by relevance. Tasks or Projects? Tasks: less than 2 minutes. Do them now. More than 60 mins, is it a project? If yes. Determine next action. Delegate if necessary. Set a timeline.

[Adrienne Michetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was probably a 3.5 stars for me, but I'll round up to 4.
This book is:
- a framework of a singular "approach" that the authors feel is superior to others for organizational transformation
- a collection of tools developed by others, supported by research and experience to support organizational transformation
- pitched at smaller organizations, though one who works in a huge org could adapt to teams or groups within a large org
- very accessible, with useful sketches, checklists, diagrams, graphic organizers, and images

This book is not:
- groundbreaking or (ironically) transformational
- difficult to read
- full of a lot of new ideas, rather it just reframes many that exist elsewhere -- for example, Stephen Covey's work, oodles of work around nonviolent communication, David Allen's GTD, etc (there are lots)

What I wanted from this book was new ways of tackling "old" team problems (I wasn't looking for organizational transformation, just team transformation). I also wanted some zoom-out frameworks for organizing teams, as well as some nuts and bolts strategies to try with different scenarios in teams and meetings. I got all 3 of the things I needed, though I would say I got them with a very light touch. There is nothing deep, vast, or huge here. And maybe that is OK. Much of what they offer is quite adaptable, and so that is helpful.

All in all, I appreciate new ways of looking at old problems. And the frameworks are helpful for thinking and applying to those old problems, which will keep coming up again and again. Definitely helpful to have these in my toolkit. But would I be lost without them? Probably not, it just might take me a few different approaches (or loops!) to get to them.

[Amy]

Still not sure how I feel about this book and framework. Need to let it marinate a bit.

[Karolina (kbodychek) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5

[Yves Stalgies · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars because I love the main ideas of the book, the writing style, the layout / design and also the other work of sebastians ecosystem like „neue narrative“ :-)

[Nezzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

some text will follow

[Synthia Salomon · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Today’s world is a volatile one. Fierce competition and new technologies mean that most traditional organizations must change their ways or perish. That’s because the pyramid structure on which these organizations are based is slow and clunky, and is therefore ill-suited to meeting the challenges of today’s fast-changing environment. But even the most old-fashioned organization can transform itself through the Loop Approach. This transformational tool kit focuses on the building blocks of organizations – teams. Its three modules, Clarity, Results and Evolution, help teams learn how to achieve clarity about their purpose and structure, as well as achieve results through effective management and communication. Crucially, the Loop Approach also teaches teams how to adapt to changing conditions by improving their governance, conflict and feedback competence, so that the larger organization can succeed even in the most turbulent of waters.  
Actionable advice: 
Break things down into pieces.
Next time you have to plan a large project, first clearly define its outcome. Then break down the project into one or more “next actions.” What next steps are necessary to move the project forward? You may not know in advance all the necessary actions you need to take to complete the project. But thinking in terms of concrete next actions moves you a little closer to your goal.”

[Felipe CZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traditional organizations must change their ways to succeed and forget about old pyramid structures. By using the loop approach, which focuses on teams, organizations can improve. 3 modules: Clarity, Results and Evolution, help teams learn how to achieve clarity about purpose and structure, as well as achieving results through effective management and communication. This loop approach also teaches how to adapt to the changing environment.

[Franziska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sehr inspirierend. Ganz im Sinne des agilen Mindsets. Natürlich kommen bekannte Ideen (bspw. aus reinventing organizations) vor, doch was mir besonders gefällt sind die konkreten Methodenvorschläge und Vorgehensbeschreibungen. Kann man direkt in die tägliche Arbeit übertragen und ausprobieren. Kann im Projektkontext sowie allgemein im Führungskontext eingesetzt werden.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the Blink summary version. This book attempts to address the bureaucracy and resistance to change of modern top down organizations. The advice in the book might make teams work better together, but I doubt it can be implemented on a company wide scale.

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would love to know whether the author has actually tried working in an environment as described in the book (my guess is 'no').

[LaDonna Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read a Blinkist version. Learned about noon violent commission. What a great tool!