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I’ve published over 300 articles since 2006 on topics around the digital work environment in organizations and am working on getting them all tagged.
The lost art of reading, the lost art of writing
I just finished my 3rd Briefing Note of 2019 which I entitled: The lost art of reading, the lost art of writing. Pessimistic? Yes, but that’s the reality I see around. I included notes about Alan Rusbridger’s new book: Breaking News. The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now. I’ve been a fan of Rusbridger ever since I read Play It Again. An Amateur Against the Impossible. I wrote about it in 2014: What we can learn from a newspaper (and it’s not the news) I’m running late on my Briefing Notes, and I”ll just blame my book project for that, but it’s no excuse!
People, work cultures and leadership are out of synch
The point of this short article is to show data over past years that provide a context for understanding the emergence of the gig mindset: High people capabilities in stifling work cultures with rigid management practices have led to new behaviors for people who are self-motivated to make a difference in their organization.
Navigating the Gig Mindset Paradox
My research has identified 8 behaviors that characterize traditional and gig mindsets. If you scan the list of traditional behaviors, the left column on the chart, you’ll see that most organizations strongly enforce this way of doing things. Processes, roles and management practices are aligned to the traditional way of working. Gig mindset behaviors, the right column, are rarely encouraged, and sometimes even sanctioned. The paradox we are facing is that organizations need both mindsets.
Older Workers Lean Towards a Gig Mindset
Figure 4 for “How a Gig Mindset Inside Organizations Will Shape Our Future”, published on LinkedIn and as part of a series of posts for the 10th Global Peter Drucker Forum blog. The survey data show that older workers are more likely to have a gig mindset approach to work whereas the younger age groups self-assessed at the lowest level in the survey population. Unsurprisingly, the younger workers rate themselves significantly lower on behavior 4: assuming responsibility outside of hierarchical systems.
Global Scale for the Gig Mindset Research 2018
Figure 3 for “How a Gig Mindset Inside Organizations Will Shape Our Future”, published on LinkedIn and as part of a series of posts for the 10th Global Peter Drucker Forum blog. The first phase of the research was a short online survey involving 297 people around the world who feel an affinity to the gig mindset as we defined it.
Gig Mindset Advisory Board 2018
The Advisory Board brought extensive experience from different industries and countries on the gig mindset inside organizations. Here’s a link to the pdf file where you can see the members LinkedIn profiles.
First Thoughts on the Gig Mindset Inside Organizations
These are the slides I used for my keynote at the Enterprise Digital Summit in London in June of this year. I have updated the behaviors table to correspond with the final version developed with the help of my Gig Mindset Advisory Board just before we launched the survey.
Does your role have a gig-mindset orientation?
Preliminary observations that will be developed in more detail in the final consolidated data report from the on-going Gig Mindset survey:
Gig Mindset Survey: Background
What is the goal of the gig mindset research? For the last few years I have seen many people, salaried, INSIDE organizations, showing signs of attitudes and behavior similar to external freelancers. I use the term “gig mindset” to describe this phenomenon and decided to explore it further.
Internal Politics and Digital Initiatives: Q&A from MITSloan Webinar
My webinar “Don’t Let politics Block Your Digital Initiatives” triggered high interest and lots of questions. I’m writing a series of posts in response to the questions I did not have the time to answer during the event: “So many questions, so little time!”
Stories About Cross-Silo Sharing
Q: How would you know that politics are being managed well enough not to impact the success of the program, apart from just measuring the digital transformation KPI’s? J: Stories beat numbers.
Visibility and Openness
Q: What is the difference between normal change management and digital initiatives? J: Digital changes your vision of the world.
Walk the Talk at the Top
Q: How do you improve situations where BU managers or others posture alignment for digital platforms to upper management but are not really invested? J: Visibility, visibility, visibility!
Fear, a Major Challenge
Q: What in your opinion is the biggest political challenge in digital transformation? J: Fear is the biggest obstacle.
Territorial Challenges At The Top
Q: On what level of the organization do you see most of the internal politics happen? J: At the top and near the top.
