Post on 16-Apr-2017
By Olivier ZaraConsultant in management and social media
Collective IntelligenceAgility, Innovation and Engagement Booster
Collective Intelligence = Simple?
Lean Management Purposes
Performance
Productivity
Optimization
A “Must Have” for reducing waste!
Collective Intelligence Purposes
Engagement
Innovation
Agility
Shifting from “Nice to Have” to “Must Have”
It’s the sum ofsituational intelligence
plus knowledge.
What is Collective Intelligence in a Company?
1. Situational intelligence means a good understanding of the context and the stakes. Objective: 1 + 1 = 3
2. It is not an IQ equation in the form of 1 idiot + 1 idiot = 0 which is part of the leaders’ beliefs
In a company:Collective Intelligence = ∑ of the situational intelligence of the employees
What is Collective Intelligence in a Company?
Complicated & Complex?
A plane, a satellite…It is complicated!
Complicated & Complex?
But with time and expertise…
Complicated & Complex?
A company, the brain… they are complex!
Complicated & Complex?
Holistic andsystemic approach…
Performance development / Strategies
Complex technical problem / Risk management / Workplace security
Governance / Working methods
Innovation
Complexity = a Blank Page!
What is your blank page currently?
Complexity = 24 Dimensions!
What dimensions impact your blank page?
Process
Org
KM
Comm
Legal
Marketing
BrandingIT
Trades
Unions
FIN
Sales
Culture
Complexity = Interactions!
What are the interactions between your dimensions?
Complicated & Complex?
Complicated = I know with certainty (knowledge, expertise, and experience)
Complexity = I do not know with certainty: I have beliefs, I have convictions, I have intuition (unpredictability and uncertainty)
If you are 100% sure you’ve made THE right decision, it’s because your situation is just complicated.
Managing a team is knowing……that you know or that you do not!
Situation Example
AI do not know with certainty AND no one in the group knows
either
Must we move?(social & organizational
impact - Complex)
B I know with certainty, BUT I need the group’s support
When and how must we move? (social & organizationalimpact - complicated)
C I know with certainty AND I do not need the group’s support
Which company will take care of the move? (no or little social
& organizational impact - simple)
Managing a team is knowing……that you know or that you do not!
Situation Best Management Mode
A Complex Collective Intelligence Management
B Complicated Participative or Collaborative Team Management
C Simple Individual Management in delegating mode
Collective Intelligence = Collective
Decision? Collective Intelligence = Collective Reflection. Decisions are made under the principle of
subsidiarity. If authority is delegated individually, so is
decision making. When facing complexity (unpredictability), no
one knows with certainty what to do. You have to follow your intuition, not the consensus (which can only make sense in the complicated).
Collective Intelligence = Collective
Reflection Collective Intelligence = Collective reflection Definition of “to reflect”: to ask oneself questions
and find answers. Reflecting together thus means asking questions
together and finding answers together. A collective reflection meeting begins with 50 to 100
questions before looking for answers. When was the last time your team had a meeting
that began with 50 to 100 questions?
Of course we discuss, but do we reflect?
Collective Reflection OR Collective
Discussion?Discussing = sharing ideas… and sometimes wanting to impose them (polemics, ego-system) = participative management
Reflecting = asking yourself questions and then co-constructing answers with others, especially through roundtable technique (eco-system) = collective intelligence management.
We always discuss a little when we reflect. But we do not always reflect when we discuss.
Creating more Agility Collective intelligence is a tool for
managing complexity …inappropriate for managing complicated situations
It secures the decision-making process by providing:
A global vision A measure of the interactions An expanded choice of decisions
Paradoxical ManagementThe new keys of agility in an uncertain world
It is a Manager’s Story…Produce & Sell
Paradoxical Manager
ReflectionBox
Axio
Synergy4
Produce & Sell
1. Being able to identify the 4 blank pages to handle them with the right level of logic (Paradoxical manager)
4. Being able to facilitate collective reflection meetings (Synergy4)
2. Being able to handle the important before it becomes urgent (Reflection box)
3. Being able to decide alone, but enlightened by collective intelligence (AXIO)
THE ANCIENT WORLD 1.0
Is the World Black and White?
