How to run a company with almost no rules

The reasons we comply or resist are complex and, as we’re seeing now, developing our understanding of the different factors that affect our level of compliance is critical not only to dealing with the virus in the months ahead but also to success in any change situation.

In a world where agility and pace are critical to survival, the long term winners will be those who can sustainably unleash creative thinking right across the business. In this excellent TED interview Reed Hastings shows how different, often radical models have been adopted at Netflix, models that challenge to the very core some of our beliefs about how businesses can be run.

Knowing the right thing to do is very different from doing the right thing. We can all think of good examples. Change readiness is about giving us (whether individually or as a team) the best chance of having our behaviours more closely match our good intentions.

Rory Sutherland discusses how our perception of things shapes our reality. This is an area of increasing focus for behavioural economics and in business. Understanding how we really behave and how irrational we are means that seemingly small and inexpensive changes can have a disproportionate effect on our behaviour and therefore the outcomes that result from it.

How are your goals for this year shaping up? It’s well documented that organisational change is challenging, with only 30% achieving their stated goals. What’s less well known is that the reason for this is not because people generally resist change…

One of our favourite books on change, whether at a personal level, in organisations or at a global scale. They use a simple and really useful elephant and rider analogy to get across how we all deal with change. Also includes some amazing case studies and useful tips.