Situation Normal, Everything Must Change — The Tutorial

An organisation, whether a business or a government, is a living thing. It comprises a network of people, a mass of different activities, and reserves of capital. It consumes, it produces, it grows and in some cases it dies. Like all organisms, it exists within a number of ecosystems in which it competes and co-operates with others; it’s shaped by and shapes its environment, and hence needs to constantly adapt merely to survive. Also, people come and go, activities change and hence all organisations are in a constant state of flux.

This constant change creates a paradox of innovation, where the two extremes of survival (today and tomorrow) have diametrically opposite concerns, techniques, tactics and methods. The effects of this paradox can be seen in the constant yo-yoing of popular management theories between opposites in a scramble to maintain order. A more effective balance should be found through embracing both goals simultaneously.

This tutorial explores these concepts paying particular attention to:

• Evolution
  • The evolution of business and technology.
  • Why innovation and commoditisation are a virtuous circle.
  • Why you need to continuously change in order to just stand still relative to your competitors.
  • Examining the impacts of cloud computing

• Management
  • Why one size approaches to management rarely works.
  • Why what works for you won’t necessarily work for me.
  • Common mistakes in management.
  • The importance of ecosystems.

• Organisation
  • The history of organisation
  • The path from innovative start-up to dinosaur and why success today can be fatal tomorrow.
  • The importance of destroying your business before others do.
  • How can we solve the innovation paradox and simultaneously encourage efficiency and innovation.

• Gaming
  • The tactical uses of open source.
  • How organisations can game these connections to their own advantage.
  • How to organise around continual change.