More autonomy, better alignment, radical results 📘
More autonomy, better alignment, radical results 📘
Progress on my next book and the Unblock retreat
Hi there 👋🏻 Six weeks ago, I received startling feedback from one of my beta readers that made me realize I had to refocus and pivot my upcoming book. Since then, I’ve been heads down to make it happen—write, write, write, everywhere, anytime, from the bustling streets of Barcelona to the tranquility of the 12-hour train ride back home. After some client work across the south of Europe, I have completed enough chapters to re-open beta reading.
The book is now structured into six domains that can be unblocked for a radically better impact:
Strategy: Clarity on the ultimate goal, strategy, and priorities.
Steering: Steer and adapt continuously by following outcomes and metrics.
Meetings: An operating rhythm of carefully designed and facilitated meetings will create a heartbeat of progress.
Decisions: Adopt methods for better decision-making to move faster.
Ownership: Provide explicit mandates so people can take ownership.
Teamwork: Ways to increase psychological safety and habituate continuous improvement and -feedback.
To accelerate results, I offer practical ways to achieve aligned autonomy:
Alignment: everyone knows the company’s priorities and, based on their expertise and responsibility, what they can do to contribute to the broader ambition.
Autonomy: people have the freedom to self-organize and have the authority to decide for themselves what to do and how they will work.
Aligned autonomy has always been central to my work and is applied by some of the world's fastest, most innovative companies, regardless of their industry or geography, including Haier, a Chinese appliance manufacturer, Formula 1 racing teams, and software companies like Spotify and Google.
Reader feedback
😳 I'm humbled by the compliments I received from three beta readers after they read the book. 🙏
“I love the many anecdotes/stories as they bring past experiences to life. This book provides many great lessons. It is well-written, and I never got bored." - Mike O'Riordan
“It's a lovely blend of innovative theory and practical techniques. The stories in each chapter bring to life the concepts in a relatable way, while the tools provide enough detail that the reader can put it into practice. I appreciate that this book pulls together many different techniques as a resource for regular use.” - Megan Bowles
“Brilliant… provides leaders with a practical tool kit to help Unblock the challenges that holds most teams back.” - Nick Andrews
It won’t be long until I’ll start taking pre-orders.
Can’t wait? Reach out to me if you’d like to be a beta reader.
Applying the book at Unblock’s retreat
Photo: me with Koen de Boer, taken by Nelia Booden (Unblock’s co-founders).
We just completed our Unblock retreat. Twice a year, we take a break from client work to work on ourselves. We moved into an inspiring location to reflect, have deep conversations, and have fun. 🏓🥂
We used several of the practices in the book to guide our process — we eat our own dog food and practice what we preach:
🤝 ICBD
Intentions: What is your intention for being at this retreat?
Concerns: What worries you about retreat?
Boundaries: What boundaries or requests do you have?
Dreams: What might happen if it goes amazingly well?
Knowing all of this, what agreements should we make for retreat?
💫 Retrospective
We used the six thinking hats of DeBono to reflect on these questions:
In the last 90 days, What went well? What could have been better?
In order to energize Unblock's purpose in the next 12 months, what is essential for us?
🎯 90-Day Outcomes
In the next 90 days, what will we complete?
⚖️ Strategic Trade-offs
What even-over statements will help us achieve our goals?
Our Strategic Trade-Offs
"The essence of strategy is choosing what NOT to do." - Michael Porter
We can't have it all. At least not all at once. Reflecting on the last period, we discovered that we are great at starting things but don't always finish what we start. We also discovered that we sometimes lose momentum because we passionately try to resolve our diverse opinions.
That's why we've picked these even-over statements for the next 90 days. They are simple heuristics that help nudge our day-to-day behavior and work.
🚀 That’s it for this edition. I hope you enjoyed it! If you’d like to connect, simply hit ‘reply.’