Recently, I’ve been very struck by this “google trend”: the constant approaching between “leadership development” and “employee engagement” (Fig.1).
It’s as if, in some ways, the top-down view of the organization is aligning with the bottom-up view. But why is this trend occurring? We all know and read today about how the business environment has changed, it’s fast-paced and constantly changing. Engagement and other words such as innovation, creativity, and collaboration are now on the agenda and clash with a system that has been adapted and shaped over the years to manage a more static and predictable industrial world. The world is evolving. And it is doing so by moving from a “product-driven” economy to a “knowledge-innovation-driven “1:
1. Product-Driven: focus on producing standardized products, product-centric vision;
2. Service-Driven: focus on the delivery of customized services, customer-centric vision;
3. Knowledge-Innovation-Driven: focus on co-creating personalized experiences, co-creative vision;
In stage 1, the world is something external and stable. Economies of scale and hyper-specialization are what matter.
In stage 2, the key to success is identified in the ability to increase “Customer Satisfaction”, i.e. approaching the “organizational boundaries” by enhancing the interface of dialogue with the customer. This has been the focus of the last 15-20 years, and is still the stage that most companies perceive.
In stage 3, however, the organization becomes fluid and the boundaries are no longer defined. “Employee” and “Customer” fall into the magical world of “People”, interaction becomes the main element, the systemic vision prevails over the functional vision and it becomes essential to build systems that are balanced but also driven by the ability of individuals to put their creativity to use. It is for this reason that we go beyond the concept of “Satisfaction” to instead speak about “Engagement” as the engine that moves creativity. This means:
– the “customer” is no longer a target, but rather a partner for innovation;
– the “employee” is not just an operational-reactive collaborator but a person with creative and generative potential
This evolution, if not revolution, requires a thorough rethinking of the organization. Old systems and practices are no longer suited to the new challenges. But how can we move from stage 2 to stage 3? How can we and our organization enter the economic era of co-creation?
In the next few posts in this series, we’ll talk about employee engagement and approaches that are intrinsically linked to co-creation.
1. Scharmer, O.,2009, Theory U: leading from the future as it emerges.
