Do you know this feeling? You’re reading a book and suddenly you feel like whole bags of puzzle pieces are falling into the right place. Everything you read isn’t new to you, because all the pieces are already present in your head. But they haven’t found their right place yet, they’re still jumbled, not yet connected.
And then an author comes along and writes everything coherently and conclusively. And with every sentence you think: Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. Check. That’s it!
Lately, I’ve had this feeling with two works.
Agile Publishing
First, with the publication ‘Agiles Publishing‘ by Detlev Hagemann, Georg Obermayr, and Matthias Günther. After several years as an editor and project manager in various publishing houses, I had the feeling that things should actually be ‘different’. I had enough of isolated silos, of fixed but unproductive processes, of loops and repetitions, of history and tradition, of publishing arrogance and old business models. In my head, there were ideas, visions, solutions, parallel universes. But I couldn’t live them. I couldn’t even bring them about because I couldn’t even formulate them coherently.
The authors of agile publishing have done exactly that for me. This book should be mandatory reading for every publishing person. With agile publishing, you get back into the flow. You break through process barriers and can concentrate on the creative aspects again.
The whole thing is written and designed in such a fluid and practical way that reading and immersing yourself in it is very easy. You don’t have to read everything from A to Z either. Rather, you dive in where you want and let yourself drift a little.
Reinventing Organizations
And now, over the holidays, another such book has fallen into my hands.
Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. For many of you, this might already be old news. For me, it’s a revelation!
I’ve been dealing with self-organization and self-management for quite some time. I wonder how one can live this in one’s own team, in the company, in the work environment. But here again: Ideas and visions are there, but I couldn’t formulate them, communicate them, pass them on.
This book has brought me a big step forward: here, based on observations and practical examples, countless ideas are provided on how to promote self-management in the company, both on a small and large scale. How to dismantle hierarchies, how to share responsibility. How to live even the most primordial (hierarchical) leadership topics like strategy, budget, personnel decisions, investment, crisis management, etc. without a vertical organizational chart. How work in the team becomes meaningful again. How respect, trust, and self-responsibility regain their proper value. How one can relieve oneself as a leader by not having to be a leader anymore. And how appreciation of expertise comes back into our daily work routine.
Into 2019!
Thus, I’m going into the new year strengthened
I’m looking forward to implementing one thing or another in the team.
I’m looking forward to my new role.
I’m looking forward to my work!
In this spirit:
to an exciting and meaningful new year!
