There’s another company in Northern California called Sudwerk Brewing, and they put a stake in the ground decided they wanted to become a self-managed enterprise. Their goal is to become “The California Lager” and to carve out a strategic niche market. I’ve been working with them, and they are on a very successful trajectory right now as a self-managed enterprise.
Interest in self-management is bubbling around the world. These are just a couple of quick examples but others are popping up as we speak all across the U.S. and all around the world.
Lisa Williams: This conversation has been enlightening, with millennials being a generation that is exercising its independence more than any other generation. It sounds like owners, CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers should consider weaving the self-management approach into their business if they want to keep highly-qualified people. Would you agree?
Doug Kirkpatrick: I would absolutely agree. Leaders are changing their businesses in response to the challenge from millennials, but whether they’re adopting or will adopt self-management still remains to be seen. It represents a huge opportunity for them to engage those hearts and minds. I hope they do pick up the baton of self-management and run with it because it’s a great opportunity for them. I can tell you that the investment banking industry has been really disrupted right now. There was an article in The Wall Street Journal a few months ago, and millennials are simply not going to remain in that industry for years on end doing trivial work waiting for a big investment deal to come along. They just don’t have the patience for it anymore. That entire industry is finding it needs to shift, and it needs to find ways to gain the hearts and minds of those young people, or they’re just not going to stay more than a year. It’s a big challenge for that industry and others.
And self-management, autonomy, freedom, the ability to build your own relationships, to sculpt your own role, to acquire resources, and to do your best work represents a huge opportunity.
Lisa Williams: Doug, how can organizations find out more about this approach?
Doug Kirkpatrick: Well I would say I would send them to my website which is NuFocus Group USA. (www.nufocusgroupusa.com) We have a ton of content there for people to look at, along with a way to contact me and start a line of communication.
Lisa Williams: And you have a new book releasing. What’s the title of the book?
Doug Kirkpatrick: The book is called Beyond Empowerment: The Age of the Self-Managed Organization. It’s a business novel about an organization that starts out as a traditional hierarchy and finds a way to transition from command-and-control to become a healthy, self-managed enterprise. It also contains several case studies of actual companies who adopted one form or another of organizational self-management, including Morning Star.
For more information about self-management, or to book Doug Kirkpatrick for a speaking engagement, visit www.nufocusgroupusa.com.
