Be Human Salon Five: Manage the System, Not the People
On July 18, we hosted our 5th Be Human Project salon featuring Jurgen Appelo as part of his Managing for Happiness North American book tour. Our offices at Bigwidesky were converted into a gathering of 50-plus leaders in the St. Louis area.
Much in the spirit of the purpose for the Be Human Project, Jurgen, who describes himself as a master networker implores leaders and managers to run experiments – first with themselves and then with their organizations. As opposed to trying to force a new organizational structure, he claims that experiments unlock creativity and create engagement points within the organization. During the event, Jurgen claimed: “No one wants to be changed, but people are excited to run experiments.”
Throughout his talk, we heard inspiring, practical ideas. Instead of annual performance reviews, Jurgen said “You have everyday to review and suggest.” Managing for Happiness and Jurgen’s talk lead with ideas–based in theory and philosophy–first. The Be Human Project supports not only the philosophy and theory of the humanizing ideas but encourages all leaders to experiment with new practical ways to incorporate them. Jurgen’s Managing for Happiness is a great read for just that purpose.
To quote one of our guests, Serge Traylor, “Last night helped me think a little deeper about what makes brands great, and how changing things on the inside can have great impact on the external.” Check out Serge’s entire blog post here.
EQ also published an article that you can access here.
For a video snippet of Jurgen answering the question, “Do employee evaluations really work?” click here.
Photos and video content of the event will be shared on our Facebook, Instagram, Youtube pages. Stop by and subscribe!
A big thank you to Spot Media Production Group for incredible video footage that will be featured on our Be Human Project social media. Thank you to our sponsors. Counsilman Hunsaker, bigwidesky, Ardent Group, Swift Print, Butch and Jan Frick.
