Posts from Awesome Folks #121

A weekly round up of blog posts I've been reading

Emily Webber
September 13, 2024

Hello folks,

I'm sorry I missed you last week. I’ve been recovering from some surgery, and as hard as it is for me to slow down, I have been forced to.

These past few weeks have got me thinking a lot about taking responsibility; although I have been relying on wonderful NHS staff to take care of me and do the things they are experts in, my recovery is my responsibility. They can do surgery, give me pills and share advice, but if I want things to be better, I have to do my part.

I care about my health, so I have a strong motivator. I am responsible for myself and the outcomes, and I have agency; I can make my own decisions and carry them out. This has made me consider how this translates to the workplace. What motivates people to take responsibility for their team and their outcomes, and what does agency look like?

Venn diagram with the words agency, responsibility for the outcome, responsibility to each other

Right, I better go and do my physio exercises!

Enjoy this week’s posts, and happy Friday.

Emily

People and Culture

Q&A: How do you celebrate wins with a distributed team? — Remote Work Prep

Marissa Goldberg

How do you celebrate wins with a distributed team? My team has only 2 overlapping hours, and I’m looking for ways to celebrate our achievements within a small budget.

www.remoteworkprep.com/blog/how-do-you-celebrate-wins-with-a-distributed-team

Organisations and Systems

Hierarchy in Teams: Why It Often Does More Harm Than Good

Pim de Morree

Does hierarchy help teams perform better? Or is that a wrong assumption underlying the management structures of most companies? Let's look at the research.

www.corporate-rebels.com/blog/hierarchy-in-teams-why-it-often-does-more-harm-than-good

The Four Guardrails That Enable Agility

Nick van der Meulen

Defining constraints can help large companies foster both employee autonomy and organizational and strategic alignment.

sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-four-guardrails-that-enable-agility

50+ Case Studies of Self-Managing Organizations

Joost Minnaar

We were challenged to develop case studies on 50+ self-managing companies for the ZeroDX awards. Here’s the lineup of the pioneers we've highlighted...

www.corporate-rebels.com/blog/50-case-studies-of-self-managing-organizations

A New Approach to Knowledge-Sharing Within Organizations

Martin Reeves, Jack Fuller, and Adam Job

There are significant trade-offs inherent in traditional knowledge-sharing tools and mechanisms, such as operating manuals or trainings. The more comprehensive the instructions, the less likely that they’ll be absorbed and understood by employees. The more precise the instructions, the less they allow for customization or employee initiative. And the more rigid the instructions, the less they can evolve as circumstances change. The authors instead propose an approach they call an “evolvable script”

hbr.org/2024/08/a-new-approach-to-knowledge-sharing-within-organizations

Outcomes and Objectives

The Easiest Way to Start Working with OKRs

Christina Wodtke

If you’ve ever found yourself knee-deep in a project and wondering, “What the hell are we really trying to do here?” — well, you’re not alone. Too often, teams find themselves checking off task lis…

eleganthack.com/the-easiest-way-to-start-working-with-okrs

Facilitation and Decision making

Research: How to Delegate Decision-Making Strategically

Hayley Blunden and Mary Steffel

Delegating work can help free up managers’ time and energy while empowering their employees to take on meaningful tasks. Yet, previous research has shown that delegating decision-making can cause employees to feel overly burdened. In a new paper, researchers examine the negative impact that handing over choice responsibility can have on delegator-delegate relationships.

hbr.org/2024/09/research-how-to-delegate-decision-making-strategically

Elevate your workshops: Essential tips for prepping and wrapping up like a pro

Jackie Colburn

As a facilitator, the pressure to deliver high-impact sessions is real, but success hinges on more than just the content you share or the…

jackiecolburn.medium.com/elevate-your-workshops-essential-tips-for-prepping-and-wrapping-up-like-a-pro-013643fb8d78

Other Things

Going Deep on Gamification

Jessica Kerr

a keynote for YOW! London Playing games, we can focus deeply and work really hard and also have a good time. This is what I want out of work, too. Traditional gamification adds points, competition,…

jessitron.com/2024/09/11/going-deep-on-gamification

I’m quite enjoying this trend on TikTok

@beamishmuseum
This is slay #genz #slay #demure #fyp #viral #genzlife #sweet