An innovative workshop on radical management

In these three days (March 19-21 in Washington DC), you will discover how to use radical management to thrive in the 21^st Century creative economy and the world of continuous innovation.

If you’re a business leader…

have you ever wondered how your firm could not get beyond merely satisfying your customers and clients, but delight them? And not just once or twice, but consistently day after day, year after year? Have you ever wondered how your firm is going to survive and thrive as the world economy goes through a fundamental phase change—from industrial bureaucracy to a creative economy of continuous innovation?

If you’re an Agile or Scrum coach…

have you ever wondered what it would take to make the entire organization Agile? Have you ever considered how to get your Agile/Scrum teams  the support from top management that they need to be sustainable? Do you know how to powerfully communicate the essence of Agile to senior managers and inspire them to support your teams?

If you’re a public sector manager…

have you ever wondered why you keep facing across-the-board cuts, and keep being asked to watch “do more for less”, only to see this turn into “less for less”? Have you ever wondered how you could break the seemingly unchangeable cycle of cost/benefit tradeoffs?

If you’re an entrepreneur in a startup…

have you ever wondered how you can grow the firm without it succumbing to deadly drag of traditional management and turn the workplace into a dreary grind? Are you concerned that the fun of launching a new business will eventually have to stop and that your dreams will turn into the world you were trying to get away from?

If you’re a middle manager,…

have you ever wondered why your great innovations and improved ways of doing things don’t seem to have any lasting traction? Have you ever wanted to know how to get your bosses on board with what you’re doing and get the whole organization in sync with your innovations, rather than be forced to trim your ideas to fit the bureaucracy?

If you’re a management consultant or executive coach

have you wondered how you could light a fire under your clients and get them to break out of defunct management practices? Have you ever wondered how to inspire your clients to avoid the lethal disease of disruptive innovation and spark their organizations with continuous innovation and high profitability?

Then just imagine...

• Having three days of immersion in highly interactive workshop that not only answered these questions, but also embodied a process of experiential learning that is tailored precisely to the very issues that you want to learn about?
• Having one-on-one conversations with some of the world’s leading experts in the new world of creative economy that is emerging?
• Working on a new game plan with practical actions to respond to your goals, in collaboration with other like-minded innovators, with everyone’s mind on fire, and striking sparks from each other’s thinking?
• Having access to the best ideas in the world about these issues and seeing how they relate to the the best ideas from the finest thinkers, including Peter Drucker, Clayton Christensen, Gary Hamel,  Roger Martin, Ranjay Gulati and many more?

Is this possible?

This workshop is taking place on March 19-21, 2012 in Washington DC. Sign up here now http://radical-management.eventbrite.com/ and/or call Peter Stevens at 240-472-5615 to get more information and a special pricing deal (quote code SD1). Note: Other sessions will take place in April and May.

What the workshop isn’t

Well, let’s be clear.

This workshop isn’t a quick fix.

It isn’t some flaky new idea that hasn’t been tested in actual experience.

It isn’t more of the same old command-and-control management, repackaged under a different label.

It isn’t some vague subjective pie-in-the-sky chimera that can’t be measured.

What this workshop is

It’s a journey in which you learn about how organizations like your own that have figured out how to get continuous innovation, AND deep job satisfaction AND delighted customers, AND do this sustainably, as the permanent way in which the organization runs, ALL AT THE SAME TIME

It’s undergoing set of experiences that involving fundamental rethinking of what it takes to get things done in the tumultuous world of the 21^st Century organization: the world will never look the same again.

It’s a voyage of discovery, in which you will learn and embody a way of thinking, speaking and acting that is radically different from the traditional command-and-control bureaucracy that is pervasive in organizations today.

It’s discovering how to operate in a world of no-tradeoffs: how to get outsized outcomes for the organization along with inspired workers and thrilled customers and stakeholders.

It’s about creating authenticity in the workplace, both for you, for the people you work with and for, and for the people who work for you.

It’s a way of getting in touch with the broader global movement for management change, epitomized in the Agile Manifesto (2001) for software development and the Stoos Gathering (2012) for general management.

The workshop is taking place on March 19-21, 2012 in Washington DC. Sign up here now http://radical-management.eventbrite.com and/or call Peter Stevens at 240-472-5615 to get more information and a special pricing deal (quote code SD1). Note: Other sessions will take place in April and May.

The principles: five fundamental shifts

This radical management workshop explores five fundamental shifts in management principles, each of which is based on many years of research and experience:

• A shift in the firm’s bottom line from maximizing shareholder value to customer delight (in public sector organizations: it’s a shift from outputs to stakeholder outcomes)
• A shift the role of managers from controllers to enablers.
• A shift the coordination of work away from cumbersome bureaucracy (plans, reports, meetings) to agile linking of real work to customer outcomes.
• A shift from solely economic value to the values that will grow your organization: transparency, continuous improvement and sustainability.
• A shift communications from top-down commands to conversation.

