Ken je dat? Dat je weer naar een verjaardag moet, en er eigenlijk geen zin in hebt? Weer diezelfde koppen, hetzelfde kringetje, dezelfde gesprekken…

Herken je het volgende? Je hebt een nieuwe baan bij een nieuwe werkgever, mogelijk een leidinggevende rol. Ze hebben je verteld dat er veel moet veranderen, en dat jij de aangewezen persoon bent om daaraan vorm te geven.

Sometimes, when wandering around my hometown, I wonder why it is that some businesses, such as shops and restaurants, are here to stay, while others do not survive. Economic factors are at play – consumers buy differently these days. 

For all of my clients, Digital Transformation is an important theme. I have observed them in this “journey” for some time, from some distance, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to reflect on it, in a systemic way.

Many of us have been in a situation in which we had to perform a task, observed by others, and we performed badly. We knew that when it happened, and we also knew, instantly, what could have been done better.

And then, we have to go through the grinding ritual of feedback, where one, or even worse, several people are asked to give feedback. Those people – the givers – spin their feedback by pointing out some positives first. Not because they particularly liked those positives, but because they were taught that it helps creating an open mind for the blows, the negatives. 

Recently, I have had the pleasure to run several workshops on systemic concepts, for a variety of startups and corporates.

One thing that came up during these sessions was the importance of the name of a company (from a systemic perspective), and the relationship to its origin.

At the start of one of the workshops, we asked the participants to explain the names of their companies. In some cases, there was a simple explanation, but in others, the explanation was a passionate story and it was clear that the name had a deep meaning, and in a way, a systemic charge.