Leadermorphosis

Rich and Nati are the founders of collaboration consultancy The Hum and part of the Enspiral network. Between them, they have a background in activism, engineering, community organising and entrepreneurship and are well-respected thought leaders when it comes to decentralised organisations, self-managing teams and collaborative culture. We talk about personal shifts, ‘trojan horse’ radical practices, and ideas for moving from a domination society to a partnership society. How to follow Rich and Nati: Twitter: @RichDecibels and @LombardoNati Resources: The Hum’s online course (next guided programme starts on the 11th of March 2021) Learn more about Riane Eisler, who Rich mentions at the start The microsolidarity programme Nati mentioned The Enspiral website Loomio’s website

Nand Kishore Chaudhary is the remarkable founder of Jaipur Rugs, a company employing 40,000 weavers in 600 villages selling beautiful carpets in 40 countries. The artisans – most of them women in India’s “untouchable” class – are the “heroes of the business”, and self-managed principles like distributed decision making have long been a hallmark of the company. We talk about how N. K. Chaudhary has created a “business ashram”, where people find their clarity of purpose and gain higher consciousness, as well as his thoughts on humble leadership and how Jaipur Rugs will evolve self-management further. Resources: Jaipur Living website and N. K. Chaudhary’s website Doug Kirkpatrick’s blog, ‘Jaipur Rugs: Self-managed art that you can walk on’ A Forbes article about the book The Healing Organisation, which features Jaipur Rugs as one of its examples An extract from the book ‘The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits’ The book ‘The Healing Organisation: Awakening the Conscienc

Anna Elgh is the CEO of Svenska Retursystem, a Swedish circular economy logistics company. We talk about the transformations she has led at the company since joining in 2014, from Lean to nearly three years of moving towards self-managing teams. She shares what she has learned about transforming conflicts, distributed decision making, disbanding the management team, as well as leadership and the power of letting go. Resources: Svenska Retursystem’s website The book Lisa has co-authored with Karin Tenelius, Moose Heads on the Table Related Leadermorphosis episodes: Ep. 55 with Frederic Laloux, author of Reinventing Organisations Ep. 37 with Miki Kashtan about the inner shifts that need to happen for self-management to work Ep 45. with Amy Edmondson about psychological safety and climate (vs culture) The Enneagram Institute Tuff Leadership Training

Frederic Laloux is the author of the book 'Reinventing Organisations' and one of the leading figures in the new ways of working movement, coining the term ‘teal organisation’ which consists of three breakthroughs: self-management, wholeness, and evolutionary purpose. We talk about how we can use juicy questions to explore new frontiers of what’s possible in our organisations and lives. Questions like: “Where are you participating in a system where you're actually out of integrity?” Frederic shares examples from conversations he’s had with CEOs of big corporations and inspiring stories he’s encountered of radical initiatives that have come from all levels of organisations. Resources: Transcript of our conversation here The Reinventing Organisations website Frederic’s library of more than 100 ‘Insights for the Journey’ videos Here’s the one on ‘growth pain’ we reference And the one about the leader of the hospital A video about Interface being a circular economy company from Meaning Conference The book

Bill Fischer is a Professor of Innovation Management at IMD and Simone Cicero is the cofounder of Boundaryless and co-creator of the Platform Design Toolkit. We talk about what they have learned from years of studying and collaborating with the Chinese company Haier Group, whose Rendanheyi organisational model has been praised internationally as one of the most revolutionary management ideas of the 21st century. Our conversation explores the extraordinary leadership of CEO Zhang Ruimin, eliminating bureaucracy, designing an organisation to enable thousands of self-managed microenterprises, and what this model means for the future of work. How to follow Bill and Simone: Twitter: @bill_fischer and @meedabyte You can read the transcript version here. Resources: Link to sign up for Bill and Simone’s RenDanHeYi masterclass in October (link gives you a 25% discount with the code LEADERMORPHOSIS) The EEEO Toolkit Draft Download webpage (a set of tools to support the creation of an Entrepreneurial Organisation)

Jabi Salcedo and Dunia Reverter are coordinators at K2K Emocionando, a Spanish consultancy that has transformed more than 85 organisations from traditional to self-managing over the last two decades. We talk about the radical components of their methodology, such as removing manager roles, balancing salaries, shared decision-making and profit sharing. Jabi and Dunia share what they’ve learned from the transformations they have been part of, the kinds of shifts they’ve seen, and what some of the biggest challenges can be. How to follow Dunia: Twitter: @reverter_dunia Resources: My blog about the 10 components for abolishing hierarchy that K2K employs in their transformations The signup page for the NER by K2K Advanced Online Seminar in English, starting on the 23rd of September 2020 Corporate Rebels’ blogs about K2K and their pioneering founder, Koldo Saratxaga

