It seems that this whole behaviour manipulating gaming thing is very much in vogue (see also several posts from earlier this year (why not try my tag cloud? ;-)); TED published another talk on the topic from the Oxford TED conference earlier this year.
Although there was not much new material in the talk, Tom Chatfield certainly made a convincing case for the creativity of gamers. I particularly liked an anecdote about how a MMPORG required gamers to join forces in large numbers to defeat an evil dragon, but only rewarded a couple of the players. The result? A website set up by players to exchange an entirely invented currency ("dragon kill points") for items they wanted in the game.
If we can apply the same kind of motivation (or "engagement" as Chatfield calls it) to learning or enterprise "games" we can change the way we do business, whilst making it more fun in the process. Sounds to me like something worth exploring (think how performance reviews might work in a gaming context - check out the New Zealand company, sonar6 for a taste of where this is going!).
The talk can be found here; Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain | Video on TED.com.
Showing posts with label organisational design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organisational design. Show all posts
Monday, 1 November 2010
Saturday, 25 September 2010
"Thinking in Systems" - my favourite book this year
As some of you may have noticed, my reading this year has largely been around systems thinking (see here and here for earlier book reviews and thoughts on the topic).
This is largely a result of my ignorance regarding this approach to analysis and modeling, combined with a gut feeling that it is a "must-have" capability for a really good business architect or consultant.
Having been disappointed thus far by the competition, Donella H. Meadows' (sadly deceased) introductory book, "Thinking in Systems - a primer" has really impressed me.
Her book starts as a relatively dry introduction into some of the key concepts in systems thinking (she calls it the "systems zoo" - stock and flows, stabilising vs reinforcing feedback loops, response delays), but then moves on to describe some typical system archetypes in the real world (from business to government to the environment and back again) that really show how the thinking can and should be applied.
Even more interestingly, she then moves on to describe typical system traps and then defines her personal list of "leverage points" to address them.
As a consultant, this initially feels like it could be the holy grail of business architecture; it provides a lexicon to think about problems in complex environments, recurring patterns to look for and a process for identifying a solution. But, before you all run out and buy the book, let me bring you back from your euphoria; Meadows is smart enough to drag expectations back down - understanding is just the start, enacting the change necessary to move forward is the next challenge.. and enacting the change without building in more counterproductive issues to boot. On this topic, Meadows has little to say.
This notwithstanding, let me be very clear - this is the best book I have read on systems thinking (please note, there are still a load of books on my list, including the seminal work, "The Fifth Discipline", so this could change ;-). It is short, well structured and keeps you interested throughout.
So impressed was I that I actually ended up reading it twice. Indeed, this is the first book in a long time that I have added to my Amazon must-read list for business analysis and architecture.
As I have already talked about in a previous posting, I am convinced that the combination of systems thinking and visual thinking is a winning recipe for the consulting industry and this book has already gotten me thinking about how that might look in practice (hopefully more to follow on this soon, time permitting!).
Now go and buy it.
This is largely a result of my ignorance regarding this approach to analysis and modeling, combined with a gut feeling that it is a "must-have" capability for a really good business architect or consultant.
Having been disappointed thus far by the competition, Donella H. Meadows' (sadly deceased) introductory book, "Thinking in Systems - a primer" has really impressed me.
Her book starts as a relatively dry introduction into some of the key concepts in systems thinking (she calls it the "systems zoo" - stock and flows, stabilising vs reinforcing feedback loops, response delays), but then moves on to describe some typical system archetypes in the real world (from business to government to the environment and back again) that really show how the thinking can and should be applied.
Even more interestingly, she then moves on to describe typical system traps and then defines her personal list of "leverage points" to address them.
As a consultant, this initially feels like it could be the holy grail of business architecture; it provides a lexicon to think about problems in complex environments, recurring patterns to look for and a process for identifying a solution. But, before you all run out and buy the book, let me bring you back from your euphoria; Meadows is smart enough to drag expectations back down - understanding is just the start, enacting the change necessary to move forward is the next challenge.. and enacting the change without building in more counterproductive issues to boot. On this topic, Meadows has little to say.
This notwithstanding, let me be very clear - this is the best book I have read on systems thinking (please note, there are still a load of books on my list, including the seminal work, "The Fifth Discipline", so this could change ;-). It is short, well structured and keeps you interested throughout.
