Book
Andrew’s forthcoming book
A forthcoming book about organisational reality, leadership behaviour and the gap between what organisations say, what leaders believe and what people actually experience.
Most organisations have more than one version of themselves.
This book explores the gap between the declared organisation, the believed organisation and the operating organisation — and why intelligent, well-intentioned people can end up maintaining realities they would not openly defend.
What the book explores
Three versions of organisation, and the gap between them
Andrew’s book draws on more than thirty years of work with leaders, teams and organisations. It explores how the reality people live inside organisations often diverges from the version described in strategy, values and leadership messaging.
The declared organisation
The organisation presented in strategy, values, structures, processes and leadership messages.
The believed organisation
The version leaders sincerely think they are creating, and that people often assume to be true.
The operating organisation
The organisation revealed by decisions, rewards, silences, exceptions, meetings, habits and what people are allowed to get away with.
Why it matters
The book is not about bad people or cynical leadership. It is about how organisations learn to protect comforting stories, filter bad news, absorb criticism, avoid difficult conversations and call activity progress.
Who it is for
It is for leaders, HR directors, managers, consultants and anyone who has wondered why the official version of work so often differs from the one people quietly experience.
Themes the book explores
Questions the book sits with
- why people stop saying what they really think
- why meetings become organisational theatre
- why change programmes create activity without movement
- why appraisal often disguises silence
- why damaging managers are protected
- why good people stop giving their best
- how honest organisations behave differently
Related thinking
Frameworks connected to the book
Interested in the ideas behind the book?
Interested in the ideas behind the book?
Andrew is available for conversations, talks and organisational work connected to the themes explored in the forthcoming book.