The very important, very boring first step to create joyous work

Previously, on Joyous Work:

• To make work more joyous and more effective, you need better system awareness

• What it means to be system aware

Today:

• Who is doing a good job of building system awareness?

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In the search for a silver bullet of better outcomes, the organisation gravitates towards methods that sound like they match the complexity of the organisation, methods that command attention with their flowing frameworks, fifteen principles, and names born of some erudite, otherwise inaccessible truth.

But the first and most important step to create joyous work fails this test. It is so basic, so unremarkable, that it risks instant rejection.

The starting point for joyous work, which has been demonstrated over and over by those who do it well, is to build system awareness by creating space to receive signals from your system of work.

Here are some examples of what that looks like[1] in different organisations:

• FAVI, a metal manufacturer, invites everyone to enter signals into a logbook, a document that then plays a central role in deciding where effort is allocated

• Buurtzorg, a homecare provider, and Nucor, a steelmaker, have near-zero central functions and instead provide training and coaching support for frontline teams to surface (and action) signals from their system of work

• Holacracy is a system of work that creates protected space for surfacing potential ‘governance’ changes (their term for how the organisation works as a system); at the time of writing, more than 240 organisations are using Holacracy

It is, at face value, a very simple thing to do. It is so simple in fact, that the modern organisation proves it can do it overnight if forced -

This is the example of the modern organisation facing a crisis. It might be a social media firestorm, a data security breach, or a global pandemic. In these moments, the organisation proves it can be exceptional at surfacing signals. In the literal or figurative crisis war room, the CEO says, “Anything you need, bring it straight to me.” Someone steps forward, “We need to make quicker decisions than usual.” The CEO hears the signal and sets a single decision meeting for each afternoon. Another person steps forward, “Our communications sign-off process involves too many people, it will be too slow.” The CEO hears the signal and gives a single expert sign-off and no other responsibilities to ensure immediate responsiveness.

The urgency of a crisis is the ideal context for rapid surfacing and processing of signals from a system of work. It is not by design, but a byproduct of this context, and that is why unfortunately it is usually lost so quickly and the status quo wrestles back control after the crisis. The organisation puts back on its earmuffs and allows the status quo system of work to take back control after its brief dormancy. The CEO who a month ago said, “Anything you need, bring it straight to me,” now says, “We can chat about that, sure, but we’ve got a bunch of stuff happening so let’s catch-up in about six weeks.” Team leaders can surface signals within their team boundaries, but there is no longer true space for signals beyond the team level, from the organisation as a system.

How you create space in your organisation for system signals should fit your context, not replicate the fit from somewhere else. What might fit your context and you could do today:

• Get some signals:

  • Ask the simple question of as many people as you can, What is stopping you doing your best work? There is no one perfect question to generate signals, but this is a pretty good one. Ask on your internal social platform, ask your internal network, ask your team, ask yourself. Make it digestible, find the themes.

• Surface those signals:

  • Suggest a standing agenda item for the top management team meeting, ‘What are people saying about how we work?’

  • Can’t get on the agenda? Share via email, or write them on sticky notes and put in a prominent physical location passed by the top management team

  • Management needs direct experience to empathise? Run a one-off session for top management to invite them to share their own signals, then propose to expand reach and repeat
    

It will likely raise eyebrows at first and the chance of immediate action in response to the signals is low. But it is the start of change. It is the thin edge of the wedge. Joyous work is the discipline of being system aware and continually improving your system of work, and the only way to build that discipline is to start.

What comes next - processing those signals to find their root causes, and creating space for action - are just as important to create joyous work. But you can't do either of those if you haven't created space to receive the signals in the first place. It's the place to start.

- John

[1] Or looked like at some previous point. Complex systems evolve.