Category Archives: G. Audio File

111 – Noble purpose

Lisa Earle McLeod

Today I am joined by author Lisa Earle McLeod who has written two books in the last few years on ‘noble purpose.’ Much of her early career was spent in the sales department of a large firm, but in 2001 Lisa started her own company, McLeod & More. In this episode, we discuss the key ideas around the Noble Purpose philosophy, and how it can help your organization. Spoiler alert: Milton Friedman was wrong when he stated that “there is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game” (Friedman, 1970).

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

References:

McLeod, Lisa Earle, and Elizabeth Lotardo. 2020. Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work that Makes you Proud (2nd edition). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

McLeod, Lisa Earle. 2016. Leading with Noble Purpose: How to Create a Tribe of True Believers. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Friedman, Milton. 1970. “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits.” New York Times Magazine, September 13.

109 – A philosophy of organizations

Today I am joined by a philosopher. Jean-Philippe Deranty is a Professor of Philosophy at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. His research focuses mainly on social issues, particularly those related to work and employment. In this episode, we discuss philosophy in the context of organizations and their management.

Jean-Philippe Deranty

One of Jean-Philippe’s papers (“The Organization of Philosophy and a Philosophy of Organizations”) served as the inspiration for this episode. It is a chapter in a live collection: Handbook of Philosophy of Management, Cristina Neesham (ed.), Springer, found at https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-48352-8_32-1

Jean-Philippe also publishes a newsletter related to the centrality of work in our lives (part of a research effort funded by the Australian Research Council), which can be found here.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

References:

Herzog, Lisa. 2018. Reclaiming the System: Moral Responsibility, Divided Labour, and the Role of Organizations in Society. Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press.

Ferreras, Isabelle. 2017. Firms as Political Entities. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press.

Anderson, Elizabeth. 2017. Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and why we don’t talk about it). Princeton, NJ (USA): Princeton University Press.

Hegel, GWF. 1991. Elements of the Philosophy of Right (trans: Nisbet HB). Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press.

108 – Entrepreneur in Africa

Marek

Marek Zmyslowski

In this episode, I am joined by Marek Zmyslowski, author of the book, Chasing Black Unicorns: How Building the Amazon of Africa Put Me on Interpol’s Most Wanted List (2019). Marek is a Polish-born entrepreneur and executive, focused on online businesses in frontier and emerging markets. He co-founded Jumia Travel – Africa’s Biggest Hotel Booking Portal listed on NYSE as part of Jumia Group and HotelOnline.co – a Travel Technology Company. In 2014, he was chosen as one of the Ten Most Important People in Tech by IT News Africa Magazine. He is a Lead Mentor at Google’s Launchpad and the World Bank’s XL Africa Program.

In 2012, Marek found himself in Africa — initially to start a venture for Rocket Internet. We discuss his experience in various start-up ventures on the African continent since those early days. Marek writes that his goal in life is to leave the world in slightly better shape than it was when he arrived. He now lives in Cape Town, South Africa. You can connect with Marek on his personal website or on the website for his book.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

Reference:

Zmyslowski, Marek. 2019. Chasing Black Unicorns: How Building the Amazon of Africa Put Me on Interpol’s Most Wanted List. Warsaw, Poland: Agora Publishing House.

107 – Great leaders create great workplaces

David Veech

In this episode, I am joined by David Veech, author of the book, Leadersights: Creating Great Leaders Who Create Great Workplaces (2017). David teaches leaders how to love, learn, and let go. He thinks that work should be fun, exciting, and challenging, but most of all, it should be meaningful. We discuss how great leaders create great workplaces.

You can contact David at his website (Leadersights.com), or on LinkedIn. You can access some free resources that David has provided to our listeners here. A copy of David’s book (discussed on the podcast) can be purchased here.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

References:

Veech, David. 2017. Leadersights: Creating Great Leaders Who Create Great Workplaces. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis Group.

