For the last 15 years, I have been pursuing a solution to minor disputes within startup teams (namely our own) between my brother and me. I hated it when he responded with "erk!" when I came up with a novel proposal for a problem that we were trying to solve. As a designer, we were... Continue Reading →
Your Real-Time Protection is Now Activated
For the last 15 years, I have been developing and simplifying the basic precautions & protections that team members need to resolve all minor & significant disputes satisfactorily. Using a self-organizing system means it is essential middle managers put themselves out of a job, as some 25% of all unresolved disputes involve managers with their... Continue Reading →
Play the Ball Not Play the Man
There are not too many examples of idioms that work as well as this one, I reckon, but as an ex-soccer player, I would say that. However, there is a bit more to this idea that meets the eye. The best soccer players play the ball (PB) because they can. Those who are not so skillful will... Continue Reading →
Psychological Safety Vs Psychological Protections
It seems that everyone is talking about Psychological Safety nowadays. Still, no one seems to be talking so much about the basic protections needed to create such an environment. "Safety" seems to be more the state of mind we are aspiring for, and "protections" appear to be actual steps taken to achieve safety. The protections to create... Continue Reading →
Shield of Protection
Most authors on organizational behavior, such as Amy Edmondson, Timothy Clark, and Kim Scott, seem only to offer psychological insights on how team members should behave towards each other rather than specifying how to actually protect members from misbehaving and toxic managers. Imagine if every organization was obliged to provide a standard "shield of protection"... Continue Reading →
Death by a Thousand Cuts
Ever wondered why a business or personal relationship fails? Most people never do, deeming it just too painful or complicated to try. Well, I have wondered most of my life and come up with the simplest and most obvious answer—death by a thousand cuts. In other words, simply too many nasty and unresolved disputes. Obvious,... Continue Reading →
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