Review of
Instaread Summary of An Everyone Culture Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization
by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey
Five out of five stars
Rapid change is
a reality in the modern business and organizational world. Forces that make
organizations adapt or die come from many sources, foreign and domestic. The
business literature is packed with examples of once powerful companies that are
now being challenged by new businesses that are in direct and indirect
competition. Microsoft was once the target of a major antitrust action due to
its dominance, yet is now scrambling to change its models for business.
The primary
solution to this situation is to avoid having your employees stagnate in what
they do and how they fit into your business scheme. Doing the same action all
day every work day for years is now often a recipe for layoffs and financial
losses.
The book being
summarized here is clearly an excellent rendition of an effective solution to
this modern reality. It is based on one very important fact that has often been
overlooked. Adults, even those that have been away from formal education for
some time, are very capable of learning new things. In fact, if it is presented
and done the right way, even experienced adult employees will be eager to learn
new things. Especially if there is the looming danger of layoffs and
unemployment.
Three
organizations that apply this and other principles are described, when an
employee reaches a certain level of comfort zone in a position, they are encouraged
to explore other options within the company. Other key and essential aspects
are that feedback across all levels is encouraged and even expected. Discussing
personal strengths, weaknesses and learning from mistakes are a core ingredient
in how they do their business.
The tactic of
trying to make employees contented by providing perks such as free food are
also mentioned. While it can be an attractive perk, survey after survey has
demonstrated that doing challenging and stimulating work is considered the most
important aspect of a job.
The authors of
this book have credentials to justify their writings, but more importantly,
they have ecological reality on their side. Rapid adjustment to changing
conditions is necessary, organizational agility is required and this summary
convinced me that this is a book to be studied in order to increase the
probability of your survival.
This book was made available for free for review
purposes.
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