About the Book
The song of organisational change goes: 'Ready or not, here I come. You can’t hide...' But is change collapsonomics - everything - or have some things not changed? Managing Value in Organisations argues that traditional business thinking has produced low trust with high cost in increased disengagement: the 100 year old management model still accrues organisational debt, the business model privileges producers, and the learning model pretends individual learning produces collective learning. All are now barriers to development.
Working with five organisations, Donal Carroll reinvents the management model to multiply trust, the business model for more complex customer value, and learning model for significant collective learning. He provides evidence that together, these get organisations to their next stage of development faster. In a climate of perceived increasing uncertainty and 'more for less' it invites organisations to move from default models and choose their models to 'live on purpose'.
This applied business research has many new ideas: value creating research method, three new models, 'techniques' for organisations to self-assess and construct their next stage, as well as 'fecund argument, productive interference, organisational orphans' and 'facing down Facebook '. It invites readers on a risky narrative, testing one idea in five organisations, over one year through two journeys - the organisations’ and writer’s. A different business book, it seeks to capture the 'poetry and plumbing' excitement of management innovation.
Managers at every level, coaches, consultants, business scholars, researchers, anyone seeking sustainable improvement, or who thinks the impossible can't be reached will find something here.
Table of Contents:
Contents: Foreword; Preface; Part I The Background: Introduction: what this book is about and who is it for; The purpose, the organisations, the journey, the start; Context: collapsonomics, change gridlock, more of the same? Or just a bonfire of the certainties?; Research method or inquiry approach: a value-creating method and the research sequence. Part II The Old and New Approaches: The old approach; The new approach. Part III The Application: Applying the new models; What occurred and what we learned; Conclusions and benefits; Free transfer: shaping, pruning, seeding; The journey: gaining an imaginative edge and outtakes; Techniques; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.
About the Author :
Donal Carroll was born in the Republic of Ireland, left school early, did a TV engineering apprenticeship and after graduating as a mature student, his first post was teaching modern poetry at Clare College, Cambridge. He worked for over 20 years as a teacher and manager in Further Education, forming Critical Difference Consultancy in 1998. He has worked with many organisations in all sectors including NEC, Lucas, Ranger Oil, Lufthansa, NHS and over 100 Learning and Skills Providers. He has also worked for 10 years for the Open University Business School on their MBA programme 'Creativity, innovation and change' and is a poet, writer, blogger and tweeter on education and management issues. Throughout his work as a teacher, manager and consultant, he has remained committed to developing critical, creative, independent individuals, teams and organisations.
Review :
Managing Value in Organisations was shortlisted in the Management and Leadership Textbook category of the CMI Management Book of the Year competition 2013. CMI consider the shortlisted and winning books as "Management Gold". 'Managing Value in Organisations is a terrific read. Donal Carroll offers a fresh perspective on organisation change, combining his experience as a consultant with a deep knowledge of theory and an irreverent and iconoclastic style. In Donal's world, there are no simple recipes - change is a journey, it requires experimentation, learning and self-reflection, and it happens most effectively when we are mindful of the tensions and trade-offs we are grappling with. If you are looking to shake up your workplace, this book provides a wealth of ideas and tools to help you.' Julian Birkinshaw, London Business School, UK 'Traditional approaches to the management of change at best produce results too slowly. Carrol offers an approach which enables faster adaptation to today's nasty surprise. Enormously valuable' Richard Chambers, lately Principal, Lambeth College, UK 'Entertaining and informative, this book aimed at "practical visionaries" has major relevance for third sector organisations facing significant challenges. The focus on value creation through integration of the three models of management, learning and business has an intuitive appeal as well as demonstrating its practical application. I found it a seriously entertaining consideration of managing complexity in uncertain times, providing a modern paradigm which challenges traditional management thinking. The use of the models as self improvement tools creates an innovative way of organisations understanding themselves and giving a sense of direction.' Jan Jenkins, Director, Blenheim CDP '...eloquent, witty and jargon-free...' Time Higher Education (THE) 'In this book Donal Carroll explores so many layers of learning, including: his own encyclopaedic knowledge of modern management thinking, the creation of his new learning theory, the testing and development of that theory in real organisations and most of all how learning is the mid-wife to organisational development and productivity. If you're trying to find out how to move your organisation forward then dive in and start to unpeel your own learning onion.' Tim Stranack, Head of Transformation and Project Management, Westminster City Council, UK 'In a world where there are no quick fixes and even the more recent rules and models of management can prove obsolete or impractical when implemented, this book offers a fresh and refreshing approach. It provides a sturdy yet flexible framework for directors and managers to approach business and management strategy and their effective implementation for longer term success.' Ian Dowds, Former Senior Vice President, Specific Media. 'Donal's book is a fascinating journey into how a range of organisations fare through implementing a new agile management model. The model is based on a culture where leaders emerge when needed, where work is structured through self-organising and where overall control is - perhaps counter-intuitively - maintained through greater trust. This is a book about how it is done, not how it might be done. It tracks the changes and key learning points as these companies adopt the new approach. Recommended reading for anybody looking to escape the old ways of management and discover new trust-based approaches for the 21st century.' Henry Stewart, Chief Executive, Happy Ltd
