You might think that this would lead to utter chaos. But apparently in practice, people not only achieve better results (otherwise they’ll get fired), but they do so on their own terms, so they enjoy their work more, and it seems to be give people incentives to maximize their personal and company effectiveness – because now they own their time.

The team that inspired this change at Best Buy has broken off and formed CultureRx to assist in leading a cultural revolution to spread this highly effective practice.

At the begining of each day, the project team (say 20 people) get together, and in the space of 15 minutes, everyone gives a brief update of what they’re working on and any problems they are encountering – while standing – no sitting allowed. People speak up if they are able to help, but no solutions are offered in the meeting.

Results: Everyone is informed about what others are worked upon, and connections form automatically to bring people together without wasting everyone’s time.

One powerful method Seth missed in his analysis is Open Space Technology.

This weekend, I attended a retreat in Open Space format. The format was developed by Harrison Owen after spending a year organizing a conference, and the feedback he received was, “Nice conference. The speakers were okay, but what we really liked were the coffee breaks.” His solution? To hold a conference comprised entirely of coffee breaks.

From this idea, he developed a powerful style of holding conferences where attendees were responsible for devising and convening sessions at the start of the conference. People then are required to go to sessions they feel drawn to with the understanding that they will leave as soon as they are no longer contributing or receiving any value. The results skyrocketed past anyone’s expectations – a magical environment was created where everyone was engaged.

In a day when effective collaboration is a necessity to justify the cost – Open Space is an alternative I suspect we will be seeing much more of in the future.

Attended a talk this evening at the London Business School by Julian Birkinshaw about the Management Innovation Lab, aka the M-Lab.

Here is a group focused on innovating around management – examining current models of management and creating more effective working environments. So, what’s the secret?

To make matters more challenging, there is no play-book, no set of golden rules for management innovation. But, the research found that there are several vital ingredients that always come together when management innovation happens.

These are:

• A distinctive and novel point of view on the future
• A clearly-articulated problem or challenge that needs resolving
• A core group of heretical thinkers and action takers who push the new idea through the organisation
• A deep understanding of the traditional orthodoxies that need to be overcome

— M-Lab on Management Innovation

The exciting bit is that in a world of intense competition, companies are learning that focusing solely on financial success is not the best way to higher profits. Instead, companies generally earn more by focusing on value to the customers, and creating more fulling work environments where employees have more responsibility and empowerment in deciding how to achieve their objectives.

When I am highly creative, my mood is playful: I am engaged and having fun, exploring ideas to solve the problem at hand.When it comes to business, I have the mental model that work is supposed to be “serious” and “professional” – and I act accordingly. If I accept this model, I limit myself from fully expressing this creative value in my work.

Hidden in this model is belief that I can’t have fun and engage my work in a playful manner, and still act in appropriately for the environment I work in.

I don’t need to put up colorful paintings, meditate on the floor or throw rugby balls around the office in order tap my creative potential. There are other ways to have fun at work.

Just look at these happy people at work…

(via the chief happiness officer)