Weekly Impact Brief (2023.Sep.24)
The Geek Way; Radical innovation; Taking breaks; Outdated management models; Workplace trust; and How to learn.
Note: We are in private beta. There are rough edges; this Brief will evolve in the coming weeks before we launch more broadly. We value your feedback! To share your input, click here.
Read time: 2.5 min
Welcome
It’s great to have you here!
This Brief offers leaders quick, fact-driven insights on trending articles released in the last week around leadership, innovation, and more. These are curated from top sources, such as McKinsey, Harvard, and many others, looking at elements of the Impactful Framework.
In case you missed the last Impact Briefs, here are the links for the previous two: Sep 17th and Sep 10th.
Thought Starter
Last week, we covered the element of “Teamwork”; this week, we cover “Processes”. Process Optimisation encapsulates the strategies, practices, and techniques that organisations employ to enhance their operational efficiency and drive peak performance.
Highlights
Harvard Business Review: How the Geeks Rewrote the Rules of Management
MIT Sloan Management Review: Unleash the Unexpected for Radical Innovation
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania: What Our Brain Activity Reveals About Improving Workplace Culture
London School of Economics and Political Sciences: When New Technologies Invalidate Management Theories
Cognizant: How To Create A Workplace That Thrives On Trust
[Feature] Accenture: Brain Hacks To Facilitate Learning
Impact Pulse
Each week, we review 200+ articles from 50+ premier academic and consulting firm sources to highlight a few “essentials” below.
How the Geeks Rewrote the Rules of Management
The "Geek Way" drives cultural evolution with rapid adaptation and improvement based on transformative norms, such as evidence-based decision-making, iteration, speed, and vulnerability, with insights from giants like Apple, Microsoft and Netflix.
Quick Quote: “A "geek" isn't necessarily someone who writes code but rather anyone who gets "obsessed with a hard problem" and is open to solutions that might be seen as unconventional… Reed Hastings at Netflix, for instance, created a corporate culture where people can speak up, even if it means correcting the CEO… Not all tech companies or startups live by the Geek Way, but those that do tend to outperform their peers in execution, agility, and innovation… In its early days, Netflix's leaders were explicit that they wanted the company's decisions to be 70% data-driven and 30% judgment-driven… Satya Nadella [...] wanted to shift the company from a ‘know-it-all’ culture to a ‘learn-it-all’ culture.”
Unleash the Unexpected for Radical Innovation
Strong internal networks and in-house R&D employing proactive discovery and wide-eyed incubation foster greater radical innovation success than solely relying on external sources; embracing unexpected breakthroughs and cultivating them through discovery and incubation enhances innovative potential.
Quick Quote: "One might imagine that unanticipated radicalness would be a mixed blessing... this does not seem to be true. While our data affirms that more radical projects are generally harder to implement, if the radicalness emerges as project development progresses... it seems to be less difficult to implement than expected."
What Our Brain Activity Reveals About Improving Workplace Culture
Targeted strategies are needed to improve workplace culture and productivity as real-time brain activity in employees during work revealed that: breaks between meetings enhance creative thinking and reduce stress, workplace relationships mirror brain synchrony similar to friendships, and internal messaging resonates more with engaged employees.
Quick Quote: “This study makes plain that taking breaks improves physiological indicators of better performance, including reduced stress, less distraction, and deeper, creative thinking.”
When New Technologies Invalidate Management Theories
Technological advances like digital platforms and generative AI challenge established management models and reshape our understanding of transaction costs and human decision-making.
Quick Quote: “By drastically reducing transaction costs and providing a way to establish trust between strangers, a series of technological developments has led to a rebuttal of the conclusions of three Economics Nobel Prize winners.”
How To Create A Workplace That Thrives On Trust
Building trust in diverse workplaces is essential for inclusion, innovation, and optimal performance; it requires active efforts from leaders, inclusive meeting practices, small gestures of affirmation, and programs that support mental health and allyship.
Quick Quote: "Trust is at the heart of an inclusive—and high-performing—workplace; by actively nurturing it, business leaders can turn their work culture into a powerful and distinctive competitive advantage, where people feel safe to contribute—and be their most productive and creative selves."
Featured Summary
Below are our featured insights for the week; a series of Accenture videos highlighting 10 brain hacks to facilitate learning.
Brain Hacks To Facilitate Learning
Employ 10 Brain Hacks to enhance learning.
For example: "When we reflect on lessons learned for just 15 minutes a day, after 1 day we perform 23 times better than someone who hasn't reflected."
Lighter Side
As usual, let's end on a light note!
Here’s today’s cartoon.
Have a clever caption for today's cartoon?
Share it with us, and we might feature it on LinkedIn, Twitter, or in an upcoming Brief!
Parting Thoughts
Thank you for spending your precious time with us.
We are still in early “beta” mode for the coming weeks. If you find this Brief useful, please forward it now to share it far and wide!
Please feel free to reach out with any thoughts or questions that today’s insights might have sparked.
Impactfully yours,
Ali Monadjem (LinkedIn profile)
For The Impactful Executive Team
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