THE HUMAN CONDITION IN A MODERN WORLD
Many of us find ourselves in an existence where we have to balance two opposing forces. On one hand we are faced with ever increasing demands on performance, availability and commitment from the places we work. On the other hand we are human beings and we have a set of inherent deeply human needs that needs to be honoured. These include, having a sense of certainty, of significance, of connection, of feeling that we are growing and contributing. Sometimes combining these two is not an easy feat.
Björn's research, writing and talks explore how this can be done with more skill and how we can live and flourish in a modern world.
Björn's research, writing and talks explore how this can be done with more skill and how we can live and flourish in a modern world.
LEADERSHIP IN A VUCA WORLD
The acronym VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous and is an increasingly popular way to describe the intense dynamic of today's world. The VUCA dynamic impacts managers in large global organisations in a multitude of ways as they have an even greater responsibility and burden of navigating and skilfully handling these VUCA dynamics. The leaders are:
· Increasingly looked to as role models and steadfast anchors in times of change, even though they know as little about the future as anyone else
· Asked to put in longer and longer hours and be available 24/7, even though they pay a high personal prize for this
· Put in situations where they have to make decisions which have no clear answers or work in ways which goes against their own values
· Feeling increased uncertainty around their own career prospects since stakes are high and loyalties are few
Where does this VUCA dynamic leave the leaders of our organisations?
The answer is many times: in a confused, overworked and tense place.
Björn's consulting practice explores new and better ways to build both individual and organisational capability to succeed in a VUCA world.
· Increasingly looked to as role models and steadfast anchors in times of change, even though they know as little about the future as anyone else
· Asked to put in longer and longer hours and be available 24/7, even though they pay a high personal prize for this
· Put in situations where they have to make decisions which have no clear answers or work in ways which goes against their own values
· Feeling increased uncertainty around their own career prospects since stakes are high and loyalties are few
Where does this VUCA dynamic leave the leaders of our organisations?
The answer is many times: in a confused, overworked and tense place.
Björn's consulting practice explores new and better ways to build both individual and organisational capability to succeed in a VUCA world.
positive differences
Most organisations aspire to innovation and renewal, and they invest time and effort in initiatives to support this aspiration. Many of these initiatives fail to deliver the desired result because they get lost in the paradox of wanting to create change and needing to maintain stability.
An underestimated approach to tackling this challenge is to work with the inherent positive differences that exist in any organization. It is popular to try and do this work under the umbrella of “diversity & inclusion”. However, a poignant study* shows us that diversity training in 829 companies over 31 years showed had "no positive effects in the average workplace." Hence, millions of dollars a year were spent on the training resulting in... not very much. The attitudes, and the diversity of the organisations remained the same.
Positive Differences is about progressing this kind of work by building the capacity to identify, understand and leverage positive individual differences, whatever these might be. Positive Differences is a way to avoid too much sameness stifling progress and instead enabling individuals to contribute in ways that are more authentic to them and more impactful for the organisation.
*A. Kalev, F. Dobbin, and E. Kelly. “Best Practices or Best Guesses? Diversity Management and the Remediation of Inequality.” American Sociological Review 71 (2006): 589–617
An underestimated approach to tackling this challenge is to work with the inherent positive differences that exist in any organization. It is popular to try and do this work under the umbrella of “diversity & inclusion”. However, a poignant study* shows us that diversity training in 829 companies over 31 years showed had "no positive effects in the average workplace." Hence, millions of dollars a year were spent on the training resulting in... not very much. The attitudes, and the diversity of the organisations remained the same.
Positive Differences is about progressing this kind of work by building the capacity to identify, understand and leverage positive individual differences, whatever these might be. Positive Differences is a way to avoid too much sameness stifling progress and instead enabling individuals to contribute in ways that are more authentic to them and more impactful for the organisation.
*A. Kalev, F. Dobbin, and E. Kelly. “Best Practices or Best Guesses? Diversity Management and the Remediation of Inequality.” American Sociological Review 71 (2006): 589–617