A different way of measuring organizational performance

It involves a shift in measuring organizational performance from outputs to outcomes:

• Measuring customer delight on any scale from one customer to a million customers, and using the measurement to enhance organizational results.
• Measuring the goal of individual work teams in terms of customer delight, through user stories
• Measuring the forgotten dimension of organizational performance: time.
• Measuring organizational performance in real time through social media.

Although no single one of these shifts in itself is new, doing all of them together is requires a fundamental change in the way most organizations are led and managed. It’s not rocket science. It’s called radical management.

Because each of the shifts in management principles is reinforced and supported by scores of well-established management practices, the transformation is down-to-earth, practical and doable in your workplace.

Because none of the shifts individually is new, what you will learn is robust, Each is supported by years of experience and research.

How the workshop will unfold

The conduct of the workshop embodies the principles, practices and values that are being taught.
It’s a lively combination of presentation of the principles and practices along with their history and theoretical justification, an exploration of practical examples of the experiences of actual organizations and interactive exercises and conversations that will enhance experiential learning and discovery.

The participants learn from each other as well as from the instructors so that the workshop becomes a voyage of co-creation and mutual learning.

The workshop is designed to inspire learning in the deepest sense, enhancing your capacity to respond with complexity, compassion and authenticity to the daily dilemmas you face.

This workshop is taking place on March 19-21, 2012 in Washington DC. Sign up here now http://radical-management.eventbrite.com/ and/or call Peter Stevens at 240-472-5615 to get more information and a special pricing deal (quote code SD1). Note: Other sessions will take place in April and May.

Who’s giving the workshop?

Steve Denning

Steve Denning is a globally-recognized thought leader in leadership, management and innovation. His book, The Leader's Guide to Radical Management: Re-inventing the Workplace for the 21st Century (Jossey-Bass, 2010 was selected by 800-CE0-READ as one of the best five books on management in 2010.

Steve’s blog on Forbes attracts around half a million page-views per month. Read it here: http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/

Steve’s article, "Rethinking The Organization" was as the Outstanding Article of 2010 in the journal Strategy & Leadership. His article, "Masterclass: The reinvention of management" was selected by the editors of Strategy & Leadership for the Outstanding Paper Award for 2011.
From 1996 to 2000, Steve was the Program Director, Knowledge Management at the World Bank where he spearheaded the organizational knowledge sharing program. In November 2000, Steve Denning was selected as one of the world’s ten Most Admired Knowledge Leaders (Teleos).
Steve has written five other business books, including The Secret Language of Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2007) and The Leader's Guide to Storytelling (Jossey-Bass, 2^nd edition, 2011). He now works with organizations in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia on leadership, innovation, business narrative and most recently, radical management.
Web: www.stevedenning.com

Peter Stevens

Peter Stevens is an independent management trainer, coach, writer and community builder. His focus is on helping organizations thrive in the 21st century. Building on proven frameworks like Scrum, Radical Management, Management 3.0, and Kanban, he provides coaching and training to help you and your team manage and execute effectively while building products which delight your customers.
He writes the Scrum Breakfast blog and has been a regular contributor to the website:  AgileSoftwareDevelopment.com. His popular articles include 10 Contracts for Your Next Agile Software Project and Explaining Story Points to Management.

Peter started his career as a Software Engineer at Microsoft in 1982. He is the initiator of the Swiss Lean Agile Scrum Interest Group and works closely with leading Scrum trainers and coaches in Central Europe. Presently he is on sabbatical in Washington DC supporting the Wikispeed project and spreading the word on Radical Management.

The workshop is taking place on March 19-21, 2012 in Washington DC. Sign up here now http://radical-management.eventbrite.com/ and/or call Peter Stevens at 240-472-5615 to get more information and a special pricing deal (quote code SD1)

What specifically will you learn in this workshop?