Veech, David, and Damodaraswamy, Parthi. 2011. The C4 Process: Four Vital Steps to Better Work. Louisville, KY: Business Innovation Press.

106 – Big projects in complex environments

Bob Prieto

In this episode, I interview Bob Prieto, a senior executive at Strategic Program Management LLC, where he is Chairman & CEO. Bob focuses on achieving capital efficiency in large engineering and construction programs and organizations. He is the author of nine books, including the one we will be discussing today, Theory of Management of Large Complex Projects (2015). He is a member of the National Academy of Construction, ASCE Industry Leaders Council, and a Fellow of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA).

The Project Management Body of Knowledge (or PMBOK) from the Project Management Institute, has set the Global Standard for the practice of management in projects. As noted in its introduction, the PMBOK is expected to be applicable “to most projects most of the time.” Today’s guest argues that the theory underlying the PMBOK (and like-minded guides) often fails to deliver success in large complex projects. In such projects, the project boundary appears more permeable to outside flows, such as stakeholder demands, macro-economic downturns, or risk accumulation over long time frames. These flows can introduce uncertainties that often go unmitigated, making failures in budgeting, or scheduling more likely. The episode also indicates that failures are likely when a project’s objectives or expected outcomes are poorly defined from the start.

Reach out to Bob Prieto on LinkedIn, or through email at [email protected] to follow up on this topic.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

Reference:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299980338_Theory_of_Management_of_Large_Complex_Projects

105 – Fundraising for nonprofits

Martin Leifeld

Today I am joined by Martin Leifeld, author of the book, Five Minutes for Fundraising. Martin directed the raising of over $500 million dollars during his 24 years of fundraising leadership in the St. Louis region. Martin’s book is a collection of expert advice from gifted fundraisers.

Visit Martin’s website for videos, free downloads, and other information about nonprofit fundraising.

Martin Leifeld’s book

104 – The Regenerative Business

Carol Sanford

In this episode, I welcome another guest author, Carol Sanford, to discuss her book, The Regenerative Business: Redesign Work, Cultivate Human Potential, Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes (2017). For four decades, Carol has worked with great leaders of successful businesses such as Google, DuPont, Intel, P&G, and Seventh Generation, educating them to develop their people and ensure a continuous stream of innovation that continually delivers extraordinary results. Besides The Regenerative Business (the book), we touch on Carol’s four other books in the podcast, which are all referenced below.

You can connect with Carol at her website (CarolSanford.com). She also hosts two podcast series, Business Second Opinion, and Regenerative Business, both of which you should check out.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

References:

Sanford, Carol. 2017. The Regenerative Business: Redesign Work, Cultivate Human Potential, Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes. Boston & London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Sanford, C. 2020. The Regenerative Life: Transform Any Life, Our Society, and Your Destiny. (pre-release).

Sanford, C. and O’Loughlin, S. 2018. No More Feedback: Cultivate Consciousness at Work. Edmonds, WA: InterOctave.

Sanford, C. 2014. The Responsible Entrepreneur: Four Game-Changing Archetypes for Founders, Leaders, and Impact Investors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Sanford, C. 2011. The Responsible Business: Reimagining Sustainability and Success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

103 – Adopting a collaborative stance

Paul Skinner

In this episode, I welcome a guest author from the UK to the podcast. Paul Skinner is the author of Collaborative Advantage: How collaboration beats competition as a strategy for success. Paul believes that collaboration is a worthwhile stance because most value is necessarily created by the customer (and other stakeholders), and co-creation of value with others can provide a winning strategy and a new path to organizational growth.

In addition to writing and speaking about Collaborative Advantage, Paul is the founder of the Agency of the Future, which helps clients create collaborative advantage to drive their own organizational success. He is also the founder of the social enterprise Pimp My Cause, which brings together marketers and good causes to create transformational pro bono projects for social good. In his book, Paul presents Collaborative Advantage as a radical alternative to the conventional goal of competitive advantage. Join this episode to gain an overview of Paul’s fascinating book.

