Brave New Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your Organization?

by Aaron Dignan

Lack of trust. It isn’t always clear who has the authority to make decisions. Bottlenecks in decision making. Too much consensus. People have to ask for permission to take action. Opinions matter more than data. We have meetings to prepare for meetings. Our meetings are theater. Meetings don’t lead to decisions or action. No time in the day for actual work. Only the loudest voices get heard. Too many meetings. Not enough transparency. Information is shared only on a need-to-know basis. Lack of honesty and candor. Lack of visibility between teams. Too much email. The “why” behind decisions isn’t always clear. Outdated tech tools. Our technology and tools are not maximizing our potential. Our processes get in the way of the work. We operate like everything is a crisis. We are addicted to planning. Work/life boundaries are not used or respected. We reflect infrequently. We plan and predict rather than test and learn. We change slower than the outside world. Rigid structures prevent experimentation. Failure is unacceptable. Good ideas get lost in bureaucracy. We don’t take risks. Lack of feedback. Learned helplessness. Our people don’t have the skills we need. We aren’t self-aware. Career paths are unclear. We work in silos. Cross-functional relationships are strained. Roles aren’t clear. Everyone needs to be involved in all things. Teams are not cross-functional or cross-disciplinary. Our structure inhibits collaboration. Too many layers. Misalignment between our strategy and...