PowerSanctionRewardPyramid
SilosControl
HierarchyDisciplineObjectivesEvaluation
Orders
THE NEW WORLD 2.0
Manager-coachCooperationFacilitatorCommunityTransversal
Co-llaborationCo-creation
Co-constructionCollective
intelligenceInnovation
THE « REAL »NEW WORLD?
The Ancient World
+The New World
It is a Manager’s Story…Produce & Sell
Paradoxical Manager
Produce & Sell
Like Before! Differently… Like
Before!
The “real” new world, is…“like before” AND
“differently”!
We discovered more muscles meant more
strength!
A Long Time Ago…
We discovered that more brains means more
strength!
More Recently…
The magical wordsof management? You must associate your
employees in the decision-making process
You must be participative, collaborative
You must co-constructBut nobody explains tomanagers how to do it!
WHAT is it about?Connecting intelligence and knowledge
HOW to connect intelligence?One simple question: “What do you think?”
WHY connect intelligence?1. Because associating brains means strength.2. Because when managing collective
intelligence, I’m not losing my authority, my credibility
The Situation…HOW to connect intelligence?Very few methods… management based on intuition… bar room philosophizing? “What do you think?” is not enough!
WITHOUT losing my authority as a managerNobody tells managers why and how they retain their authority
A new way to look at your organization…
Order & Institution
Logic
Authority, discipline, territory, hierarchyDriving Force
Chaos & PeopleLogic
Meaning, knowledge, transversality, freedomAgility Force
Your Organization is Paradoxical
…to Chaos-Agility
From Chaos-Disorder…
Chaos
Disorder
Agility
Chaos exists only in the universe. In a company, there is only Chaos-Disorder or Chaos-Agility!
The Organizational Paradox?
Best system for implementing a decision
Worst system for making a decision
Order & Institution
AND
Order & Institution
Skills
Order Individual and Team ManagementCommand and control
Chaos Collective Intelligence ManagementCo-construct
Your Organization is Paradoxical
WHEN do you Need to Change your Management Mode ?
4 complex situations which require moving from command and control to collective intelligence
management
COMPLEX TECHNICAL PROBLEM
GOVERNANCE
INNOVATION
MAJORDECISION
S
To Be or not to Be…Being a paradoxical manager
Produce & Sell
Daily, 90% of the time, give objectives, control but…
Being Agile
…facing a blank page, 10% of the time, mobilizing collective intelligence.
The most important question for the manager / leader:Is the situation “complicated” or “complex”?
Produce & Sell
Complicated: time and expertiseArea of experts in the field of
production, sales and operations
Being Agile
Complex: holistic and systemicArea of collective intelligence
within the 4 blank pages
Being a Paradoxical Manager…
…but Chaos logic is seen as a VIRUS which will destroyOrder logic!
Order
Chaos
Fake participation? Deciding alone first, then organizing a participatory meeting!
The New Founding Principlesof Managerial Legitimacy
Produce & sell I decide (one responsible)
Being agile We reflect (many people)
Why Does a Manager Keep his Legitimacy?
A manager is not “indebted” for the help he receives.
He is “responsible” for the decision he makes.
The New Founding Principles of Managerial Legitimacy
OrderAbility to exercise greater
individual reflection
Expertise (I know with certainty)Charisma / Status
Management(Collective discussion)
AND
ChaosAbility to generate greater
collective reflexion
Blank Pages(I do not know with certainty)
Open-mindednessManagement
(Collective reflection)
In an Uncertain, Unpredictable World…
OrderAbility to exercise greater
individual reflection AND
ChaosAbility to generate greater
collective reflection
Prejudice: If I base a part of my legitimacy on Chaos, I will lose my legitimacy in Order.
Reality: If you do not base a part of your legitimacy on Chaos, you will lose your legitimacy in Order.
Your Legitimacy Might not be where you Think it is!
OrderAbility to exercise greater
individual reflection AND
ChaosAbility to generate greater
collective reflection
Top managers, project or innovation managers: you manage a lot of blank pages; your legitimacy is primarily
based on…
First-line or middle managers: you manage a few blank pages;
your legitimacy is primarily based on…
Why are 91% of Employees Disengaged?