You can connect with Paul on LinkedIn, or at the Agency of the Future (www.theaof.com) or Pimp My Cause (www.pimpmycause.org).

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.

Reference:

Skinner, Paul. 2018. Collaborative Advantage: How collaboration beats competition as a strategy for success. London, UK: Robinson – an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group.

102 – Managing the next 10,000 years

Today’s episode is called “Managing the Next 10,000 years.” That could be a tall order, since managing the next 10 years will be challenging due to expected global climate disruptions, but stay with me and you may be intrigued.

Civilization began the last 10,000 years in its pre-history phase, as humans, living in small bands, were still emerging from the last ice age (at its peak about 20,000 years ago) as the climate warmed. Ten thousand years ago the oceans were about 130-140 feet lower than today, and scientists tell us that the last land bridge between Europe and Great Britain was submerged only about 10,200 years ago to become marshland (and later, the English Channel).

It is worth noting that it was about 10-12,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Neolithic Revolution that the practice of management could be said to have started. The ‘managers’ loosely involved in the Neolithic Revolution could be thought of as the first early managers, although they may not have recognized themselves as such at the time. If we broadly define management as the practice of (1) organizing a group around one or more ideas, (2) acting on the idea(s) as a community or group, (3) reviewing the results, and (4) repeating steps 1-3, the Neolithic Revolution constituted some of the earliest efforts to do just that on a significant scale.

The Neolithic Revolution was the first historically verified agricultural revolution, resulting in the domestication of several types of cereal grains (e.g., barley, wheat, rice, millet) and livestock (e.g., goats, cows, water buffalos, chickens, horses) by about 8,000 years ago. It made settled agriculture possible. The first monarchies arose during this period in Sumeria (ancient Mesopotamia) and ancient Egypt. To put that in context, it was only about 5,500 years ago that wheeled vehicles began to appear (Bronze Age technology), along with canals and sailboats. Recorded history only started about 5,000 years ago in the form of Sumerian Cuneiform script on clay tablets. Unfortunately, we don’t have much reading material to inform us about these early events.

Capitalism came much later — in the 17th century — when merchants took the first steps to convert their excess capital into early factory production technology, and the industrial revolution was born. New sources of power (water, steam, electric, and internal combustion engines, in turn) served to automate manual labor and improve productivity through the early part of the 20th century. Additionally, new technologies were used to improve the productivity of factories and farms.

So, what was management all about in its first 10,000 years? In thinking about this, keep in mind that management practice is part of a society’s culture, and it utilizes widely understood methods. Frederic Laloux, in his book “Reinventing Organizations,” notes that early organizations were either largely tribe-like (his code red), or hierarchical and command-driven (code amber) — such as the Roman Empire or the Catholic Church. More recent organizations have tended to be financially-focused and machine-like (code orange), beginning with the early factories and continuing in today’s large corporations.

Whether it was organizing large irrigation systems (5,000 years ago), building the pyramids (4,500 years ago), Roman aqueducts (2000 years ago), or today’s corporations, the predominant idea of management has been to convert inputs (e.g., manpower and other resources) into outputs (e.g., completed works or activities) in a relatively efficient manner, consistent with the technology of the day.  The desired result was a completed construction project, a well-run irrigation system, or a successful corporation. On its face, the first 10,000 of management was about accomplishing tangible and visible activities under direct management control. That still hasn’t changed.

My purpose in this episode is not to recount history, however, but to consider what we need (going forward) to ensure successful management of the future. In the time we have left in this episode, let’s consider what is needed to successfully manage the next 10,000 years.

