Making sense of chaos: set your people free
Why investing in regular empowered teamwork skills training will help you make order out of the crazy global landscape of the 21st Century
The evidence that empowered teams are the ultra-modern strategy for high performance is overwhelming. So, why do businesses still direct control via a chain-of-command, driven by direct orders passed down from report to report down an organization chart?
You may call your people empowered teams and place soft skills on the company training schedule, but it is still direct control disguised. But no one will dare call it out.
I remember well a meeting in an American business where all the middle managers had trained in coaching and self-managed work groups. We were all excited and revved up. Then the GM stood up and said “empowerment, right, well, what the company really means is that, yes, you are empowered, but with one arm behind your back”.
Unbelievable.
You may put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.
Do you want to win? Then get a grip and listen up.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to ODILE⁺ × Media to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.