Book Summary Preview : Disruptive Ideas

The Big Idea

In a time when organizations simultaneously run multiple corporate initiatives and large change programs, Disruptive Ideas tells us that – contrary to the collective mindset that says that big problems need big solutions – all you need is a small set of powerful rules to create big impact.

In his previous book, Viral Change, Leandro Herrero described how a small set of behaviors, spread by a small number of people, can create sustainable change. In this follow-up book, the author suggests a menu of 10 'structures', 10 'processes' and 10 'behaviors' that have the power to transform an organization.

These 30 disruptive ideas can be implemented at any time and at almost no cost; and what's more... you don't even need them all. But their compound effect – the 10+10+10 maths – will be more powerful than vast corporate programs with dozens of objectives and efficiency targets.

Why You Need This Book
This book will appeal to people at different levels of management or leadership – those who want to reshape their culture by enhancing working practices and in general aiming at greater organizational effectiveness. Its practical nature will appeal to all who want to implement key ideas that have the power to transform any organization, without having to embark upon a massive change management program.

Structures

TEAM 365: THE TEAM THAT (ALMOST) DOESN’T MEET. In ‘team 365’ mode, the meeting is an occasional event, something that happens when needed. It’s not the center of activity for the team. Instead, the emphasis is on the team as a continuous collaboration structure. The meeting is merely a device for occasional needs. Literally, Team 365 is always meeting, so it doesn’t really need to meet. Well, almost.

In team 365, the project leader is also a ‘project leader 365’, not just the information traffic warden pre, during and post-meeting. Project leaders facilitate continuous discussion and the working together of members, whether in duos, trios or bigger groups.

DOUBLE HATS (ONE BOSS IS NOT ENOUGH). How can you implement double hats? Assign competing or parallel responsibilities. This is not a simple division of the cake or a justification for doing two jobs for the price of one. At senior level, make double hats a requirement. Watching a key competitor and having broader managerial responsibilities at the same time works very well for them!

SHADOW JOBS. Through shadowing, knowledge gets spread and extra expertise is created. It may be a bit counterintuitive when you implement it for the first time, particularly if you pay too much attention to the ‘Focus Police’, who will be horrified. But it will pay off. Like any other of these 10+10+10 disruptive ideas, this one has the potential to transform the organization into a true knowledge sharing one, where the risk of losing corporate I.Q is minimized.

EVERYTHING A PROJECT. ‘Everything is a project’ is a powerful philosophy. It injects discipline into what we do. If you work in an organization that has ‘projects’ and ‘other things’ (not called projects), you may be at risk of having two separate worlds with different standards. When we say Joe works on a project or is a member of project X, we usually mean that he is part of a group that has objectives, timelines, milestones and resources.

MANAGEMENT BY INVITATION. Most management teams are formed by what the organization chart dictates; by an ‘accidental’ reporting line. There may be alternative arrangements, but the principle is one of ‘by invitation only’. A principle that forces you to stop taking for granted the fact that membership will happen automatically or that grade or rank are a form of entitlement. It may be counterintuitive at first, but it is very effective. Much of the counterintuitive aspect comes from the fact that we tend to have pre-conceived ideas about how the organization should work.

FIXED-TERM TEAMS. To fix a term for teams and their membership sounds like yet another ‘obvious’ thing to do, but the reality is that in many cases teams seem to have a life of their own and tend to drag on well beyond their ‘sell-by date’. It should be a simple discipline to design a beginning and an end for teams, with their goals, objectives and milestones mapped out in between.

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