Leadermorphosis

Jos de Blok is the founder of Buurtzorg, a home care organisation in the Netherlands with 15,000 nurses and no managers. We talk about how their decentralised, human approach has helped them during the pandemic, why he believes ‘protocolising things’ in organisations does damage, and his advice for leaders and traditional top-down organisations that are embarking on transformation processes. It was an honour to talk to one of my heroes and to hear him speak with such heart. Enjoy! Resources: My interview with the Buurtzorg nurses from the Houten team: https://leadermorphosis.co/ep-26-buurtzorg-and-the-power-of-self-managed-teams-of-nurses More about the book ‘Organizational Innovation by Integrating Simplification: Learning from Buurtzorg Nederland’ https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-11725-6

Michael Bungay Stanier is on a mission to ‘un-weird coaching’ and make it a skill set available to anyone. His books have sold over a million copies and Michael has taught more than 200,000 people. As a big fan of his writing, I wanted to talk to him about why being more ‘coach-like’ is so valuable – both for us and for the people we work with – and how to get better at it. We also discussed what Michael’s learned from handing over the role of CEO at the company he founded, his new book ‘How to Begin’, and why he’s interested in exploring the power of giving away power... Resources: Michael’s website https://www.mbs.works/ Michael’s new book, ‘How to Begin: A Proven Plan to Start Something That Matters’ https://www.mbs.works/how-to-begin/ Michael’s podcast ‘Two Pages with MBS’ https://www.mbs.works/2-pages-podcast/ The book Michael mentions: ‘The Power of Giving Away Power’ by Matthew Barzun

The current models for how we measure things in organisations tend to produce compliance at their best, and dysfunctions at their worst. Andy Brogan has developed an alternative tool called Confirmation Practices that he hopes could one day completely shift how we see regulation, accreditation and accountability in general. Joined by Helen Sanderson, we discuss examples of where Confirmation Practices have made a difference (such as in a pathology service) and why this tool helps ‘put the elephant in the room’. It’s all about going from scorekeeping to sense making. Andy Brogan is the founding partner of Easier Inc, providing consultancy services to a range of clients and sectors and is particularly passionate about the future of public services. Before that he worked in healthcare as a  senior manager in the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK. Helen Sanderson has been on the podcast before and is the founder of Wellbeing Teams, the first self-managed teams in social care to be inspected by the Care Quality Commission (receiving an Outstanding rating in their first inspection in 2019). After three years of being a provider, she and her colleagues now provide support to other organisations who want to use the principles and practices of Wellbeing Teams. Resources: Andy’s websites: www.easierinc.com and www.nextstageradicals.net Helen’s website: www.helensandersonassociates.co.uk The Wellbeing Teams website: www.wellbeingteams.org On Twitter: Andy https://twitter.com/AndyTBrogan Helen https://twitter.com/HelenWBTeam

Margaret Heffernan is an author, speaker, business leader and professor. She has written six books and her TED talks have been seen by more than 12 million people. We talk about the ‘status quo trap’ in organisations, myths about whistleblowers, her thoughts on self-management and learning to embrace tough questions. Finally, she shares why her main focus now is the climate crisis. Follow Margaret on Twitter: @M_Heffernan Resources: Margaret’s website and more information about her latest book Margaret’s Medium post ‘Three problems of power’ Margaret’s brilliant TED talks

Pasteur Byabeza is the lead link of the Student Care Circle at Davis College, a higher learning institution in Rwanda. He is one of the pioneers who has been driving the college’s transition to becoming a self-managed, Holacratic organisation. Though they are early in their journey, taking steps like disbanding the global council and replacing management hierarchies with distributed decision making have already had a huge impact on people’s engagement levels. Pasteur shares what he has learned so far with honesty and contagious passion. Resources: The Davis College website To learn more about Holacracy, you can listen to Leadermorphosis episodes 31 and 32 with Holacracy pioneer Brian Roberston or visit the Holacracy website Other education-related episodes of Leadermorphosis include: Ep. 46 – students from Learnlife talking about a new, self-directed paradigm of learning in the education sector Ep. 16 – Marianne Osorio talking about Sociocracy in schools and more

