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In our modern world, the most important work we do is cognitive; so, it’s not surprising that a structure developed for physical work isn’t optimal for intellectual work.
Taylorism
People who are treated as followers have the expectations of followers and act like followers. As followers, they have limited decision-making authority and little incentive to give the utmost of their intellect, energy, and passion.
Those who take orders usually run at half speed, underutilizing their imag...
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Ultimately, this book is a call to action, a manifesto, for all those frustrated workers and bosses for whom the current leadership structure just isn’t working. We need to reject leader-follower as a model and view the world as a place for leaders everywhere to achieve this vision.
though I liked the idea of empowerment, I didn’t understand why empowerment was needed. It seemed to me that humans are born in a state of action and natural empowerment.
Empowerment programs appeared to be a reaction to the fact that we had actively disempowered people. Additionally, it seemed inherently contradictory to have an empowerment program whereby I would empower my subordinates and my boss would empower me. I felt my power came from within, and attempts to empower me felt like manipulation.
Empowerment is a smell that there is still command and control
since I couldn’t get involved with the specifics of the gear, I opened up space to focus on the people and their interactions instead,
People and Interactions! (Agile Manifesto)
Why is doing what you are told appealing to some? Do people really just want to do as they are told?
Without the thirst for change it would have been difficult to get the crew to accept an entirely new way of thinking about leadership. This call to action would be necessary for the changes I had in mind.
it seemed clear that the crew was in a self-reinforcing downward spiral where poor practices resulted in mistakes, mistakes resulted in poor morale, and poor morale resulted in avoiding initiative and going into a survival mode of doing only what was absolutely necessary. In order to break this cycle, I’d need to radically change the daily motivation by shifting the focus from avoiding errors to achieving excellence.
Daniel Pink - Mastery
Achieve Excellence, Don’t Just Avoid Errors
I, we, needed everyone to see the ultimate purpose for the submarine and remember that it was a noble purpose.
Tribal Leadership - Noble Cause. (Compelling vision.)
Once the crewmen remembered what we were doing and why, they would do anything to support the mission. This was a stark contrast to earlier, when people were coming to work simply with the hope of not screwing up.
Shared purpose. Compelling vision. Noble cause.
Are your people trying to achieve excellence or just to avoid making mistakes?
How can you minimize errors but not make that the focus of your organization?
divest control and distribute it
“Don’t move information to authority, move authority to the information.”
Act your way to new thinking.
Resist the urge to provide solutions.
Eliminate top-down monitoring systems.
What’s the best way to change decision-making authorities in your organization? Turns out it’s pretty easy once you commit to changing.
As the level of control is divested, it becomes more and more important that the team be aligned with the goal of the organization.
How can you create an environment in which men and women freely express their uncertainties and fears as well as their innovative ideas and hopes?
Psychological Safety
Provide your people with the objective and let them figure out the method.
I am working to establish measures of effectiveness for each of our goals.
Build Trust and Take Care of Your People
Taking Care of Your People Extends Beyond Their Work Lives
BUILDING TRUST AND TAKING CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE is a mechanism for CLARITY.
It’s hard to find a leadership book that doesn’t encourage us to “take care of our people.” What I learned is this: Taking care of your people does not mean protecting them from the consequences of their own behavior. That’s the path to irresponsibility. What it does mean is giving them every available tool and advantage to achieve their aims in life, beyond the specifics of the job. In some cases that meant further education; in other cases crewmen’s goals were incompatible with Navy life and they separated on good terms.