Let me suggest a context that is likely to be true going forward:

  • First, organizations (collectively) will manage the next 10,000 years. Only organizations (business, government and non-profit) have enough resources, power, and control to do the job.
  • Second, organizations will be nested and intertwined with other systems, large and small. For instance, organizations contain individuals, yet each individual exists within a family, a family exists within a neighborhood, a neighborhood exists within a community, a community exists within a state and nation, and a nation exists within a global community of nations. Instability within one of these layers often affects the others in various ways.
  • Third, management practice (by its nature) is socially constructed and is subject to change. Broadly speaking, management is part of the cultural tapestry of society, and culture has enabled human learning and advancement over the centuries. In short, Homo sapiens have been able to dominate their environment by building up successive layers of culture. The mammal with an advanced culture now dominates the landscape. That same mammal is now managing its environment.

Given the above context, can mankind successfully navigate the next 10,000 years and create a sustainable future? Maybe, but it is important to acknowledge that today’s dominant management paradigm (let’s call it “unconscious capitalism”) has created the world we now live in, and that world seems to be spinning out of control.

The science of cybernetics, which deals with systems and their control, offers some instruction as to why the world seems to be spinning precariously. The first law of cybernetics (Ashby’s law of requisite variety) states that “if a system is to be stable, the number of states of its control mechanism must be greater than or equal to the number of states in the system being controlled.” Considering the constellation of global systems, with new technologies ever-increasing the variety of states in the system, today’s control mechanisms are unable to keep pace.

Two clear paths appear to be available to stabilize our world and bring it under intentional management control. The first possibility involves the expansion of the regulatory role of the government to provide greater control over organizations. We could point to some heavy-handed or authoritarian regimes around the world attempting to follow this path. Yet that path is generally unavailable to free societies.

A second path is available and is more congenial to open and democratic administrations. It involves instilling a culture of self-regulation and self-management within each organization in the system so that while going about its activities, it confines itself to the use of positive, higher-order values that accrue benefits to both the organization itself and the greater common good. You may be familiar with the movement called “conscious capitalism.” In a similar vein, this is what Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness is all about. Regular listeners to this podcast will be familiar with this new approach.

Using Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness, the task is no longer limited to converting inputs to outputs using objectives specified by management. Rather, the task is to convert inputs into meaningful outcomes within the environment. It is achieved by converting inputs to outputs (on the supply side), while also converting outputs to outcomes (on the demand side). Instead of responding to the arbitrary financial mandates of top management, each organization is reoriented to positively serve the needs of its environment, where customers and other stakeholders live. In this scenario, effectiveness is verified by observing the exchange of benefits between the organization and its environment. First-principles indicate that the exchange of positive outcome-level benefits is necessary for an organization to survive and thrive (and benefit the common good).

Within the context of Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness, the goal of every organization is the same, that is, to be effective within its environment while improving the whole. This goes beyond the management of visible activities under direct management control (as in the past) to encompass meaningful outcomes that occur in the environment, yet outside of management’s direct control.

It is only with the achievement of meaningful outcomes in the environment that we can be sure that the organization will survive and thrive while improving its surrounding environment over time. We could call this new paradigm “positive capitalism” because it seeks to eliminate the negative aspects of today’s capitalism. Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness provides a kind of embedded self-regulation and self-management that, when practiced widely, could keep the world from spinning out of control, and help manage the next 10,000 years successfully. I would argue that every organization has a choice to make going forward, either to be part of the problem or part of the solution.

For more information on how to reorient your organization for the next 10,000 years, pick up a copy of my 2017 book, entitled: Become Truly Great: Serve the Common Good through Management by Positive Organizational Effectiveness.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D. (email: [email protected])

101 – When bureaucracy was an innovation

Bureau with compartments (as in Bureaucracy)

Bureaucracy was an innovation in the mid-1800s, as the world changed from a traditional society to one driven by a new sense of rational-legalism, largely driven by the Protestant ethic. Max Weber, a German sociologist, described the times in his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904, in German; 1930, English translation). Weber notes that it was a change in thinking that led to this new world. Today, the field of management again faces the need for a fresh approach if the world is to solve its current set of challenges.

Charles G. Chandler, Ph.D.