The Ten Commandments That Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations The human factors that make for great places to work
Russell John Connor
The Ten Commandments That Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations First published 2011 by Ecademy Press 48 St Vincent Drive, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 5SJ info@ecademy-press.com www.ecademy-press.com Printed and Bound by Lightning Source in the UK and USA Set in 10 on 13 pt Ariel by Linda Eglite Cover design; Linda Eglite Cover image; Dreamstime 8679863 Printed on acid-free paper from managed forests. This book is printed on demand, so no copies will be remaindered or pulped. ISBN 978-1-907722-23-3 The right of Russell John Connor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentallty to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. Applications for the Copyright holders written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publishers. Copyright Š 2011; Russell John Connor
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I dedicate this to Irene whose love and belief made this book possible.
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The Ten CommandmentsThat Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations
INTRODUCTION Technology has a massive impact on our lives and drives change. In my, hopefully still brief, working life I have experienced the height of jet aviation, grown up in the space age, worked through the digital revolution and entered full speed into the internet era. New style organisations emerge to take advantage of opportunities that technology brings whilst others at least accommodate the changes or become extinct. New styles of management emerge. ‘Call-me Tony’ informality has replaced deference and the ‘uniform’ in many organisations is now tee shirts and trainers. New social trends emerge. Jobs for life are largely a thing of the past and managing careers is on the shoulders of the individual citizen along with other weighty matters such as making sufficient savings for retirement. It would be easy to believe that each transformative technological and social wave heralds in new management principles. In this way, new replaces old and once cherished practices go the same way as the telegraph and fax machine. Yet, despite this whirl of change, there are fundamental principles that remain true today as they did at the dawn of our industrialised era. These principles, commandments even, rest on the fact that whilst technological change is sometimes revolutionary, human nature changes at a more gradual pace. Human beings are social creatures and unlike any others on the planet, are meaning-seeking and meaning-making. 5
The Ten CommandmentsThat Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations
When an appreciation of the complete person is fully embedded in organisations, the commandments expounded in this book become superfluous. However, so often in reality, the chase for the latest gadget or the next dollar means that the human factors that make for great places to work are ignored. I hope that my use of a Christian metaphor doesn’t offend. I have not come down from the business equivalent of Mount Sinai. My learning is not from being a chosen one or from being singled out as a messenger. I am very fortunate to have had great teachers, professors, colleagues and bosses. I have gained my perspective from standing on the shoulders of giants and for that I acknowledge their contribution.
Russell John Connor 2011
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The Ten CommandmentsThat Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Manly Christine Manley David Yeandle
Prof. Norman Dixon Prof. David Guest
Martin Bartholomew
Prof. Gillian Stamp
Mike Harris Bob Orrin Judy Hobrough
Prof. Emmy Van Deurzen-Smith
Thank You
Brian Dive
and also to the people that I have not met but who have inspired me Elliott Jaques
Roger MihályHamilton Csíkszentmihályi
Napoleon Hill
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The Ten CommandmentsThat Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations
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The Ten CommandmentsThat Build Healthy, Successful and Long Lasting Organisations
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 1.
Thou shall keep the strategy alive
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Thou shall not worship false Gods
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Thou shall not share accountabilities
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Thou shall match people to work undertaken
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Thou shall have measures that promote clarity, objectivity and team work
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Thou shall create an organisational climate that builds clarity, trust and purpose
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Thou shall promote social networks
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Thou shall build-in flexibility and ensure that decisions are taken as close to the customer or end-user as possible
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Thou shall have high performance leaders that engage others and embrace change
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Thou shall know thyself
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