inclusion Archives | Metalogue | Organisation Design Consultants

The problem with contracting: how to get it less wrong

While we’re all pretty well versed in contracting on tasks, deliverables and outcomes we’re much less comfortable with contracting around roles. And yet, in the absence of a good enough contracting, we are often left flailing, trying to find a safe place to work from, keen to deliver on the task we’ve signed up to, but ill-equipped to do so. Of course, contracting on roles typically requires an honest conversation about what’s needed, what each of us might be up for, and what’s possible in the current context, given power, politics, organisational culture, history and a whole load of other fun stuff.

Starting your Re-design Process? Ask the Audience!

So, you've decided to embark on an organisation re-design – what next? Well, you are going to need to decide on a design team to create a design, and they will need data, input and perspectives to work with. So you although you, like many of our clients, might like to jump straight to the answer, you will need an inquiry/discovery process, which involves asking people for their perspectives and input into the current state and what could be improved. In this blog we explain why you need to interview people, who and how many to speak to, and what you should ask them.

How did we get back here, again?

The anthropologist Gregory Bateson’s phrase “the difference that makes a difference” has a powerful and intuitive resonance. He was talking about how a ‘difference’ can represent information that helps us see a situation from a different angle. This can reveal new possibilities for understanding or acting. Bateson’s idea draws attention to how in a complex system a small change or shift can have a ripple effect, bringing about other shifts and changes. Even subtle differences or changes can lead to profound shifts.

There’s no sexism here right?

So started the day. “We saw a pretty girl.” It’s been a long time coming. A company going through a radical transformation – a real one – where the way they work together, talk to each other, share information and make decisions is actually visibly changing.

Putting our insights to good use, our bite-sized blogs give leaders our latest thinking on strategy, organisation design, executive team development and culture change as well as other musings.

The problem with contracting: how to get it less wrong

Starting your Re-design Process? Ask the Audience!

How did we get back here, again?

There’s no sexism here right?

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