Management 3.0 Facilitators Gathering

The best way to promote a better way of working is to lead by example, and practice what you preach.

Last Friday and Saturday around 20 Management 3.0 facilitators got together in Munich, Germany, for their first Management 3.0 gathering. We came from Sweden, Slovenia, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and of course Germany. Later we were joined by most of the Happy Melly team. Together we discussed marketing & sales, courseware development, collaboration tools, and much more.

What I liked most about this gathering was that I didn’t organize anything. It wasn’t even my idea! It was Management 3.0-in-action. We have a feeling of community, a shared purpose and identity, and enough intrinsic motivation to make things happen. And so it happened.

Feeding Trust, not Lawyers

At the start of the gathering I said I strong believe the best way to promote a better way of working is to lead by example, and practice what you preach. I’ve heard too many stories of non-profit “institutes”, “alliances”, “societies”, and other organizations that all launch with the best intentions of their founders, but where power play, corruption, protectionism and schisms run rampant. It sometimes seems as if we have more religions and churches than ever.

I’ve always declined any form of membership of these organizations because I refuse to get involved in such economical and political games. I like games, but not when people get nasty over money.

Unfortunately, I know I won't be able to prevent conflict in the Management 3.0 ecosystem. It is a complex adaptive system after all. But the least I can do is to grow conditions, constraints, and a culture that make conflict less likely, and collaboration more likely. For example, this means no exclusivity, no territories, no accreditation, and no extortion. Instead, we have a purpose that inspires and motivates, a license agreement that feeds trust instead of lawyers, and license fees that are so small that money issues become unimportant. And then, we let self-organization do the rest.

So far, we seem to be doing well.

(Photos: Jürgen Dittmar)