Expand the scope of employee autonomy

“Companies must radically reduce the number of permissions that are required to start something new.”

Too many people in organizations feel powerless to initiate change. Rigid policy guidelines, tight spending limits, and a lack of self-directed time limit individual autonomy and undermine the organization’s capacity to renew itself. Companies must redesign management systems so they facilitate local experimentation and bottom-up initiatives.

388 Hacks
917 Stories
5 Barriers

Latest Activity

Democratizing the Corporate Strategy Process at Red Hat

Over the years I've participated in countless strategic planning projects, having spent several years as a management consultant and then as a member of the executive team of several public companies... Read more

Story by Jackie Yeaney on November 10, 2011 8 Comments

Entangled Talents: a 21st century social learning system

In an era when recruiting and training more closely resemble “speed dating” than traditional apprenticeship, world-leading ophthalmic lenses manufacturer Essilor International pioneered the LOFT (... Read more

Story by Frederic on September 3, 2011 13 Comments

How to start a movement in your company - Part 1 - overcoming cynicism, skepticism, and resistance

Editor's Note: This is Part One of a three-part story. Click here for Part Two and Part Three. This is the story of how a team of highly engaged employees executed a large business transformation... Read more

Story by David Choe on February 16, 2011 64 Comments

Innovation Democracy: W.L. Gore's Original Management Model

With Shirley Spence It’s hard to talk about management innovation without tipping your hat to W.L. Gore, the venerable maker of Gore-Tex and a host of other pioneering materials and products as... Read more

Story by Gary Hamel on December 29, 2010 10 Comments

Managing Talent - The P-Ring Way

Managing and Retaining Key Talent has always been a challenge for organizations. With high performance comes an ambition to break free and P-Ring provides a framework to create an enriching... Read more

Hack by Amit Mohapatro on January 10, 2012 0 Comments

Employee directed team for a flexible and consensus based organization model

The biggest challenges for the companies in twentieth century are the very short life cycle of products, services, and even the knowledge. In the mobile industry, the revenue period of a new model of... Read more

Hack by Avijit Saha on December 16, 2011 0 Comments

Finding and Expanding the Organizational Sweet Spot

Increasing innovation and productivity requires finding the organizational sweet spot and expanding it. All firms have a sweet spot— where the formal and informal systems overlap and selt-managenet... Read more

Hack by Charles Ehin on December 4, 2011 3 Comments

Boeing's Workplace Innovation Lab - Engaging 'Generation Y' as a powerful catalyst for productivity and change

Boeing has piloted a bottom-up approach to innovation in leadership, productivity and new ways of working. The Workplace Innovation Lab pairs 'Gen Y' employees with their manager and provides 90 days... Read more

Story by Jonathan Winter on September 19, 2011 4 Comments

Demolish management, and let communities in – Companies and not-for-profits can learn from exchange

This Hack considers two types of entity, the not-for-profit and the modern non-hierarchical company of the innovation economy, and suggests some simple ways that each can learn and adopt from the... Read more

Hack by Cynthia Wallis Barnicoat on May 23, 2011 6 Comments

Equitable Hierarchy? (turn the pyramid on its head)

Taking a leaf out of the recent North African uprisings there is something profound and real about the way leaders are chosen and once chosen how they maintain power and hegemony. I have come across... Read more

Hack by Hans Dieter Schulte on May 4, 2011 0 Comments

Not just an ordinary day at the beach: Organization innovation and employee empowerment at the Bank of New Zealand

The Bank of New Zealand introduces a new business model by upending its management model, and empowering branch managers to think and act like business owners. Read more

Story by Chris Bayliss on August 10, 2010 8 Comments

Organizational Trust 2.0: 42projects

42projects is an initiative across several teams at Microsoft to innovate in the way we manage by focusing on building trust, using games to increase productivity, and encouraging grassroots... Read more

Story by Ross Smith on April 11, 2010 4 Comments