Trouble in Egalitarian Paradise – San Francisco Strippers Go Co-Op

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 31, 2008 

Egalitarianism sounds good in theory but falls apart in practice. Everyone takes credit when times are good. When things go badly, it was someone else’s fault. Egalitarianism often includes the dismantling of structure, processes, and policies. The mindset being – we’re all good, hard-working people. If everyone does the right thing, we’ll be OK. This […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 3 Comments

Seamless Server Switching Serves Squirrels

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 29, 2008 

Mission Minded Management is in the process of switching servers. I was hoping for seamless but have found some things squirrely. Please bear with us while we work out the bugs, and I upgrade my skills to match my upgraded software.

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It’s Lonely In the Total Systems Leadership World – A Friday Fascinating

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 28, 2008 

You’ve likely seen this 60 second video by now. If not, invest 60 seconds before reading further. The video is a test, and I failed. Watch it to see if you are better at paying attention than I was. What Are Our Eyes On? It seems that we all have our eyes on getting individual […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 2 Comments

Why We Don’t See the Forest for the Trees – A Cultural Thing?

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 27, 2008 

Steve Roseler at All Things Workplace reported on a research study that examined cultural influences upon perception. Systems Drive Behavior – Let’s Use Systems Design for Obtaining Engagement Just in case you are new here, my blog is a soap box for building awareness around the fact that – systems drive behavior!!!!! If we don’t […]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 7 Comments

In Systems We Trust – Do You Have a Leadership System?

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 25, 2008 

Humans Find Consistency Comforting It’s often been said that McDonalds is the world’s most prolific food chain not because of its haute menu, but because of the consistent experience it offers its patrons. That consistent experience is achieved through systems. Would you like fries with that fact? Managerial Leadership Systems And Employee Engagement Research shows […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 2 Comments

Employees Experience Your Organization at the Hands of Its Systems

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 23, 2008 

Why is Engagement So Low? The reason employee engagement is so low these days is because organizations keep trying to fix individuals while paying no mind to the dysfunctional systems within which their employees are working. Were Your Management Systems Thoughtfully Designed or Left to Default? Systems drive behavior regardless of what is written on […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy | 4 Comments

Good Friday Freebie – Digital Book: Organization Design, Levels of Work and Human Capability

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 21, 2008 

Free Digital Book I authored a chapter in an edited book published last summer, Organization Design, Levels of Work and Human Capability. If you like the content of this blog and want to read more about the history and application of Elliott Jaques’ meta-model Requisite Organization, click here, fill out a survey for the Global […]

Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Felt Fair Compensation, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Work Levels | Comments Off on Good Friday Freebie – Digital Book: Organization Design, Levels of Work and Human Capability

Who is a Leader?

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 20, 2008 

?Insert Wisdom Here?     “A leader is one who releases the discretionary energy of others.” ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? –Jack Fallow Today’s lesson:? Leadership is contextual not inherent.? Don’t leaders have leaders?? So one person’s leader is another’s follower. Disengagement? The problem is that within organizations, we often ask employees to follow someone who is not […]

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Pay for Performance = Pay for Luck = Disengagement

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 18, 2008 

Pay for Performance is Cruel Given that “pay for performance” essentially means “pay for outcomes”, I’ve argued from day one that “pay for performance” is cruel and a breeding ground for corruption, not to mention disengagement.? A new working paper from Carnegie Mellon and Harvard Business, No harm, No foul, The outcome bias in ethical […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Felt Fair Compensation, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization | 6 Comments

Requisite Organization Design – A Work Levels Approach

By Michelle Malay Carter on March 16, 2008 

Just like H2O can exist as ice, water, and steam, work can be stratified into discreet levels. ?Most single business units?have?five levels of work.? Each has a distinct role to play, and each calls for a different level of cognitive capacity. Level 5?Work The president at level 5 keeps his eyes on the industry and […]

Filed Under Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Work Levels | 4 Comments

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