Why 20th Century management fails Why today’s business imperatives lie outside the performance envelope of today’s bureaucracy-infused management practices. Why the rate of return on assets and on invested capital is today only a quarter of what it was in 1965 Why the workplace feels like a Dilbert cartoon. Why only one in five workers is fully engaged in his or her work Why executive turnover is accelerating Why the topple of rate of leading firms is accelerating Learn why “efficiency at any cost” went wrong  Why maximizing shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world Why economies of scale contain hidden productivity traps. Why reliance of ROI/NPV ratios is dangerous Why your IT service provider is not delighting you Why “shared value” doesn’t fix capitalism Why “bad profits” can kill your business Why innovation happens “despite” the system, not because of it Why continuous innovation is impossible with traditionalmanagement How traditional management killed manufacturing in the USA Why managers have the most hated jobs in the workplace

Thriving  in the 21st Century creative economy Why the customer is now the boss. Why continuous innovation is the only path to survival Understanding and defeating disruptive innovation Why the difference between goals, results and values is critical Why a firm can have only one goal. Why organizational resilience depends on shifting from an inside-out mindset (“You take what we make”) to an outside-in mindset (“We want to solve your problems”). Learn why and how manufacturing is coming back Learn why every organization is a software organization Why laughter is the acid test of radical management Why leadership is more than getting  to the top. Why little guys beat the giants through disruptive innovation Busting the iron triangle of tradeoffs between firm, workers and customers.  Learn how to draw on the power of pull, rather than push How to get beyond individual management fixes and innovations don’t stick  and get enduring improvement How to run established organizations with the energy of a startup   Why HR is a key driver of the C-Suit

The new bottom line: customer delight How to instill innovation throughout the organization How to give everyone in the firm a clear line of sight to the customer What are the different mental models of innovation and why only one is best How to identify your core customers and stakeholders.. How to get beyond temporary spikes of innovation and inspire sustained gains in productivity. How to stop your brand from unraveling How to craft a compelling goal for any organization, so as to inspire intrinsic motivation. How to meet customers’ unrecognized desires. How to aim for the simplest possible thing that will delight. How to delight more by offering less. How to generate more alternatives for generating delight. Why defer decisions until the last responsible moment. How to avoid mechanistic approaches. Why focus on people, not things. How to give the people doing the work a clear line of sight to the people for whom the work is being done. How to lock in customer loyalty with business platforms How to lock in customer loyalty with new business models. How delighting the customer works in business-to-business situations How to read comparative data on delighting customers: why firms do best Why excellence, beauty and authenticity are making a comeback

The role of managers in creative economy How to create workplaces that enable the full capacities and provide deep job satisfaction How to create self-organizing teams Focus on creating clear lines of sight to the customer and the removing impediments Why individual management “fixes” don’t stick Why treat employees as “assets” or “human resources” fails Acquiring the courage to lead deep change. How to transfer power to the team How make the transfer of power conditional on the team’s accepting responsibility to deliver. How to recognize contributions of the people doing the work. How to make sure that remuneration is perceived as fair. How to focus teams on customers and stakeholders and what is value for them. How to identify the principal performance objective for the primary stakeholders. How to defer decisions as late as responsibly possible How the client participates in deciding priorities How to be clear who speaks for the customer How to provide coaching to encourage good team practices. How to systematically identify and remove impediments to getting work done. Why not to interrupt the team in the course of an iteration. Why the team must work sustainable hours. Why problems must be fixed as soon as they are identified. Why managers must go and see what is happening in the workplace and in the marketplace. How to make the entire organization agile. How to combine disciplined execution with customer delight How to give everyone in the organization a clear line of sight to the customer

Coordinating work without bureaucracy How to make the entire organization agile. How to combine disciplined execution with customer delight How to give everyone in the organization a clear line of sight to the customer How to organize work in short cycles with direct customer feedback. How to make even chunky, seemingly indivisible work amenable to an agile approach. How to systematically deliver value to customers sooner. How to apply a scientific approach to innovation through the thinking of lean startups How to create meaning in work and meaning at work.   How to spell out goals of each iteration before the iteration begins. How to define user stories to define the goal of each iteration Why the user story as the start, not the end, of a conversation. How to keep user stories simple and record them informally. How to display the user stories in the workplace. How to discuss user stories with the client or client proxy. How to find out more about the client’s world. How to know when the story has been fully executed. How to focus on finishing the most important work first. How to ensure that user stories are ready to be worked on. How to let the team decide how to do the work

Instilling the values of radical management Put in place the values to extraordinary firm performance and personal authenticity. Learn how to give voice to your values Learn how to be radically transparent How to reinvigorate the lost spirit of community Why team estimates how much time work will take. Why the team decides how much work to undertake. Why the team’s velocity is important Why the team members stay in contact with each other on a daily basis. Why retrospective reviews at the end of each iteration are key Why informal visual displays of progress are highly desirable. Why impediments should be identified on a daily basis. Why priorities for work must be set at the beginning of each iteration. How to establish a clear line of sight from the team to the client. Why accountability is two-sided Why teams must have the opportunity to excel. How to align the team’s interests with those of the organization.. How to calculate the team’s velocity. How to get to the root causes of problems. How to share rather than enforce improved practices. How to foster the formation of horizontal communities of practice. How to remain systematically open to outside ideas. How to instill the need for continuous improvement