Ability to exercise greater individual
reflection
Ability to generate greater collective
reflection
Top managers 100% 0%
Middle managers, project and innovation
managers100% 0%
First-line managers 100% 0%
Connecting Charismatic Leadership with Shared Leadership!
Ability to exercise greater individual
reflection
Ability to generate greater collective
reflection
Top managers Charismatic Leadership
The one who knows, the specialist
Shared Leadership
The one who does not know, the one
who mobilizes collective
intelligence, the non-expert
Middle managers, project and innovation
managers
First-line managers
How to Get Rid of…Order, Counter-order… Disorder?
Ability to exercise greater individual
reflectionCharismatic Leadership
Ability to generate greater collective
reflectionShared Leadership
Top managers 10% 90%
Middle managers, project and innovation
managers50% 50%
First-line managers 90% 10%
From Design to ExecutionWhen complexity poisons the whole organization!
When Execution Becomes a Nightmare… When the complex major decisions have a poor
design (collective discussion, greater individual reflection), the implementation decisions (supposed to be complicated) become complex too!
Complexity is difficult to manage for the top managers and for the first-line and middle managers, complexity sometimes becomes inextricable, for lack of means, time, power and methods.
Consequence: a vicious spiral of meetings (3 out of 5 days per week), to fit squares into round holes.
Managing Complexity at the Most Relevant Level of the Organization
4h
40h
Top managers, project managersBlank pages, Reflection Box, AXIO and Synergy4
= Ability to manage complexity
ORMiddle – First-line managers
Deluge of emails, inflation of meetingsPressure, stress, suffering at work= Ability to disengage employees
Taking Time for Reflection to Save Time in Execution!
Where would you like to manage complexity?In major decisions or in the execution?
4h 40hOR
Produce & Sell
Acting before reflecting
Being agile
Reflecting before acting
At the End, a Simple Choice…
YOUR choice? Do you want to let complexity infect the Order? Then the complicated will
become complex, and even inextricable. Do you want to deal with a blank page LIKE BEFORE or
DIFFERENTLY?
OR40h
4h
Produce & sell
Suffering at work91% disengaged employees
Inflation of emails & meetings
Being agile Agility Engagement Innovation
One Choice = Consequences…
OR
The Reasons for your Success are not the Ones you Would Think!
Your ten years of success as a first-line manager are related to the nature of your functions, not to the methods you used at this time.
New functions = new methods!
Conclusion…
« If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes. » Albert Einstein
« It taught me that the tough thing is figuring out what questions to ask, but that once you do that, the rest is really easy. » Elon Musk
« A problem without a solution is a poorly presented problem. » Albert Einstein
Why Ask Questions?
Asking the right question is often giving the answer!
Solutions or Questions?
Solutions
Questions
In the complicated, you can go directly to the solutions, without asking yourself questions.In the complex, with the same behavior, you run straight into a wall.
When You Face a Complex Problem…
I do not know – They do not knowWhy ask help from those whodo not know any better than I?
Completely absurd?
Who Should be Put around the Table?
In the complicated, you have to put those who do know around the table.In the complex, you have to do the exact opposite: put those who do not know around the table.
In Summary…
Ask 50-100 questions
before looking for solutions
The more people there are who do
not know, the more you
increase your chances of knowing
Success = Doing the opposite of what you would naturally do!
“The world we have created is the result of our level of reflection, but the problems it generates cannot be resolved at the same level”
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein could have said:“We cannot resolve the problems generated by Order logic at that same level. We must resolve them at the level of Chaos logic”
1. “When we are sure we are right, we need not discuss it with those who are wrong.” Georges Wolinski
2. “Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.” Winston Churchill
3. “Genius is less about the art of finding ideas and more about recognizing good ones.” Paul Valéry
4. “Since I believe I do not know, I know more than those who believe they know!” Ozon Liniorence
What is Your Favorite Quote?
Books, upcoming conferences:www.axiopole.com
Olivier Zara
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