Jorge Silva is the co-founder of 10Pines, a self-managing software development company in Argentina. We talk about three key practices they have as a horizontal organisation, what they’re learning, and Jorge’s vision to spread this way of working in South America. How to follow Jorge: Twitter: @jor_silva Resources: A web page about 10Pines’ culture Jorge’s blog about how 10Pines does recruitment More about Loomio, the tool they use for decisions The Leadermorphosis episode with Anabel Montiel from Nearsoft, a self-managing software company in Mexico

Mark Eddleston, new ways of working consultant and coach and cofounder of the Reinventing Work movement, interviews Lisa Gill as they look back on 50 episodes of the Leadermorphosis podcast. Which conversations have changed their thinking? How has the podcast evolved? What is the next phase of the new ways of working movement? How to follow Mark: Twitter: @marco_eds Resources: Reinventing Work website Mark's website The book Lisa Gill and Karin Tenelius have written, Moose Heads on the Table Leadermorphosis episodes we referred to: Margaret Wheatley Miki Kashtan Helen Sanderson Skeen Rathor Buurtzorg nurses Chuck Blakeman Gary Hamel

Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng is a Wakka Wakka Wulli Wulli Traditional Owner from Central Queensland, Australia, and Robyn Katz is the founder of Talkpoint, which curates peer-to-peer learning experiences to humanise work. We talk about Tjanara’s PhD research which draws parallels between aboriginal culture and eldership, and Robert Kegan’s psychological development research and the idea of “sacred leadership”. Both women share what they have learned through their own personal transformation journeys, and what’s needed now in the world in terms of leadership development. Resources: Talkpoint page featuring videos and other content about Tjanara’s sacred leadership doctorate OneINMA Global (website for sacred leadership mentoring, programs and transformational leadership consulting) Tjanara’s book “A Long Way from No Go” Leadermorphosis episode with Margaret Wheatley talking about warriors for the human spirit About Theory U  

Peter Koenig has spent the last decade researching principles for how founders organise and materialise their enterprises, projects and initiatives – what he calls sourcework. We talk about the role of source and source principles and the idea of seeing organisations as energetic fields. We talk about why his work has sparked debate in “new ways of working” circles, as well as how we can use the lens of source to diagnose decentralised organisations when we seem to get stuck. Peter also shares some insights from 30 years of running money seminars, and why money is such a great place to hide our deepest shadows. Resources: Upcoming money workshop (based on Peter's work) by Tim Malnick The Role of Source introduction workshop by Tom Nixon A website about source principles curated by Tom Nixon Peter’s website Tom Nixon’s blog about Reinventing Organisations and source (with a comment from Frederic Laloux at the end) Frederic Laloux’s video on new roles for top leaders, including the role of source Peter’s bo

Luz Iglesias, Director of Recruitment, and Edwin Jansen, Head of Corporate Development, work at Ian Martin Group, a self-managed, teal recruitment company with 400 employees across Canada and India. They share examples and stories of the initiatives, decisions and creativity that have sprung up in response to the COVID-19 pandemic without any central coordination, and how adaptability and humanity can flow freely in a self-organised system because of the mindset shift it facilitates. As former managers, they reflect on how liberating it is to distribute the responsibility of responding, strategising and taking care of people operations. How to follow Ian Martin Group: Twitter: IanMartinGroup Resources: Leadermorphosis episode with Edwin Jansen about Fitzii, part of Ian Martin Group Book: The Decision Maker by Dennis Bakke Video: Luz talking about decision-making and IMG's 'teal operating system' from Loomio About Patrick Lencioni’s “thematic goal” concept Leadermorphosis episode with Aaron Dignan, auth

Skeena Rathor, who co-leads the Vision Sensing circle in Extinction Rebellion, shares insights from inside this decentralised movement – how their Holacratic, Sociocratic structures support its collective purpose, the work they’re doing with Miki Kashtan to transform power dynamics, and why Skeena’s dream is for XR to become a touchstone for the work of co-liberation. We also talk about how XR is responding to COVID-19 and their AloneTogether campaign. How to follow Extinction Rebellion: Twitter: @ExtinctionR Resources: Extinction Rebellion’s website and its AloneTogether handbook The Leadermorphosis podcast episode with Miki Kashtan Aimee Groth’s article about XR that mentions ‘shadow work’ Palmer Parker’s thoughts on paradox Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine Frederic Laloux’s video on two types of pain along the journey

