NORTH STAR INTERVIEW: Business design expert, Jonas Altman, (Founder of Social Fabric, Author of 'Shapers')
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JONAS ALTMAN is a man on a mission. He wants to find and make more ‘Shapers’, people who see work as practice. He also wants to make the world of work more human. As the founder of award-winning design practice Social Fabric, he creates learning experiences to elevate and grow leaders at the world’s boldest organizations like Hyper Island, Second Home, Tate, Google, Quartz. His new book SHAPERS: Reinvent the Way You Work and Change the Future now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook through Wiley.
Tell me about the new book, who's it aimed at, what's it about and why now?
The target audience was aimed at 'shapers' - literally. That's who I labelled the ideal reader when I pitched to the publisher. A shaper is someone who sees work as a practice. Their job is not something they have and work is not necessarily somewhere they go - it's all about the journey. As such, shapers 1) feel a deep connection to what they do and are energised by their work; 2) They find endless ways for creative expression, and; 3) They do something that is larger than themselves.
I started the book 4 years ago knowing that work was broken (both from firsthand experiences and from speaking to many others better positioned than me to know this) and I decided to write about it in a way that helped me make sense of how work suck less. It was personal and a path to self-discovery.
In a nutshell, the book is about reinventing the way you work for the better. And is so doing, you not only alter your future you help rewrite our collective one.
Why is work so terrible and how far are we from fixing it?
Work is not necessarily terrible. For sure for many on this planet, it is dangerous, dull, degrading, and/or dehumanizing, What's terrible is how the industrial-age of was modelled on a false idea of what motivates people and on a mechanistic mindset that is no longer fit for the world we live in today.
We are far from fixing it but there are reassuring signs of easing it.
What’s the biggest issue you want Shapers to fix?
We won't change the system of work until we change ourselves. I want people to roll up their sleeves and do the inner work so that our workplaces celebrate the human spirit instead of quashing it.
Self-management is a chapter in the book - what do people get wrong in this area and what should people be doing instead?
People get lots of things wrong! One is to think of self-management as prescriptive. What works for one company won't' work for another. And if anything the practice is emergent and evolutionary. It's also emotional and many aren't prepared for that.
Work-life balance right now seems like a pipe dream for many. How can people get this balance during the most unsettling time in living memory?
Good question. One answer is to be kind to yourself. Realize that homeschooling, grooming, and zooming all in the same place are challenging no matter who you are. The next thing might be to let go of the idea of 'balance' and think about the 'blend' instead. How will I expend my energy today? What will I give my attention to? These are good questions to ask if you have the autonomy to design your day. And then we have to train - work in intervals, rest, reassess, cultivate support networks, and being honest with ourselves about how we can be, and work, at our best.
Bad bosses. We’ve all had them. How can employees create better bosses? How can bad bosses know and fix themselves?
I don't think employees can create better bosses. They can manage up but bad bosses really need to change themselves. Self-awareness is a good place to start. Selective vulnerability is a good bet too in today's age. But most of all I think it's facing the stark reality that very few managers have what it takes to be great leaders. So we need to rethink our systems of organising altogether.
I loved the Tetris analogy - can you talk through that and why autonomy is so important moving forward?
Well, when you don't have much autonomy it is often about doing things the right way. But more and more in today's innovation economy, it's much about doing the right thing.
Can you explain the OAR principle and how to put it into practice?
Operational Dexterity: this is about designing operations for individuals, teams, and the organisation that are optimised for speed and flexibility. It's about making quick and good decisions. What's helpful here to put into practice is a participatory management style, openness over secrecy so that information can flow where it needs to go, and having a results-oriented work environment.
A Human-centered Approach: this is having the know-how to engage employees first so they can connect with customers in meaningful and imaginative ways. When employees aren't content and don't have the support they need - it's hard for them to give exceptional customer service. This is actually common sense but often hard to implement when companies are at scale or their culture doesn't support it. Companies like IDEO are premised around this idea but many others have to completely re-engineer how they are organised and how they do business.
Relentless: this is raw and applied creativity where taking risks is encouraged and failure is destigmatised. This could be the hardest because failure is so often seen as a bad thing. Companie can work towards creating psychologically safe spaces for workers So the idea here is to get to a point where failure is only bad if you fail to learn from it.
