Resources

Articles, videos, books, podcasts, patterns, tools & tech

Reinventing Work co-founder Mark Eddleston collated his favourite self-management & new ways of working resources.

These resources are not exhaustive, but they are the best. They have been curated following six years of practise and research. The articles, videos, books, podcasts, patterns, tools and tech can help you to start experimenting with and practising new ways working, tomorrow.


Articles

  1. Self-Organising 101, Lisa Gill

  2. The OS Canvas - A tool for reinventing your organization, Aaron Dignan

  3. 10 Lessons Learned From Implementing Self-Management, Corporate Rebels

  4. Self-Management - 7 Challenges & Potential Solutions, Peerdom

  5. 11 Practical Steps Towards Healthy Power Dynamics at Work, Richard Bartlett

  6. The 8 Habits of Companies You Wish You Worked For, Corporate Rebels

  7. Self-Management - Common Mistakes, Simon Mont

  8. Building Great Teams, Kellogg School of Management

  9. Why Reinvent Work, Mark Eddleston


Videos

  1. A self-managing nuclear submarine - if a nuclear sub can do it, any team can!

  2. Brave New Work Google Talk, Aaron Dignan - a summary of an awesome book

  3. Meaning Conference talks - from inspiring people who believe in better business

  4. Insights for the Journey - a generous video series from Frederik Laloux


Books

  1. Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan

  2. Corporate Rebels, Joost Minar & Pim de Morree

  3. Reinventing Organisations, Frederik Laloux (the illustrated version is best)

  4. Better Work Together, Susan Basterfield & Anthony Cabraal (Enspiral)

  5. Going Horizontal, Samantha Slade

  6. Sociocracy 3.0 - A Practical Guide, (free) J Priest, B Bockelbrink & L David


Podcasts

  1. Leadermorphosis - exploring self-management & progressive org's, these are a gift!

  2. Brave New Work - podcast series from The Ready

  3. Richard Bartlett on Self-Organizing Collaboration

  4. Lisa Gill on Self-managing org's

  5. Rich Decibels on 'Teal' (first 33 mins)

  6. Team Human: interviews Enspiral (starts at 14 mins)

  7. Team Human: Better Work Together (starts at 12 mins)

  8. A Cup of Teal with Helen Sanderson - self-management stories from the health, care and the public sectors


Patterns found in self-managing organisations

  1. Trust - this whole thing is built on trust

  2. Purpose - and it's made easier with purpose

  3. Listening - without listening it is impossible

  4. Learning - don't stop. Only open, curious minds make reinventing work possible

  5. Distributed decision-making - e.g. the advice process (there are other methods)

  6. Transparency - without this you can't distribute decision-making & authority

  7. Feedback - growing a feedback culture is critical to your self-management journey

  8. Conflict - this ain't easy, there will be difficult conversations ahead (see NVC & DESC below)

  9. Teamwork - we can do this, but only together

  10. Experiments - the only way to reinvent work. And here's another awesome article on how to experiment in your team or org.


Great Tools / Practices

  1. Liberating Structures - neutralise power, distribute control & practice listening. Also see this series & download the wonderful free app!

  2. A user manual for me - help to build good teams & working relationships

  3. Check-in rounds - the best way to start meetings - use this online tool to generate check-in questions

  4. Retrospectives - dedicated time to learn & improve

  5. The Atlassian Team Playbook - heaps of cool tools

  6. Non-violent communication (NVC) - you'll need this for feedback & conflict

  7. DESC - a helpful approach to difficult conversations

  8. Random Retros - A great selection of retrospective formats curated by experienced coaches


Great Tech

  1. Slack - for team comm's

  2. Trello - for planning, projects & collaborating

  3. Loomio - for distributed decision making

  4. Google Docs & Google Drive - for sharing & collaborating in the cloud

  5. Mural - the best online whiteboard. Jamboard is a free, simple version

  6. Gitbook - for your working agreements & handbook

  7. Officevibe - know exactly how your team really feels

  8. Ears - for listening. The most important component of all