Devin Carberry, Director of Learning Programs, and two learners, 16-year-old Gerard Almenara, and 12-year-old Samir Shariputra Chopra, share their experiences of what it’s like to be part of Learnlife in Barcelona. Learnlife is reinventing education by creating an open ecosystem for a lifelong learning paradigm. People of all ages are supported to become self-directed learners and develop the skills to be responsible community members. This is the future of education and the Learnlife model has much to teach us about how to upgrade our organisations, too. How to follow Learnlife: Twitter: @wearelearnlife Resources: Learnlife website

Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and the author of “Teaming” and “The Fearless Organisation”. We talk about her journey of researching psychological safety and teaming, as well as the paper she co-wrote about self-managing organisations. Amy shares insightful and practical lessons about leadership, how to be a good team member, and the future of work. How to follow Amy: Twitter: @AmyCEdmondson Resources: Amy’s profile on the HBS page including her work “Self-Managing Organizations: Exploring the Limits of Less Hierarchical Organizing” – Amy Edmondon and Michael Y. Lee’s research paper See also the episode with Michael Y. Lee to hear more about the research he and Amy published about self-managing organisations  

Vivek Menon leads a high growth business unit at Danfoss Power Solutions called eSteering. Their purpose is to build the future steering solutions for off road vehicles. He shares how eSteering works without managers and why he thinks the future of organisations, especially large ones, is building the capacity to be ambidextrous – creating ecosystems where traditionally structured and decentralised teams or units can coexist. Vivek believes there are three components to develop when it comes to self-management: structures, processes, and mindset and behaviours. How to follow Vivek: Twitter: @Menon_Viv Resources: Vivek’s LinkedIn blogs on self-managed teams the eSteering Danfoss way, and how they work without managers An article about eSteering working without managers on the Danfoss website Videos about eSteering’s “why”, structures, processes, and mindsets

Bonnitta Roy is an author, trainer and creator of the OPO (Open Participatory Organisation), which is a framework people are using to experiment with more collaborative ways of working. She is well-loved in the world of Agile for her approaches to complexity and thinking about human systems. Bonnitta shares examples from her work of moves we can make towards more open and participatory organisations. How to follow Bonnitta: Twitter: @bonnittaroy Resources: The OPO Manifesto You can preview Bonnitta’s upcoming book, Our Future at Work, at Medium

Ved Krishna is Strategy Head at Yash Pakka, a compostable tableware manufacturer based in Faizabad, India that has been experimenting with organisational self-management since 1999. Ved talks with a lot of heart and honesty about his journey of taking over the family business, then firing himself as CEO and now working from a place of deeper purpose. He also shares the ups and downs of trying to develop self-management in a culture where hierarchy is very strongly ingrained. How to follow Ved: Twitter: @ved_krish Resources: Ved’s TEDx talk Chuk website and Yash Papers website Susan Basterfield’s LinkedIn blog about Yash Jingle Bell school website

Michael Y. Lee is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD who researches novel and innovative ways of organising. After reading the paper he co-authored with Amy Edmondson on self-managing organisations, I wanted to talk to him to get his academic perspective on this phenomena. He shares what we can learn from self-managing organisations about leadership and how to collaborate in a more decentralised way without sacrificing coordination. We also discuss his research into the two key mechanisms that helped foster positive relational dynamics in a global distributed team. How to follow Michael: Twitter: @yanche Resources: “Self-Managing Organizations: Exploring the Limits of Less Hierarchical Organizing” – Michael and Amy Edmondon’s research paper Michael’s website, featuring his key research

Bryan Ungard is the Chief Purpose Officer at Decurion. Decurion is a parent company of a number of businesses, including movie theatres, real estate and senior living, but it's less famous for what it does and more for why and how it does it (as featured in the book “An Everyone Culture”). We talk about Deliberately Developmental Organisations, Bryan’s thoughts on why feedback can be dangerous, what he makes of the trend towards self-managing organisations, and how we can help our organisations become more conscious. How to follow Bryan: Twitter: @ungard Resources: The book “An Everyone Culture” Decurion’s website Carol Sanford’s website (author of “No More Feedback” and “The Regenerative Business”)

Andreas Flodström and Gustav Henman are the founders of Beetroot, a remarkable IT company set up in 2012 to create social impact in Ukraine. We talk about how culture has played an important role in their self-managed way of organising, the challenges of scaling (from 380 to 1000+ in the next four years), and the tough leadership lessons they’ve learned as founders as the company has grown. Follow Beetroot: Twitter: @beetroot_se Resources: The Beetroot website A blog I wrote for the Corporate Rebels about Beetroot