Bayo Akomolafe is a Nigerian author, professor, chief curator of The Emergence Network and is often known for his poetic and provocative take on big topics such as global crisis and social change. We talk about what he calls 'generative incapacitation' and the kind of leadership that’s needed in these times, how the Covid pandemic is disrupting our norms, embracing failure and allowing ourselves to be lost... and I also posed some questions to him about my worries regarding the reinventing work movement. It's a deep conversation so perhaps listen to this out on a walk! Resources: Bayo’s website A beautiful conversation with Bayo on For The Wild on slowing down for urgent times A video of Bayo being interviewed by friend of the Leadermorphosis podcast Skeena Rathor for Extinction Rebellion ideas exchange (And you can listen to my conversation with Skeena here, Leadermorphosis ep. 47) The conversation with Miki Kashtan I reference (Leadermorphosis ep. 37) The conversation with Margaret Wheatley I reference (Leadermorphosis ep. 33)

“Command authority is a poor basis for life.” Jocelyn Davis is an author, speaker and the former head of R&D at global consultancy The Forum Corporation. We talk about how she weaves together the threads of leadership, Eastern philosophy and dramatic literature. Her insights on group development, leadership as influence, and ‘climate’ in teams are really relevant for those interested in self-managing organisations. Resources: Jocelyn's book The Art of Quiet Influence Jocelyn’s website Jocelyn’s article about 8 traps for leaders in the corporate world Jocelyn on Twitter: @JocelynRDavis

Sam Conniff and Alex Barker’s books ‘Be More Pirate’ and ‘How to Be More Pirate’ have sparked a movement of people around the world who want to shake things up, to create new business models and systems that are better for people and planet. The tagline on their website says: "Being more pirate is a shift in your mindset; a willingness to think differently, to challenge and be challenged, and to stop asking for permission to do what you know is right.” I wanted to talk to Sam and Alex about what we can learn from the golden age of pirates 300 years ago, and to share some examples of organisations that have been inspired to transform. Resources: Be More Pirate website Be More Pirate meetup events (online and in-person) Reinventing Organisations website (about Frederic Laloux's work) How to follow Alex and Sam: Twitter: @AlexandraBarke1 and @SamConniff

Topi Jokinen is one of the founders of a small Finnish company in the construction sector called Vertia. Since 2018, Topi has been leading a transformation in the company based on the idea of self-organising cells to help it grow and develop. He is perhaps the first CEO I have met who has done this level of personal and professional development and he shares with heart and humility what his leadership journey has been. We also talk about Vertia’s radical structures and practices, such as a transparent and collaborative salary model, as well as what Topi has learned about stepping back and letting go as a co-founder and CEO. Resources: The Vertia case study produced by Amara Collaboration Vertia’s website A page about the Advice Process and collaborative decision making from the Reinventing Organisations wiki How to follow Topi: Twitter: @TopiJokinen

Filmmakers Anna Thomson and David Baksh talk to me about Yoghurt Utopia, their documentary about a yoghurt company whose mission is to provide work and accommodation for people living with mental illness in the Catalonia region in Spain. Having spent several years with some of the workers of La Fageda and its inimitable founder, Cristobal Colon, they share what they have learned about this remarkable workplace and what lessons we can learn in terms of diversity, inclusion, and meaning at work. Resources: Link to watch the Yoghurt Utopia documentary (NB: you need to create a free account with Waterbear to access) The trailer for the Yoghurt Utopia documentary The Yoghurt Utopia Facebook page, where you can follow updates about what film festivals it’s featured in, where you can see it etc. Anna Thomson’s article for The Huffington Post about the film ‘Cultivating a worker’s paradise’, article in The Guardian The La Fageda website (in Catalan)