1. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
New Ways of Working for
the 21st Century
HR Innovation & Strategy Meeting, October 2016
Professor Julian Birkinshaw
London Business School
2. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
A Changing World
New Ways of Working
Implications for Leadership
and Management
3. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
How do you rate the honesty of the
following professions?
Medical doctors
Police officers
Clergy
Journalists
Bankers
Lawyers
Business executives
Car salespeople
67%
56%
45%
27%
25%
21%
17%
8%
2015 Gallup Survey
5. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Who are you happiest with?
Friends
Parents/relatives
Spouse
My children
Co-workers
Clients/customers
Alone
Boss
3.3
3.0
2.8
2.7
2.6
2.4
2.2
2.0
(Rating is on a 1-5 scale)
7. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Types of innovation
Product innovation
Technology innovation
Process innovation
Business model innovation
Management innovation
Service innovation
8. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Changes in how we work are vital to
productivity improvement
0
2
4
6
8
High
investment in
Information
Technology
Low
investment in
Information
Technology
Traditional workplace
practices
Innovative workplace
practices
Annual productivity
growth in 1990s for
US manufacturers
Source: Arnal, Ok, Torres 2001
9. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Shifting basis of competitive advantage
INDUSTRIAL AGE: 1860s-1960s
INFORMATION AGE: 1970s–2020s
10. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Ray Kurzweil: Accelerating Returns
“Information-based technologies will encompass all human
knowledge and proficiency, ultimately including pattern-
recognition powers, problem-solving skills, and emotional
and moral intelligence of the human brain itself.”
11. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
The dark side of big data
Analysis Paralysis
Blind Faith in Data
Answers in search of
Questions
Loss of Contextual
Understanding
Loss of Differentiation
12. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
INFORMATION
+
KNOWLEDGE
ACTION
+
CONVICTION
LABOUR + CAPITAL
Towards an “agile age”?
13. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
A Changing World
New Ways of Working
Implications for Leadership
and Management
14. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
How should we respond to a more
complex operating environment?
• Fight complexity with complexity?
15. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
The downsides of complexity
Turf wars
Unclear roles
Steering committees
Layers of rules & procedures
Alienation and disengagement
Risk aversion and lack of creativity
16. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
How should we respond to a more
complex operating environment?
• Fight complexity with complexity
• Fight complexity with simplicity
20. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Three ways of describing yourself in the
workplace
Your position on the org chart
Your knowledge and experience
What you do on a day to day basis
21. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Three distinct models of organising
Your position on the org chart
Your knowledge and experience
What you do on a day to day basis
Bureaucracy
Meritocracy
Adhocracy
26. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Three distinct models
People motivated by…
Decisions made through…
By Rules
Hierarchy
Extrinsic Rewards
Coordination achieved…
People motivated by…
Decisions made through…
Around Opportunity
Experimentation
Achievement
Coordination achieved…
Bureaucracy
Position is privileged
Adhocracy
Action is privileged
People motivated by…
Decisions made through…
Mutual Adjustment
Logical Argument
Personal Mastery
Coordination achieved…
Meritocracy
Knowledge is privileged
Which models does your organisation use? And
which ones should you be using?
27. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
INDUSTRIAL
AGE
Emphasis on
productivity and
efficiency
BUREAUCRACY
INFORMATION
AGE
Emphasis on
rational analysis
and expertise
MERITOCRACY
‘AGILE’
AGE
Emphasis on
agility, intuition,
and decisiveness
ADHOCRACY
Shifting emphasis over time
28. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
A Changing World
New Ways of Working
Implications for Leadership
and Management
33. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Three waves of innovation in the high
jumping industry
2.55m
2.45m
2.35m
2.25m
2.15m
2.05m
1.95m
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
The Fosbury Flop
The Straddle Jump
The Western Roll
35. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
How to be Unreasonable
(in a reasonable way)
• Think different
• Experiment early
• Locate the safety mat
• Seize the moment
39. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Google’s Project Oxygen
1. Be a good coach
2. Empower your team and don't micromanage
3. Express interest in team members' success and well-being
4. Be productive and results-oriented
5. Be a good communicator and listen to your team
6. Help your employees with career development
7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team
8. Have key technical skills so you can help advise the team.
Adam Bryant, NewYork Times, March 12th 2011
40. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Need for control
Recognition-seeking
Overconfident
Give space to others
Give them recognition
Make careful judgments
Enabling others doesn’t come naturally to
most senior executives
41. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
There is also a tricky linking role when
you are encouraging experimentation
43. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
Knowing when to take charge: the
“strategic inflection points”
SENSE
RESPOND
SCALE
44. Copyright Julian Birkinshaw 2016
BUREAUCRACY
Emphasis on
productivity
and efficiency
Leadership is
about
monitoring and
controlling
MERITOCRACY
Emphasis on
data and
analysis
Leadership is
about
expertise and
information
flow
ADHOCRACY
Emphasis on
flexibility and
decisiveness
Leadership is
setting a
direction,
enabling others,
experimentation