Opening Our Minds to New Possibilities

The purpose of the course is to free us from the misconceptions of traditional management and present new concepts that will secure a greater commitment from staff.

 

 

The aim is to present new thinking that will:

  • Allow the organisation to develop the creativity and enthusiasm of staff and realise their full potential
  • Develop a holistic understanding of business processes
  • Connect with Customers and Suppliers
  • Design meaningful performance measures
  • Reduce frustration and remove barriers to achievement
  • Achieve more with less

Our ideas of how to manage organisations were heavily influenced by the armed forces, and were developed with the need for public services and in the commercial development of the textile and railway industries of the nineteenth century. From this basis we evolved a highly successful style that met the needs of organisations up to the later part of the twentieth century. Its focus was to maximise return on capital/expenditure and to control the workforce.

But the basic requirements are changing. We have moved into a knowledge world where our people are far better educated and live in an information rich society. The fundamental assumptions beneath the old management style are out of date. As long as we hold onto them and just try harder, we are making things worse.

 The opportunity is to develop a new approach focused on people rather than capital..

 

Feedback from presentations have included:

 

I have found the 2 day course extremely challenging and a real breath of fresh air.

One of the best course I have attended - put many of my personal values, practices and philosophies into context - re-organised my mind

Found the course interesting and very relevant to my current role - extremely thought provoking and enjoyable

“A course that helped me find answers to why there are problems within our organisation – helped us see a way forward.”

“Totally changed my outlook and made me aware of how wrong I have been in my views and opinions”

“Thoroughly enjoyable – well worth the effort. I have gained a whole new perspective”


Content of Course

1. Knowledge - Aim: to free our thinking from past misconceptions and to develop a sound basis for the future development of management thought

An exploration of how we have managed our people resource in the past. Under what circumstances did our management thinking evolve? Now that these circumstances have changed what basic assumptions are no longer relevant?

To guard against "flavours of the month," we consider management as a science - a science based on theory. We explore the development of management theories.

2. People - Aim: to understand the variety and potential of the people.

We consider our needs for work, social contact, and space to think and be creative. Our need to seek meaning and our ability to self organise.

We explore how the brain works and how we learn. At the same time we look at the methods that have been developed to define our differing motivations plus thinking tools such as Mindmapping and Lateral Thinking.

3. Systems Thinking. Aim: to be able to design systems that captures the full potential of people

It is readily recognised that a well designed system or environment produces good results and chaotic systems poor results. We look into the design of systems and how they can be enhanced to capture the full contribution of individuals.

In looking at systems we go on to consider complex systems and the identification of leverage points. At the same time we address the methods used to analyse systems such as flowmapping and the use of systems archetypes. And also the logical extension of systems thinking into working with staff, with teams, with suppliers and with customers

4. Performance Measurement Aim: the design and interpretation of performance measures

We address the two challenges of - what to measure and how we interpret the data.The what to measure is very much governed by the underlying assumptions of the organisation.

To ensure accurate interpretation of data the course recognises the existence of variation and provides a basic understanding of statistical process control. We also recognise that there are very important areas within the organisation that are unmeasureable.

Finally we have a look at the extensive damage done by the inappropriate interpretation of data and the use of measures to pressurise people and systems.

5. The Design of Learning Systems Aim: to capture the willing contribution and creativity of staff

The development of the skills of dialogue that gives us scope to learn through expressing ourselves aligned with the skill of really listening to our colleagues, suppliers, customers.

The development of methods to capture and implement the many ideas across the organisation.

6. Personal Disciplines of Leadership - Aim: to address the personal disciplines of the future.

The modern world is becoming so complex that we can no longer rely on externally imposed discipline. The future is going to require self-control and self-discipline with a positive mental attitude to change and a commitment to life-long learning.

Management is going to be concerned with the development of the environment and structures where self-motivated individuals can thrive. The Leader's task will be to represent the vision and aims of the organisation so that they capture the full commitment of the self-motivated participants.