Work 4.0 [002]

bringing work back to life

Mathew Lazarus
July 09, 2024

Summer is here, like really here.

Sidewalks are scorching, debates are happening, the travel economy is booming.

And for us, the last two weeks have been fiery in the best kinda ways.

We launched the Work 4.0 podcast, hosted our first IRL Work 4.0 event, and had some EPIC product unlocks (more on that in a few weeks).

At our live pod recording last week, one line that dozens of people were talking about afterwards was “the death of the term change management.”

We get so obsessed with and overwhelmed with changing these days. But, the term doesn’t quite fit.

Of course things are changing. A business is always changing, because life is always changing.

We don’t want to manage change. We want to embrace it, influence the quality of it, AND expand a certain kind of change — an evolution.

A team that isn’t evolving is a team that is eroding.

A business that isn’t evolving is a business that is dying.

Evolution empowerment — that’s the term we started throwing out last week.

That’s the sort of thing we want to be building tools, practices, and systems for together.

We’re excited to keep exploring that idea and many others in our podcast conversations throughout the summer AND our next IRL event (next one in California) in 3 months!

Matt and Marie chatting during the Work 4.0 episode recording.

Aku by @Micah_johnson3. We bring Aku to every MatterMore event.
We love him.

Moments That Matter IRL

Our curated picks for events in NYC this upcoming week.

AWS Summit New York — June 10th
NY Council of Industry Women Meeting — June 10th
Psychedelic Business Mixer – July 11th
Noah Kahan @ MSG — July 15

OrgOS SKILLSHARE

Humanizing: Clip from @SimonSinek

NEWS STORIES FOR LEADERS

LATEST BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

Have you seen Mercer’s 2024 People Risk Report?
The People Risk 2024 report by Mercer is a comprehensive analysis based on insights from over 1,024 HR and risk professionals worldwide.

It identifies and ranks the top 25 people risks that businesses face, categorized into five pillars of risk. The report provides strategies for proactive and predictive people risk management, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between HR and risk professionals to mitigate workforce-related threats and ensure business resilience. It serves as a guide to prioritize and manage critical people risks effectively.

For more detailed information, you can view the full report here.

The Big 25 People Risks in 2024

Most Severe Risk: Ineffective Leadership
_{Ineffective leadership}_{is the top concern among HR and Risk professionals in the US, ranking first as having the biggest impact and considered most likely to occur (RRS #1).}

Top Recommendation: Transform Your Workplace Design
- Get ahead by mapping future skills needs –
  identify how future skills support organizational plans and purpose.
- Foster a culture of continuous skills development – keep employees’ talents relevant and identify opportunities for upskilling.
- Collaborate through enterprise-wide initiatives – promote risk awareness throughout your organization.
- Develop reward and benefits strategies that align with employees’ needs – identify needs and ensure adequate healthcare and savings as well as matching business ambitions and risk mitigation strategies.
- Foster resilience — organizations must broaden the scope of how they define well-being at work and prioritize psychological health alongside physical safety.

A recent study…
Asymmetries of responsibility in self-managing organization: Authoring shared and hierarchical control [June 2024]

Self-managing organizations advocate for increased employee autonomy and responsibility, aiming to dismantle traditional hierarchical structures. This approach is intended to foster a more dynamic and agile work environment, where employees take on leadership roles and are more directly accountable for their work outcomes. However, the study highlights a critical issue: the asymmetries of responsibility that emerge between managers and employees.
Key Insights:
- Self-Management Goals:
  - Aim to increase employee autonomy and responsibility.
  - Reduce traditional hierarchical structures to create more agile and dynamic work environments.
- Asymmetries of Responsibility:
  - Managers:
    - Focus on organizational goals and broader accountability.
    - Concerned with strategic objectives and business outcomes.
  - Employees:
    - Focus on individual tasks and autonomy.
    - Appreciate the freedom to make decisions without micromanagement.
Challenges:
- Conflicting Interests:
  - Managers may struggle with reduced control, feeling a loss of authority.
  - Employees might feel overwhelmed by increased responsibilities without clear guidance, leading to stress and uncertainty.
- Hybrid Structures:
  - Complete elimination of hierarchical control is impractical.
  - Many organizations adopt hybrid structures that combine shared and hierarchical control to address diverse responsibilities and interests.
Practical Implications for Business Leaders:
- Enhance Role Clarity:
  - Clearly define roles and responsibilities to mitigate conflicts and ensure everyone understands their

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: LMNT

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The best part? It tastes like a treat. We always keep our office stocked with the Chile-Mango — highly recommend.

learn more

MATTERMOVERS: 🔥 3 Upgrades for the Future of Work
^{Dr. Shonna Waters & Dr. Erin Eatough |}^{Organizational Physics}

🗝️ Better Conversations → “How do we structure all those things by utilizing conversations that we're upgrading across the workplace so that people have that crucial support and coaching happening through their collaborations within the workplace."

🗝 Curiosity, Openness, + Non-judgement → "So being creative means we have to be curious and open and non-judgmental and so being creative with how we're going to work where we're going to work what kind of skills we're going to develop how we're going to develop those how we're going to create systems that help others to do that."

🗝️ Safe Experimentation → "If you frame something as a pilot people know it's temporary you know that you're going to have clear criteria and a defined period of time to figure out if it works or not."

Erin & Shonna are the co-founders of Fractional Insights.
You can hear the story of their founding on the Organizational Physics episode of Work. 40

LATEST ON THE WORK 4.0 PODCAST

The Work 4.0 Podcast launched two weeks ago! New episodes drop every other Thursday.

You can catch the first four episodes out now wherever you consume your favorite podcasts! Subscribe now to be sure you catch every episode. The latest episode is with Karl Thomsen, SVP of People and Coaching @ Invisible.

Episode 4: Maestro Leadership w/ Karl Thomsen

Our next episode is out soon with Brian Elliot, the founder and executive leader of Future Forum! Subscribe to the podcast today to make sure you catch it when it drops!