Communications: command to conversation Learn how to trigger your organization’s creativity How to communicate meaning through leadership storytelling Generate broader and deeper connections that are energizing. How to challenge the system and win Understand how electronic and face-to-face meetings interact Learn the new management vocabulary for the 21st Century Show others how to make something of their lives Generate genuine connections in your organization Learn how to use the power of social media How to fix bad managerial habits in yourself and others Why, when everything is urgent, nothing is urgent How to jumpstart the transformation of management Learn how to discover the core of leadership stories within you. How to acquire a leadership voice Learn how to lead conversations that engage Learn how to generate cascades of activity, setting off chain reactions of more conversations Make connections with the Stoos community and other management reform movements

Measuring performance in the creative economy Why it’s still true that only what gets measured gets done How to use analytics creatively How to get beyond traditional ratios (ROI, NPV) Why progress must be measured in terms of value delivered to clients. How NPS can measure client delight and continuous innovation. How to extend NPS (Net Promoters Score) to employees How to understand and use relative and absolute NPS How to avoid the pitfalls of NPS How to decide frequency of using NPS How to interpret NPS results How to embed NPS thinking throughout the organization How to measure time taken to deliver value to customers How to measure client delight at the working team level. How to measure client delight in real time through social media How to deploy user stories to articulate work goals and measure whether goals have been achieved When and how to measure team velocity Why team velocity is important

How the workshop will unfold....

First day morning Orientation and ice-breakers Jumpstart storytelling to introduce each other Remembering customer delight What’s wrong with traditional management Presentation Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations	First day afternoon Principles of radical management Presentation Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations Principle of customer delight Presentation Interactive Exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations
Second day morning Mmanagers: enabler of self-organizing teams Presentation Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations Coordinating work: linking to customer delight Presentation Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations	Second day afternoon From value to values: Presentation Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations Coordinating work: linking to customer delight Presentation nteractive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations
Third day afternoon Application to the participants’ situations Case study Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations Principles of radical implementation Presentation Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations	Third day afternoon Coping with constraints on implementation Case study Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations Linking with other organizations & movements Case study Interactive exercise Participants’ learnings & celebrations

>What you’ll take away from this workshop

• A certificate of recognition and commitment to radical management.
• An autographed copy of The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management
• A copy of Steve’s award-winning articles from Strategy & Leadership: "Rethinking The Organization" (2010) and "Masterclass: The reinvention of management" (2011)
• Advance chapters of Steve’s next book:  “Phase Change: Thriving In The Emerging Creative Economy”
• PDFs of around 1,500 pages of Steve’s articles and commentary
• Skills, techniques and approaches that you can apply in your organization tomorrow
• An action plan for your organization

There are still some spaces left for the workshop on March19-21, 2012.

The smartest thing you can do in the next five minutes?

Sign up here now http://radical-management.eventbrite.com/ and/or call Peter Stevens at 240-472-5615 to get more information and a special pricing deal (quote code SD1)

What other experts say about radical management & the creative economy:

We owe our existence to innovation We owe our prosperity to innovation… We owe our happiness to innovation… We owe our future to innovation… Innovation isn’t a fad—it’s the real deal, the only deal. Our future no less than our past depends on innovation.

Gary Hamel, What Matters Now (2012)

Steve Denning is one of today’s most acute and creative critics of traditional management thinking. You would ignore the ideas at your own peril. He shows how to re-invent management based on a more accurate and effective understanding of how humans work best together.            

Larry Prusak, Working Knowledge (1998)  

Steve Denning goes to the root of the management issues confronting companies today. Focusing on seven core principles, he lays out a pragmatic roadmap for shifting the corporation from a focus on scalable efficiency to a focus on delighting the customer and each other, while achieving even higher levels of productivity. In the process, he creates a space where we all can more fully achieve our potential.
             John Hagel, Co-Chairman, Deloitte Center for the Edge,
             Co-author of The Power of Pull (2010)

I’ve spent the last 35 years of my professional life bushwhacking my way towards what I now know, thanks to Steve Denning, is the nirvana called Radical Management. It is a place where delighting customers is the religion and creativity, passion and learning are revered. Denning’s Radical Management is the antidote to the greatest disease in the workplace today, mental resignation due to lack of purpose. Radical Management should be required reading for anyone entering the work force or looking to reignite their inner bushwhacker!
             Sam Bayer, CEO, b2b2dot0

This workshop is taking place on March 19-21, 2012 in Washington DC. Sign up here now http://radical-management.eventbrite.com/ and/or call Peter Stevens at 240-472-5615 to get more information and a special pricing deal (quote code SD1). Note: Other sessions will take place in April and May.