IBM’s Tom Watson Sr, viewed people as the most important asset of his company. In The Netherlands, Eckart Wintzen’s BSO applied the New Way of Working (NWW) in the eighties.
NWW requires an open-minded, result driven business culture and organizational ethics. Essential is the fact that processes and management style are adapted to this result-driven mentality. NWW is not a goal in itself, but then again neither is controlling people. Why would you control actions of people if you can focus on controlling RESULTS? Would you like your people to be pro-active? You get your people to be pro-active by enabling them to grow and to take responsibility for their actions. Control their results, not their behavior.
A coach challenges people to decide and act, based on an individual’s personal responsibility and consciousness, within clear boundaries.
And that’s also what NWW is all about. The key factor is results. That’s why NWW not only regards profit, it also regards how you spend your resources like money, energy and time, wasted by commuting for example.
I can work virtually anywhere. I like to be measured by financial, social and ecological results. I believe I should challenge people to be more (time) efficient, productive and as a consequence, more happy!
How would you value people that manage themselves, that feel responsible for their projects, that use chat, e-mail, mobile Internet and social networks for their own productivity as well as for the company’s benefit? The place where people work is irrelevant as long as they communicate effectively. You as a manager or leader would get the bird’s eye view and what would you like better than that?
Coach your people for they will grow, show responsibility and they will do whatever it takes to reach their goals -and yours.
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Note: I wrote this 300 word-essay during the FD Career Challenge 2011 that resulted in me being one of the 50 finalists. I was rewarded with a mini-MBA at Nyenrode Business Universiteit.
