Michel's Recent LinkedIn Posts

LATEST ARTICLE - Does your culture call up visions on medieval times, always alert for who is friend or foe? "There’s a not-so-subtle warning woven into work around culture. That you need a citadel to protect you from plundering outsiders. The word “citadel” was first used in English in the 14th century. Referring to the fortified towers and walls that protected mediaeval towns and were a refuge for civilians in the event of an attack. Does the analogy ring true for your culture? Eyeing anyone who wants to enter as potential invaders. Always alert. Monitoring those who are admitted to the organisation for signs of subversion. Aside from the undercurrent of suspicion. The paranoia carries a cost. Consuming finite energy better spent helping those who do join the you understand what matters and how to put that to work, every day. Moving beyond the would-be marauder mindset, you first need to accept an uncomfortable truth." Keep reading via the link in comments and get new articles straight to your inbox when you subscribe. New article this Friday! #culture #organisations #behaviour #choices

LATEST ARTICLE: Belief is fragile and robust. It helps us transcend heartbreak and disappointment, yet relies on exposure to the light of experience to develop. Turns out Ted Lasso had it right. Believe-ing matters ... "I have to believe in the place where I work.” Bam. There it was. In a neatly turned nutshell, my client had revealed how to improve a culture. Not motivate me with a world-changing mission. Not inspire me to great feats or pay me a gazillion dollars. Simply show me I can believe in this place where I spend a sizeable chunk of my days. In his book Consolations 2, poet David Whyte says, “Belief stops being merely belief and becomes real presence when the unknown is kept alive, where what is living in my belief is kept alive by the way I keep testing that belief in the real world …” Or in other words, belief will wither unless put to work. Most of which comes back to what people say and how they do things." Keep reading via the link in comments. And get articles to your inbox every other week when you subscribe. The next article publishes this Friday on Substack. #Believe #Belief #Culture #Organisations #UnheroicWork

Working on a collection of culture articles and stumbled on this gem from a few years ago tackling an enterprise 'holy grail'. Employees who are engaged in their work. And while the ultimate choice (to feel engaged or not) is theirs, you can take steps to shape the environment so it's more likely. Dive in via the link in comments. And get ideas and thinking every other Friday when you subscribe to Unheroic Work articles. #EmployeeExperience #Engagement #Culture #CultureCounsel

Why should I choose you instead of the other guys? Give me a reason. What you care about isn't enough. Do some of the work, meet me half way, stop 'we'ing all over me and tell me what's in it for me. A story in SmartCompany Company last week reminded me "instead of the other guys" is not only an important question. It's a killer question - in other words, if you don't answer it, your business might not survive. https://lnkd.in/gdi_XNRh Check the link in comments for more on how to think about positioning. #Positioning #Competition #Marketing

Harrison Ford gave a glorious speech while accepting his lifetime achievement award. Heartfelt, humble and humorous he extolled his luck to do the thing he loves and celebrated that he doesn't do it alone. He reminded me, that no matter what my work is and where I work, that others who work alongside and lift me up, also make me lucky. Thank you to those present, past and future in my world. Now watch Harrison. Have a tissue handy. https://lnkd.in/gZR7vmmN

Don’t put your values on your website case study #324 Atlassian just fired 1600 people (refuse to use the mealy mouth language laid off). They apparently haven’t given them reasons, with some fired while on leave. So their values of “Open company, no bullshit” is fully bullshit and “where work doesn’t feel like work” really doesn’t anymore, because they don’t have jobs. Every org will have to make hard choices at times. And values are essential in how you make them. So using them as a promotional tool limits their usefulness because the nuance and boundaries are impossible to communicate outwardly and people like me will use them as a mirror on your choices. Still, seems like Atlassian’s workers are learning the hard way there’s only one value that matters when your stock price is on the line. Profit. “In a note sent to staff that same morning, Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes said the company had to become more agile, invest further in AI, and finally break even.” (The Guardian)

“What you say about yourself is forgotten. What you do for others compounds. Serve people well, and their word about you will travel further than yours ever could.” Shane Parrish Exactly. https://lnkd.in/gKJrGwSY

Culture is how people choose to do things repeatedly, and processes direct people on how to do it. And when those two things are out of sync, you have a problem. Whether it’s a culture problem or a process problem is a chicken-and-egg question. In reality, it’s both. Either way, it’s a problem because it creates friction, which is the enemy of progress. Author and Wharton professor Adam Grant highlights practice or daily routines as contributing to culture1. In organisations, daily routines are structured in part by processes. So, it stands to reason they colonise culture regardless of what the company handbook says. Keep reading via link in comments. And get the 'Unheroic Work' straight to your inbox when you subscribe. New article this Friday. #Culture #Process #BusinessAsUsual