If you don't have time to read this newsletter, I encourage you to do so especially. Taking a moment to stop, zoom out and reflect can be so beneficial when you are always busy. Then new thoughts can emerge. I always call it mental nourishment. Every day we get about 60,000 thoughts into our brain and 90% of them are the same thoughts as the day before. Moreover, various studies show that a large proportion of these thoughts are negative, because our brain is focused on recognition of danger and survival. Reason enough to take control of many of these thoughts yourself.
Letting new thoughts emerge was also one of the reasons for me to write a book about our profession as strategists and facilitators of organizational and team development. The book is entitled OXYGEN got, oxygen for organizations, and describes the 5 keys companies need to get moving with purpose. We also call it 'the 5 keys of change power and of sustainable change".
In the book, I do away with the old-fashioned and outdated, but still common beliefs and practices when it comes to working with vision/mission/strategy and the change and implementation process associated with it. The rational-instrumental, control-oriented way of working to purposefully change organizations has had its day. The mechanical model of organizational change, including the language that accompanies it - implement, leverage, cascade, roll out, turn the knobs, sit at the dashboard, x number of FTEs more or less - is out of date. Employees no longer want it, different leadership is needed and a society that watches, talks and participates. The mechanical approach to organizations has brought much efficiency and prosperity, but also much (human) misery.
In my book, I describe how things can be done differently: a human-centered way of developing and changing, which is much more impactful and sustainable than the mechanical-rational approach. The book is based on insights from practice - we have now been on the road for 22 years with over 1,500 projects for hundreds of clients from almost every conceivable sector - and on valuable insights from psychology, neuroscience and anthropology. Writing the book has made me realize even more what a beautiful and impactful profession we have and what a privilege it is to guide organizations year after year in their development and with their challenges
For a long time I thought about an appropriate title, and it's quite difficult. Because you do want to trigger something, but also be clear in what you are promising to readers. Also not too cliché or too pompous, because we want to stay away from that. OXYGEN it became with the subtitle: 5 keyforces of change. A mix of inspiration and yet nice and concrete. Oxygen is the most important substance to keep our bodies functioning and I thought that was a fitting metaphor for organizations: working with what really keeps an organization alive, helps it develop and move forward. And that's not the spreadsheets or the processes.
So there will soon be plenty to read about this: 160 pages full of knowledge, insights, practical stories and inspiration. A little more patience: the book will be prepared around this time, printed in January and published in early February. And it's fun to reveal that author, columnist, presenter and commentator Jeroen Smit will provide the foreword!
Hilversum, Dec. 18, 2023
Author: Jempi Moens
