2054 – The Art of Continuous Steering: Adapting Your Organization for Real-Time Success with Jurriaan Kamer

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1:05With us right now, it's Urien Kamer. Urien, you are the co-founder and transformation coach. You're an organization designer. And you're a speaker at Unblock. And exciting news, you have a book that is just published. It's called Unblock, Clear the Way for Results and Develop a Thriving Organization. Congratulations on the launch of the book. Your website is unblock.works. Jureen, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks so much for having me, Josh. I'm excited too. Absolutely. All right. What's going on in our workplaces and why do we need to do some unblocking? Oh, wow. Don't get me started.

1:51Well, that's why you're here. I know. That's such a broad question. I think it's helpful to start with the everyday frustrations of people in the workplace, right? So imagine you have an amazing idea or you see something that needs to get done or needs to get changed. How do you get that done? How do you get started? How are you able, especially if you're working in the mid or large size organizations, how do you get the permission to change those things? That's not that easy. And I think that is a big missed opportunity for business owners that they're unable often to constantly bring the best ideas from the people that work at their company to life.

2:34I have a sign behind me for those who are watching the video, which is, you know, I tried to be innovative once, but I got stuck in meetings. And that's the reality that what I'm talking about. So what is it about meetings that are antithetical to innovation? so meetings are just a symptom of a bigger problem um meetings are often there because we need to ask for permission uh it's because we don't know who has the authority to decide um we have a lot of meetings because we want to create the perfect plan and analyze the hell out of a thing before trying something so yeah instead of action we go into meetings and i think that's a bit of a disease that many companies are suffering from.

3:16Yeah. All right. So to our friends that are listening, let's take them through like maybe a little mini TED talk if we could. And just give us your platform presentation. Like if you were to share this concept and inspire everyone in the room to your way of thinking of like, this is, listen, this is a pretty high priority for us to address within our workplaces, whether we are in leadership or maybe we're a part of just the organization and we see it and feel it, that stuckness that's going on. So, all right. The floor is yours, sir. Yeah. So you have, as a leader, right? You have an ambition.

4:01You have a specific goal you're after. Maybe you need to transform the company. You want to achieve much better outcomes. but the problem is you have the feeling that your organization is in your way in my book i describe it as the feeling of swimming through peanut butter like everything is sluggish and slow the people that you lead are not taking ownership the people you lead are distracted by all sorts of other priorities and somehow there's not enough focus and clarity on how to get to the outcome that you need. Some of that is caused by the complexity that we face, especially if you have an organization that's over 100 or 200 people, things really become really complex really quickly.

4:44And other than that, it's also the outside world that's complex. So if we deploy our management methods that we learned in business school that are based on the idea of planning and predicting and controlling, that won't work. We have to have management methods that are capable of dealing with the inherent complexity that we have. So how do you do that? First of all, it's important to give the teams and people that you lead a lot of autonomy to act. So the people that are on the ground, they know best how to do their work, and you have to create space for that to happen. And so often we're living in organizations that by default, you cannot do anything until you get permission.

5:25And I invite you to try to flip that around. As a leader, you set guardrails and you You create clarity about what is okay and what is not okay. But other than that, you need to try to create an environment where people can act themselves without a lot of permission seeking. Although the alignment part in that is also important. So in our work, we try to create an environment that has high autonomy, but also high alignment. So it's a balancing act between setting guardrails and to create the environment where people can act autonomously without needing to ask for permission. And when that happens, people are, you know, I have a very people positive view on the world.

6:07Most people are able to deal with complexity if you just let them free and if you allow them to do their job and not get bogged down by rules, bureaucracies and organizational hierarchy. Then the final bit is the thing we need to get really good at as businesses is to steer continuously. So, so many organizations, they are currently in, you know, at the end of the year in annual planning mode. They're trying to put together the budget plan and the plan for next year. And, you know, that's a lot of effort you're putting up front to try to predict something that's going to happen over a year from now.

6:43And it's a bit of a wasted energy. Instead, I recommend ways to constantly figure out, are we going in the right direction? What are we learning about what's happening right now? Are we following the right metrics so we know the things we're doing has an impact? And constantly steer instead of doing this in a planning-based way. Yeah. And I'll pause there for that. Yeah. Yeah. Urien, looking at, by the way, you are a great follow on LinkedIn and something that you were just sharing, I think is just a great analogy. And you talk about reversible decisions. Do you mind maybe, and you know the analogy, right?

7:25Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Do you mind talking about that? Because I think that this is great context and I think it can be very easy. I'll I'll just speak for myself. I think a lot of times when we make decisions, we think that they're tattoos, but when in fact they're really just hats. And for someone who has no clue what I'm talking about, I'll let you describe. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I think decision-making is a really good opportunity to unblock speed and momentum. And there's a couple of ways to think about it. And one of them is indeed distinguishing reversible decisions from irreversible decisions and treating them differently.

