Hi,
Hope you are safe and well. Today we'll cover; how to Sabotage, and how organisations are already doing this to themselves; editorial content; a new schedule.
You'll notice a new posting schedule of Monday.
Several readers got in touch recently (hit reply - I do respond to every email), to say Wednesday just isn't sitting right with them for this newsletter. I must admit, it doesn't sit right with me either as the writer.
Back to Monday. Monday was where it started. It's where it is now. So, expect to see this every Monday.
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For those new to the Meeting Notes newsletter, welcome, I’m Rob, Chief Sabotage Officer at Cultivated Management.
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Sabotage
I was lost in a Rabbit Hole of internet newsletters and resources, as I tend to do on a Friday evening, and I stumbled across this declassified "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" published by the Office of Strategic Services in 1944.
It was declassified in 2008 and is remarkable reading.
In fact, the sabotage guidance could read like a "Ways of Working" handbook for many companies.
After more research and internet trawling, I also unearthed the ZINE newsletter. Now subscribed. The authors also referenced this Field Manual and pulled out exactly the same sabotage guidance from the manual as I had highlighted. Great minds and all that.
As you read the following, think about your own workplace.
You may recognise many of these as "Business As Usual":
- “Insist on doing everything through 'channels.' Never permit shortcuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions...”
- ROB: Let's also create RAPIDS, decision making guides, RACI matrices and Target Operating Models, and ensure at least one person has the "D" in our org design, but can't use the "D" because other people have strong opinions and outrank them, effectively giving them a sudo "D".
- “Make 'speeches.' Talk as frequently as possible and at great length...”
- ROB: If you've sat the Communication Superpower Course I cover how to close these people down...because yes, they are sabotaging everything.
- “Refer all matters to committees for further study and consideration...”“Attempt to make the committees as large as possible - never less than five...”
- ROB : They do say committees are where good ideas go to die.
- “Haggle over precise wordings of communications...”
- ROB : Everyone's got an opinion. I'd also add here - try to be efficient with all communications. This will indeed miss the purpose and ensure it's not relevant for the audience too. A sure fire way to create misdirection, ill feelings and resentment.
- “Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting...”
- “Advocate ‘caution’ and urge your fellow-conferees to be ‘reasonable’ and avoid haste...”
- ROB : Keep slowing everything down until the regular pace of the business can be matched to that of a sloth.
- “Insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products...”
- ROB : Never ship it. Not until it's just right...at which point it won't be relevant to the marketplace, or our customer's have moved on to something, or someone, else. Apply this to all work, even email responses.
- “To lower morale, and with it production, be pleasant to inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions...”
- “Demand written orders...”
- ROB : Nothing can be done without an email from the boss.
- “Ask endless questions...”
- ROB : Hmmm. Questions do keep the business alive, but only if there are enough of them to seek clarity and alignment, then it's time to close the mind and deliver the outcome.
- “See that three people have to approve everything where one would do...”
- ROB : Oh yes, the Steer-Co, the committee, the team who have no role power...
Many of these recommended sabotage techniques are common in business, particularly Enterprise sized organisation, and are exactly the kinds of things we'd tackle (and solve) if we're Releasing Agility.
These kinds of activities feel like due diligence, but they slow an organisation down. They are indeed how to sabotage - straight from the CIA. And we're doing this to ourselves.
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Releasing Agility Scrapbook
My schtick is Releasing Agility consulting; helping organisation move smoothly and quickly towards their business goals AND cultivating a workplace that enriches the lives of all who work in it.
Release means to set free (you already have epic amounts of agility, you just need to find it...if in doubt where to look, the Sabotage guide above is a good starting place).
Agility means moving quickly towards your goals. It's helpful to know which direction this is in, and what those goals are.
I've been dabbling with doing a book about this for a while, but being honest with you, it's a bit dull to write.
Instead, I've started a scrapbook to collect internet finds, quotes, my own ideas and some structured thoughts to explain what it is to Release Agility, and how I use this model to help businesses get better.
It's an on-going project that I will update when I have a scrap to add. I will share the link to it next week, once I've decided on which platform to use to share it.
In the future I hope to create a very small group of co-scrapbookers to contribute to the project. Feel free to follow along when I share the link, and if it's your kind of thing, get in touch.
This is not about "agile" or "Agile". Far from it. I won't even mention that. So, I'm not looking to create an "agile" playbook. It will be a quirky, irreverent guide for managers and leaders looking to actually solve problems, not implement agile methodologies from the shelf.
I'll share it next week.
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Editorial
- Keeping an eye on each other. An important video on mental health from CALM. I also did a quick post on it here.
- How to make training effective using Activity Theory, and a triangle (I like triangles).
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Support Cultivated Management
This newsletter is a labour of love - if you’d like to support my work please consider:
- Sharing this content with others you feel would get value from it.
- Downloading the free ebook 10 Behaviours of effective employees.
- Buying a copy of Zero to Keynote
- Sitting the online Communication Super Power Workshop to develop your super power in work.
- Upgrading to paid.
It means a lot. Thank you.
Until next time. Have a great week.
Rob..