NORTH STAR INTERVIEW: Business design expert, Jonas Altman, (Founder of Social Fabric, Author of 'Shapers')
NORTH STAR INTERVIEW: Business design expert, Jonas Altman, (Founder of Social Fabric, Author of 'Shapers')
NORTH STAR INTERVIEW: Business design expert, Jonas Altman, (Founder of Social Fabric, Author of 'Shapers')
JONAS ALTMAN is a man on a mission. He wants to find and make more ‘Shapers’, people who see work as practice. He also wants to make the world of work more human. As the founder of award-winning design practice Social Fabric, he creates learning experiences to elevate and grow leaders at the world’s boldest organizations like Hyper Island, Second Home, Tate, Google, Quartz. His new book SHAPERS: Reinvent the Way You Work and Change the Future now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook through Wiley.
Tell me about the new book, who's it aimed at, what's it about and why now?
The target audience was aimed at 'shapers' - literally. That's who I labelled the ideal reader when I pitched to the publisher. A shaper is someone who sees work as a practice. Their job is not something they have and work is not necessarily somewhere they go - it's all about the journey. As such, shapers 1) feel a deep connection to what they do and are energised by their work; 2) They find endless ways for creative expression, and; 3) They do something that is larger than themselves.
I started the book 4 years ago knowing that work was broken (both from firsthand experiences and from speaking to many others better positioned than me to know this) and I decided to write about it in a way that helped me make sense of how work suck less. It was personal and a path to self-discovery.
In a nutshell, the book is about reinventing the way you work for the better. And is so doing, you not only alter your future you help rewrite our collective one.
Why is work so terrible and how far are we from fixing it?
Work is not necessarily terrible. For sure for many on this planet, it is dangerous, dull, degrading, and/or dehumanizing, What's terrible is how the industrial-age of was modelled on a false idea of what motivates people and on a mechanistic mindset that is no longer fit for the world we live in today.
We are far from fixing it but there are reassuring signs of easing it.
What’s the biggest issue you want Shapers to fix?
We won't change the system of work until we change ourselves. I want people to roll up their sleeves and do the inner work so that our workplaces celebrate the human spirit instead of quashing it.
Self-management is a chapter in the book - what do people get wrong in this area and what should people be doing instead?
People get lots of things wrong! One is to think of self-management as prescriptive. What works for one company won't' work for another. And if anything the practice is emergent and evolutionary. It's also emotional and many aren't prepared for that.
Work-life balance right now seems like a pipe dream for many. How can people get this balance during the most unsettling time in living memory?
Good question. One answer is to be kind to yourself. Realize that homeschooling, grooming, and zooming all in the same place are challenging no matter who you are. The next thing might be to let go of the idea of 'balance' and think about the 'blend' instead. How will I expend my energy today? What will I give my attention to? These are good questions to ask if you have the autonomy to design your day. And then we have to train - work in intervals, rest, reassess, cultivate support networks, and being honest with ourselves about how we can be, and work, at our best.
Bad bosses. We’ve all had them. How can employees create better bosses? How can bad bosses know and fix themselves?
I don't think employees can create better bosses. They can manage up but bad bosses really need to change themselves. Self-awareness is a good place to start. Selective vulnerability is a good bet too in today's age. But most of all I think it's facing the stark reality that very few managers have what it takes to be great leaders. So we need to rethink our systems of organising altogether.
I loved the Tetris analogy - can you talk through that and why autonomy is so important moving forward?
Well, when you don't have much autonomy it is often about doing things the right way. But more and more in today's innovation economy, it's much about doing the right thing.
Can you explain the OAR principle and how to put it into practice?
Operational Dexterity: this is about designing operations for individuals, teams, and the organisation that are optimised for speed and flexibility. It's about making quick and good decisions. What's helpful here to put into practice is a participatory management style, openness over secrecy so that information can flow where it needs to go, and having a results-oriented work environment.
A Human-centered Approach: this is having the know-how to engage employees first so they can connect with customers in meaningful and imaginative ways. When employees aren't content and don't have the support they need - it's hard for them to give exceptional customer service. This is actually common sense but often hard to implement when companies are at scale or their culture doesn't support it. Companies like IDEO are premised around this idea but many others have to completely re-engineer how they are organised and how they do business.
Relentless: this is raw and applied creativity where taking risks is encouraged and failure is destigmatised. This could be the hardest because failure is so often seen as a bad thing. Companie can work towards creating psychologically safe spaces for workers So the idea here is to get to a point where failure is only bad if you fail to learn from it.
‘Shapers’ is available now on Amazon
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