8:05And the analogy that you're hinting at is one coined by James Clear. And he says, well, when you think about decisions, there are actually three types of decisions. There are hats. You can buy a hat and you can, maybe if you have the hat and you end up not liking it, you can maybe bring it back and get your money back or you just give it away and buy a new one. You don't have to live with the consequences of that decision for too long. a haircut um is a bit more difficult you know if you get a bad haircut it might be frustrating you might feel silly and ashamed for a while um but you know in two to four weeks your hair grows back and you you can get a different haircut so it's a little bit annoying but you know you don't have to overthink it you don't have to overanalyze all the thousands possible uh haircuts before making decision of getting an actual one um but if you're getting a tattoo that's different right so if you get a tattoo, that's a type of decision that's not easily reversible.

9:02It's painful and costly to reverse if it can be completely reversed at all. So only for tattoo-like decisions, you need to spend the time and energy that we often see in organizations being spent on all decisions, right? So if it's a tattoo, if it's a one-way door, it's another way to think about it. Okay. So really sit down to analyze, create the right decision. But for all other decisions, so often we won't know if it's the right decision until we try something. And we're just so afraid of failing for all sorts of reasons that we'd rather sit in analysis paralysis rather than acting and learning.

9:42And I think we have to really change that. Yeah. Yeah. What about when we are wondering if we've made a poor decision or we've made a decision that, you know, this is not at all what we were hoping? And it's tough, right? Because sometimes I think you get into that sunk cost fallacy. You think, well, look, you know, maybe we need to try a few more things here. We don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. It's a really difficult decision that leaders have to make, sometimes between pulling the plug and continuing to move forward. Any guidelines on that? But yeah, I think one of the reasons that that happens is that we often, when we do make a decision, it's such a big thing that that is very hard to stop.

10:32So instead of imagining we're going to build a new piece of software, instead of making a really small piece of that software and trying to validate it with customers to see if it works, we launched this huge project. And upfront, we make all these requirements and we're going to call it the big software thing for next year. And then it becomes something that's very difficult to stop because now it's something huge and in motion. So we're also not really good at launching small things in businesses. Somehow the budgeting processes and the management structures push us a little bit towards the big things.

11:09and and furthermore um what i also see is a difficult thing is that when something fails we want to we want to kind of step over it as soon as possible uh and and don't and don't talk about it too much right because it's so painful um a lot of a lot of leaders uh uh fail to spend the time to to learn and reflect and uh do the next iteration instead we're just like oh that was that was tough well let's focus on the future and let's move on again which means that that maybe a year from now, they'll make the same mistake or the system, the organizational system will not be resilient to the same problem again.

11:45So. Yeah. All right. So let's talk about your book Unblock. Who needs to buy this book and what is the transformation that will take place when you read Unblock? Again, the subtitle here is Clear the Way for Results and Develop a Thriving organization. Yeah. Yeah. The book really starts with, uh, it's really for leaders with an ambition, a specific goal in mind that they want to achieve. And, uh, when they, when they, when they have discovered that they have organizational challenges to get it done, the book is a practical guide to unblock six different potential areas, which could be problematic.

12:25Um, number one strategy, um, a lot of strategic plans and strategy slide decks are not capable of creating the necessary focus. Steering, I already talked about that, right? The ability to continuously steer and follow outcomes instead of outputs. Decision-making, we spoke about that. Meetings, so often when you're facing meeting overload, if you think, if you kind of put that idea upside down and think, well, what are the meetings that we really need to get to these outcomes and create a rhythm of progress that actually instills learning? Number five is about creating an environment where people naturally are able to take ownership and do the things that they want to do with clear mandates and clear decision rights so people know what they are already allowed to do.

13:17And then finally, the book focuses on teamwork, which is all about building an environment that is psychologically safe and where reflection and giving and receiving feedback is the norm. And if you put all those pieces together, you'll create an organization capable of achieving the results that the leader who bought the book is looking for. Yeah. So the book is available now, as of now, based on when we're recording this. So congratulations on the launch of that. It's available in paperback and Kindle. And then finally, Urien, you work with organizations professionally in a consultancy standpoint.

13:59Do you mind sharing a little bit about the work you do? Yeah, we often work with leadership teams that are trying something new or that are looking for a culture change in their organization. And we work with leaders who acknowledge that some of that change probably needs to come from themselves. ourselves. So we're not working for the leader that is like, oh, you know, what we are doing as leaders is great. We just have to run people or we have to change the culture. No, it starts with acknowledging that maybe our behavior as leaders needs to change. Maybe the ways of working that we have as leaders need to change.

14:32And those are the types of leadership teams that we work with. And we help them guide through these six elements that I just listed and introduce new ways of working that Unblock the organization. Yeah. Your website, unblock.works, to our friend that's listening, and they'd love to have a conversation, obviously go get the book. And then if someone's like, well, no, wait a minute, I think a lot of what you're talking about is something I'd like to, we would like to evaluate in their own organization. So what do they do if that's the case? Well, unblock.works is a great place to start. We work with leaders all across the world.

15:13And yeah, we also have workshops, speeches, and all sorts of things that help you make the next step that's appropriate for your situation. Yeah. All right. Unblock.works. And again, Urien Kamer, it's your organization. Congratulations. You're the author of the new book, Unblock. So congratulations on the book launch. Urien, It's been a great conversation. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me, Josh. It was a fun conversation.

15:47Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from.

16:29I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt-in or email required where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed.

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