So impressed was I that I actually ended up reading it twice. Indeed, this is the first book in a long time that I have added to my Amazon must-read list for business analysis and architecture.
As I have already talked about in a previous posting, I am convinced that the combination of systems thinking and visual thinking is a winning recipe for the consulting industry and this book has already gotten me thinking about how that might look in practice (hopefully more to follow on this soon, time permitting!).
Now go and buy it.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
The Powers Behind the Prime Minister - a book review
Two hits in a row (see also previous post).
I admit that I am a bit of a politics nerd, but "The Powers Behind the Prime Minister" has a huge amount to offer for anyone interested in organisational dynamics.
The author describes in detail the inner workings of Number 10, the departments, their relative power and, most interestingly, the effect that the individual at the top has on the organisation.
Of course, the heart of government is a particularly intense organisation and the megalomania necessary to seek such an office, mean that career politicians are bound to be, well.. political, but there were loads of interesting lessons in the book from each government since the Second World War; from the support organisation that Churchill put in place when he returned to government in the fifties, through Heath's disciplined professional setup (proving that focusing on process alone without output is not enough) to the modern day (much expanded) office run for Mr Blair.
Another element of the book, that I had never really considered much, was the power of architecture and space in shaping the organisation within it - Number 10 has been confined by the building itself and has adapted accordingly. Compare it with The White House, the Kanzleramt or the Kremlin and it feels parochial.
As a study of power politics and the relationship between leaders and organisational culture, this book is simply outstanding!
I admit that I am a bit of a politics nerd, but "The Powers Behind the Prime Minister" has a huge amount to offer for anyone interested in organisational dynamics.
The author describes in detail the inner workings of Number 10, the departments, their relative power and, most interestingly, the effect that the individual at the top has on the organisation.
Of course, the heart of government is a particularly intense organisation and the megalomania necessary to seek such an office, mean that career politicians are bound to be, well.. political, but there were loads of interesting lessons in the book from each government since the Second World War; from the support organisation that Churchill put in place when he returned to government in the fifties, through Heath's disciplined professional setup (proving that focusing on process alone without output is not enough) to the modern day (much expanded) office run for Mr Blair.
Another element of the book, that I had never really considered much, was the power of architecture and space in shaping the organisation within it - Number 10 has been confined by the building itself and has adapted accordingly. Compare it with The White House, the Kanzleramt or the Kremlin and it feels parochial.
As a study of power politics and the relationship between leaders and organisational culture, this book is simply outstanding!
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Systems thinking - book review
Another short post. As mentioned earlier this year, I am merrily working my way through the enormous backlog of books that I built up over the Christmas holidays.
The latest book was "Systems thinking - managing chaos and complexity: a platform for designing business architecture". Just from the name, I had high expectations. Add to this the author, Jamshid Gharajedaghi, a protege of Russell Ackoff (Mr Systems Thinking) and I was really looking forward to this book.
I was disappointed. Now, the difficult thing is that I am not sure whether to be disappointed with the book, or myself; I did not understand half of the thinking in the book. Every time I thought I had a grip on a concept and how it related to the other parts of the frameworks presented, Gharajedaghi applied it in a way that I could not follow.
I am intuitively drawn to systems thinking (with its emphasis on the whole, on the interdependence of working parts in a system, organisation or problem and the analysis of their relationships with one another) and am sure that this book does provide lots of good material for those that have truly understood the basics, but as a primer, I have been defeated.
Next on the list: "Thinking in systems" - perhaps I will have more luck with this one - post to follow later this year.
The latest book was "Systems thinking - managing chaos and complexity: a platform for designing business architecture". Just from the name, I had high expectations. Add to this the author, Jamshid Gharajedaghi, a protege of Russell Ackoff (Mr Systems Thinking) and I was really looking forward to this book.
I was disappointed. Now, the difficult thing is that I am not sure whether to be disappointed with the book, or myself; I did not understand half of the thinking in the book. Every time I thought I had a grip on a concept and how it related to the other parts of the frameworks presented, Gharajedaghi applied it in a way that I could not follow.
I am intuitively drawn to systems thinking (with its emphasis on the whole, on the interdependence of working parts in a system, organisation or problem and the analysis of their relationships with one another) and am sure that this book does provide lots of good material for those that have truly understood the basics, but as a primer, I have been defeated.
