Why Treating Employees Like All-Stars, Not Mercenaries, Will Revolutionize Your Organization?

We can’t change anything until we get fresh ideas and see things differently. — James Hillman

Small talk is important, but it’s effective to start conversations with a Goldilocks question like, “What’s on your mind?” This question strikes a balance between being too broad and too narrow.

Coaching for performance focuses on solving specific problems or challenges, like putting out a fire, building it up, or banking it.

Without a clear purpose, we often lose motivation and disengage, which hinders our ability to produce great work.

Corporations have a strong desire for their share prices to continually rise without setbacks. This requires a focus on increasing revenue or earnings growth.

To align executives’ interests with those of shareholders, they are often rewarded with stock options. Yet, this focus on short-term gains can lead to a lack of foresight, known as “collective quarterly myopia.” To counteract this, we must think outside the box.

To avoid organizational debt, we need to continuously simplify our roles, rules, and processes.

By creating systems that can learn and evolve, we can avoid the bureaucracy that comes with organizational debt. Bureaucratic systems often reinforce the status quo, which can be detrimental in the long run.

Even in today’s work environment, outdated assumptions from Theory X still persist. Employees are often told what to do, how to do it, when to work, and even which conversations they can take part in. This lack of autonomy can decrease motivation. Increasing autonomy can lead to higher motivation.

Evolutionary Organizations understand that if people are treated like mercenaries, they will act like mercenaries. Yet, if they are treated like all-stars, they will rise to that standard.

Being “People Positive” means assuming the best in everyone and expecting the best from them.

Individuals need more autonomy to achieve greater satisfaction, involvement, and purpose in their work. It’s important to recognize that money is not the only indicator of value.

To discover your true calling, seek out cutting-edge opportunities with unique missions and pursue them with conviction. Continue exploring until you find what you’re looking for.

As a programmer, marketing yourself through open-source software is one of the most effective strategies.

The first step in building career capital — valuable skills that define successful careers, such as a strong sense of mission — is acquiring rare and valuable skills.

Pursuing greater autonomy in your work without developing rare and valuable skills is misguided. Any profession requires more than hard work for long-term success.

To avoid the negative effects of organizational debt, we need to continuously simplify our roles, rules, and processes.

We should create a flexible system that can adapt and learn as necessary. Organizational debt can lead to bureaucracy, which reinforces it, creating a vicious cycle.

To truly be people-positive, we must trust and empower our colleagues. When individuals have more autonomy, they tend to be more motivated. When we treat others as valuable team members, they are more likely to step up and perform at their best.