Organizational Design

Systems of Engagement: Technology for Social Organizations

April 13, 2011

“Systems of engagement.” Isn’t that an evocative term? The minute I read it, I knew that the term “systems of engagement” captured something important–but what? I searched the web, I even consulted Quora, but I found no definition of “systems of engagement” that incorporates all that the term evokes for me. So at the end [...]

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Authentic From the Start-Up: 4 Tips from Cindy Gallop and IfWeRanTheWorld

October 21, 2010

If you were building an organization from the ground up, how would you “build authenticity in” from the very start? I had the chance to ask this question of Cindy Gallop, an entrepreneur and marketing/advertising/branding guru, who is the CEO of a start-up called IfWeRanTheWorld. IfWeRanTheWorld and Cindy have both been recommended to me by [...]

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3 Dangerous Assumptions in Corporate Work-Life Policy

October 12, 2010

Isn’t Corporate Work-Life policy great? Here we have a progressive set of programs and strategies that: Acknowledge that every employee is more than a worker, Recognize that she or he is also a ‘whole person’ with a life that extends outside the workplace, and Demonstrate that employees’ full lives should be respected and maybe even [...]

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Facebook for Women vs. Facebook Designed by Feminists: Different vs. Revolutionary

October 5, 2010

What would Facebook be like if it were designed by women? In my earlier post, I proposed that Facebook would look, feel and function differently if it had been designed by “women”. [What I actually was writing about what what Facebook might look like if it had been designed by Feminists-- but I used "women" [...]

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If Women Had Designed Facebook

September 30, 2010

If women had designed Facebook, maybe it wouldn’t feel … So cold. So rectangular. So static. So emotion-less. So linear. So blue. So hierarchical. So rigid. So ego-centric. So boring. If women had designed Facebook, maybe it would be: Warmer. More welcoming. Flexible. Expressive. Inclusive. Emotional. Aesthetically inviting. Personalizable. Collaborative. Dynamic. Intimate. Engaging. Flow-y. Maybe [...]

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Target Misses the Mark on Diversity: Corporate Donation equals Corporate Homophobia

July 28, 2010

How do you know whether an organization is racist, or sexist, or homophobic? You can use my 6 Degrees test, or you can use an even simpler method: You can watch where they put their money. Target has put its money behind the campaign of a homophobe who’s against same-sex marriage. This single action casts [...]

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Changing the CEO at BP: It won’t make a difference, except where it will

July 27, 2010

For the past 90 days and counting, we knew this day was coming. You didn’t need an Irish bookmaker to tell you that Tony Hayward’s tenure as CEO of BP was coming to a close. Any organization facing a crisis like the BP Oil Spill would be likely to replace the guy at the helm. [...]

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Only A Cosmetic Apology? MAC’s Juarez Controversy & Fauxial Awareness

July 23, 2010

There are apologies that are superficial and apologies that reflect genuine remorse.  There are apologies that demonstrate regret and apologies that initiate restitution. And then, there is the apology that MAC Cosmetics has offered for its offensive Juarez Makeup Collection. [Note, added later: Be *sure* to read the followup post:  MAC’s Apology for Juarez Makeup [...]

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Is The Daily Show Sexist? Use the 6 Degrees of Sexism Test to judge for yourself

July 9, 2010

The media storm surrounding Jezebel’s claim that The Daily Show is sexist has tangled up our common assumptions about what does or does not make an organization sexist. Whether or not an organization is “sexist”–or for that matter racist, classist, sustainable, Mormon, Black, etc. – matters to the organization’s members and to its audience. Our [...]

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Misleading Image for Army: New York Times, PowerPoint and Complexity Fail

April 27, 2010

Was anyone else annoyed by the use of this image, below, on the front page of today’s New York Times? The image is being used to illustrate an article on “death by Powerpoint“, or the overuse of linear, bullet-pointed presentation methods in today’s information-drenched warfare. I have no quarrel with the reporting in the article [...]

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