Bring the Outside In
Q: What are your views on dealing with senior executives who downplay digital? How can you create a change that goes in the right direction? J: Bring the outside in. Show what’s going on in the world.
“Internal Politics and Digital Initiatives” Slide Deck
Here are the slides used during the webinar I did with MITSloan in July 2018. The attendees had lots of good questions and I’m writing up the ones there was no time to answer. Stay tuned!
Gig vs. Traditional Mindset – 8 Behaviors
Figure 1 for “How a Gig Mindset Inside Organizations Will Shape Our Future“, published on LinkedIn and as part of a series of posts for the 10th Global Peter Drucker Forum blog. The framework for the gig mindset research started with a description of 8 contrasting behaviors. The version you see above is the current result after many hours of conversation and refinements with the Gig Mindset Advisory Board.
Briefings
I’ve started a series of briefing notes about the organization in the digital age. They cover different facets of digital transformation: leadership, change, enterprise entrepreneurship, individual development, along with other topics and challenges.
The Gig Mindset Is Growing Inside Organizations
The gig mindset brings a sense of freedom, openness, engagement and accountability, inside and outside organizations. The gig mindset in the workplace should be embraced, not resisted.
Do you have a gig mindset?
I’m researching the gig mindset. I do NOT mean external gig workers or freelancers or members of what is commonly called the gig economy. I mean people who work inside organizations, have managers and salaries, but behave in similar ways to external freelancers.
Digital Readiness: Gig Mindset and Living Vision
These are the slides I used for the opening keynote presentation at IntranetReloaded in Berlin in April. There was a lot of interest in the ideas of the gig mentality inside organizations. A number of people talked to me over the 2 days telling me their gig stories. “What if we saw vision not as a determined end state we need to achieve, but as a co-created, evolving pattern we are living in that informs every decision and interaction in the now.”
A Living Vision
The living vision means our vision is how we are living today, how we work and interact with people around us. I was inspired by Sonja Blignaut who recently wrote: “What if we saw vision not as a determined end state we need to achieve, but as a co-created, evolving pattern we are living in that informs every decision and interaction in the now.”
Digital Transformation is Getting Real
Neutralize Internal Politics in Digital Initiatives
How can you protect your digital initiatives from internal political damage? "Neutralize Internal Politics in Digital Initiatives" was originally published by MIT Sloan Management Review October 13th, 2017.
The Inclusive Organization and the Reachability Factor
How can you build the right balance between global and local needs, desk-less and desk workers, and the center and the edges? If you can get it right, it will change the DNA of your organization to one of genuine inclusiveness. You will fortify the sense of common purpose and belonging. Originally published on the Global Peter Drucker Forum Blog.
Guidance: Building an Entrepreneurial Work Culture
…… Originally published in The Organization in the Digital Age 2016-2017 …… Potential Obstacles Command-and-control leadership style. Hesitation to rethink how people work. Fear of losing control by management and central functions. Centralized decision-making. Excessive fear of taking risks.
Leading in the Digital Age, Boston Online edX
My latest research has been integrated into the online learning course - Leading in the Digital Age, part of edX courses organized by leading universities in the US. This specific course is organized by Boston University, and they wrote me the thank you note below.
12 Years of Research On Organizations in the Digital Age
Current Research 2018: The Gig Mindset Inside Organizations My current research started in early 2018 is focused on the mindsets of individuals, and the mindset of their organizations. I’m looking into what I call the “gig mindset” and how it compares to a traditional mindset: advantages, risks, opportunities for people inside organizations and for the organizations themselves. I’m exploring how the gig mindset can increase organizational resilience, innovation and longevity. Read more here: Gig Mindset Research: Background, The Gig Mindset is Growing Inside Organizations, Do You Have A Gig Mindset?
Insights and Guidance
The best vision in the world is worthless unless you can build an actionable strategy. The articles, case studies, how-to and practical guidance in this section will help you see how you can transform your vision into an actionable strategy and make it really happen.