Our 5 Core
Un-Management Principles

Our 5 Core
Un-Management Principles

Treat people like adults. Give them the autonomy and flexibility to do their job. Expect them to take responsibility for results, and they will.

Provide Meaningful Work

Create the Conditions for Success

Focus on Continuous Improvement

Minimize Hierarchy

Provide Autonomy & Expect Responsibility

Provide Meaningful Work

• Make a difference, improve lives. It’s not just about making money.
• Keep the big picture in mind to drive all decision making. Focus on what benefits all three: clients, team members and the company.
• Encourage people to bring their full selves, including their sense of humor, to work.
• Apply the company’s core values in every aspect of work.

Create the Conditions for Success

• Ensure alignment at the team and project level.
  • Clarify expectations. Set clear and measurable goals.
  • Manage projects not people.
  • Use communication systems that put everyone on the same page.
  • Be open and transparent in sharing information about any and all work, limiting access only to personal and other confidential information.
• Give everyone the training and tools they need to be outrageously successful.
  • Train them in setting priorities.
  • Use time blocking and eliminate multi-tasking or switch-tasking.
  • Provide access to workshops, conferences and or training that can expand their expertise.
  • Compensate people fairly for their role and their region.

Focus on Continuous Improvement

• Challenge the status quo
  • Review what’s working weekly, and make sure to do more of it. Then figure out how to do it even better tomorrow.
  • Review what’s not working to identify what to stop doing and what do start doing. What worked yesterday may not work today.
• Identify systems solutions
  • Celebrate mistakes. Set aside time each week to discuss mistakes and come up with ways to avoid them in the future.
  • Avoid using blame and focus on systems improvements.
  • When a problem is identified, find the root cause, get input from the team and make the system changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
  • Encourage team members to come up with ideas to improve the company weekly. Appropriate ideas are implemented immediately.
• The entire team uses data to drive decisions and accountability
  • Measure everything to uncover processes that are no longer working
  • Change what’s not working and measure the new strategy.
• Coach team members to follow their interests and develop new skills and expand their bandwidth within the context of company goals.

Minimize Hierarchy

• Enable team members to think and act like the CEOs for their areas of responsibility.
  • Push decisions down the chain as far as possible.
  • Get rid of hierarchical titles like manager, vice president, etc.
  • Minimize levels within the organization.
• Allow those who are capable of leading to lead, no matter what their position.
  • Rotate the responsibility of leading meetings so everyone develops leadership and facilitation skills.
• Focus on teamwork and internal and external collaboration.
• Use project management and communication tools to keep meetings to a minimum.

Provide Autonomy & Expect Responsibility

• Hire self-motivated people and do everything possible to avoid un-motivating them.
• Expect people to take 100% responsibility for getting their work done.
• Trust people to do the right thing for the company.
• Encourage people to live a balanced life, stay healthy and take advantage of flex time to fit work around exercise, family, friends and fun.