Next on the list: "Thinking in systems" - perhaps I will have more luck with this one - post to follow later this year.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Tom Peters & blogs
The other day, I finally got around to cleaning out my "filing cabinet" (others might refer to it as a cardboard box, but I prefer to think of it as a filing cabinet) and came across an essay assignment I wrote in my final undergraduate year at university.
The lecturer was fantastic and the material interesting - Organisational Change & Design with Ian Colville. In retrospect, it was in fact, one of just three courses that were of any lasting value from my final undergraduate year, but that is something for another post.
The essay task was to write an imaginary obituary for the Economist on Tom Peters (management guru and co-author of In Search Of Excellence - and a good deal more since). The trick was that we had to be innovative. My innovation was to write the obituary as a first draft by the writer that had subsequently been edited (lots of redpen) by a feature editor with a quite different opinion of Peters.
This rediscovery resulted in two things; firstly I was reminded why I didn't go into journalism (so apologies for this blog once again!) and secondly I got interested in Tom Peters again.
If I am quite honest, I don't think he ever really matched In Search of Excellence with any of his consequent books (and if you are really interested in some of the underlying thinking, you are in fact better of going for the more substantial writings of Weick - see also my books list at Amazon), but he remains a fantastic speaker and has - unsurprisingly - become a prolific blogger.
His own blog, http://www.tompeters.com/, is average, but he has a whole range of interesting links to further resources and other bloggers, and it is this resource that I would recommend; he knows everyone it seems and I spent ages browsing blogs that he links to.
His presentations are almost certainly the nastiest, most unclear powerpoints I have ever seen, but if you can get beyond the colours and to a certain extent the hubris, there are some interesting points on the need to constantly challenge oneself and the organisation.
One of his most recent posting caught my eye - Peters participated in a podium discussion with Seth Godin (I have a posting on him planned already) sponsored by American Express. It can still be viewed online here. He has some good things to say about the world at large (politics, entrepreneurship, the internet), but I was particularly taken by the pair's discussion of blogs, according to Peters the single most important and transformational tool he has used in his own professional life in the last 15 years. That said, I must confess that I am not 100% convinced just yet. Indeed, Seth Godin's view of the blog seemed more plausible to me - it doesn't matter if people are not reading the blog, it is the act of putting your thoughts down in writing that provides the value.
I hope he is right, looking at my reader statistics ;-).
The lecturer was fantastic and the material interesting - Organisational Change & Design with Ian Colville. In retrospect, it was in fact, one of just three courses that were of any lasting value from my final undergraduate year, but that is something for another post.
The essay task was to write an imaginary obituary for the Economist on Tom Peters (management guru and co-author of In Search Of Excellence - and a good deal more since). The trick was that we had to be innovative. My innovation was to write the obituary as a first draft by the writer that had subsequently been edited (lots of redpen) by a feature editor with a quite different opinion of Peters.
This rediscovery resulted in two things; firstly I was reminded why I didn't go into journalism (so apologies for this blog once again!) and secondly I got interested in Tom Peters again.
If I am quite honest, I don't think he ever really matched In Search of Excellence with any of his consequent books (and if you are really interested in some of the underlying thinking, you are in fact better of going for the more substantial writings of Weick - see also my books list at Amazon), but he remains a fantastic speaker and has - unsurprisingly - become a prolific blogger.
His own blog, http://www.tompeters.com/, is average, but he has a whole range of interesting links to further resources and other bloggers, and it is this resource that I would recommend; he knows everyone it seems and I spent ages browsing blogs that he links to.
His presentations are almost certainly the nastiest, most unclear powerpoints I have ever seen, but if you can get beyond the colours and to a certain extent the hubris, there are some interesting points on the need to constantly challenge oneself and the organisation.
One of his most recent posting caught my eye - Peters participated in a podium discussion with Seth Godin (I have a posting on him planned already) sponsored by American Express. It can still be viewed online here. He has some good things to say about the world at large (politics, entrepreneurship, the internet), but I was particularly taken by the pair's discussion of blogs, according to Peters the single most important and transformational tool he has used in his own professional life in the last 15 years. That said, I must confess that I am not 100% convinced just yet. Indeed, Seth Godin's view of the blog seemed more plausible to me - it doesn't matter if people are not reading the blog, it is the act of putting your thoughts down in writing that provides the value.
I hope he is right, looking at my reader statistics ;-).
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