THE WELLBEING OF OUR
PROFESSION :
SOME BIG CHANGES NEED
TO HAPPEN ON THE WAY TO
OUR FUTURE
Professor Roger Collins
Australian Graduate School
of Management
OUR CONFERENCES ARE OUR
PRIMARY SACRED SITE
WHERE WE :






REVIEW OUR ACHIEVEMENTS & PROGRESS
CELEBRATE AND REINVIGORATE
UPDATE OUR KNOWLEDGE AND NETWORKS
STRENGTHEN OUR IDENTITY : what we stand for,
what we aspire to become and contribute
CHALLENGE AND VALIDATE OUR WORLD VIEW, and
if necessary
REINVENT OURSELVES TO MAINTAIN OUR CONTINUED
RELEVANCE
3 Stages
1. Rites of separation : the
importance of sacred sites !
2. Liminality
3. Re-incorporation
1. Move to a separate location: “sacred sites”
2. Frees up from day to day routines, increases our
accessibility to change
3. Fosters disidentification with the past
4. Identifies the actors : the people who are preparing for
their future
1. Sacred ceremonies and rituals begin the
momentum for change
2. Inject new information to change our
“Worldview “
3. Create opportunities to see visions, new
possibilities
4. Create new identities, a new personna
who we think we are, what we
think is possible
Re-entry with:

New aspirations

New roles

New contributions

New commitments
OUR FOCUS :
THIS CONFERENCE IS HRINZ’S
SACRED SITE WHERE

WE STRENGTHEN OUR IDENTITY AND
SENSE OF PURPOSE
 WE CRITIQUE OUR WELLBEING AND
THE STATUS QUO, AND IF APPROPRIATE
 WE REINVENT OURSELVES AND OUR
PROFESSION TO MAINTAIN OUR
WELLBEING, RELEVANCE AND SUCCESS
AGENDA
1.
2.
3.
4.
What’s our attitude to the future?
Discontinuities as opportunities
So what might be the signals that we are at a
discontinuity ?
Implications for
 Our profession ?
 The Institute ?
 Me ?
THE MOST IMPORTANT
THING ABOUT THE FUTURE
IS OUR ATTITUDE TO IT !
Computers in the future
may weigh
no more than 1.5 tons
Popular Mechanics, 1949
Ken Olson, CEO and Founder : DIGITAL
640k ought to be
enough for anybody!
Bill Gates, 1981
IT MAY BE MORE
AND CERTAINLY MORE
TO
, SHAPE AND INFLUENCE
THE FUTURE
THAN TO
IT.
Jules Verne
Werner von Braun
Whether you think you can,
or whether you think you
can’t,
you’re probably right”
Henry Ford
SO, WHEN IS IT CRITICAL
TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE
FUTURE?
(hint: it’s always important
but not always critical)
The Sigmoid Curve and the Road to Davey’s
Bar
A
E
G
H
F
D
B
C
(Charles Handy)
DISCONTINUITIES
“HAPPEN”
and can be
CREATED.
DISCONTINUITIES ARE OUR FRIEND,
NOT THE ENEMY.
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
and
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
STRATEGIC LEADERS
ARE MORE
LIKELY TO IDENITFY THE
SIGNALS
FROM THE
NOISE
SO WHAT MIGHT BE SOME SIGNALS?
1.
NEW SOURCES OF
We now have greater opportunities to
add value and sources of competitive
advantage than ever before ! !
3
1
2
Low Centrality of Workforce to
Organisation Strategy and
Performance
High
Complexity /
Sophistication
of Workforce
Low
High
2. ACCELERATING RATE OF
KNOWLEDGE CREATION
3.
THE SILOS IN OF OUR
KNOWLEDGE ARE BREAKING
DOWN
4. EMERGENCE OF NEW
INDUSTRIES WITH NEW
PERFORMANCE DRIVERS,
NEW RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Convergence of industries such as
Financial Services,
Information Technology,
Communications, and
Retailing
5.
NEW DEFINITIONS OF SUCCESS
ORGANISATIONS
INDIVIDUALS
6.
AND WE CAN’T DENY THAT THE
CURRENT THINKING AND
SOLUTIONS ARE NOT WORKING!
SO WHAT ARE SOME
IMPLICATIONS FOR
Leading
and managing people
Our profession
The Institute
Me?
Profit
Horizon 3
Horizon 2
Horizon 1
Build emerging
businesses
Extend and defend
core businesses
Create viable options
Time
Baghai: The Alchemy of Growth (1999)
HORIZON ONE: OUR CORE
THE
CHALLENGE OF
WALKING AND CHEWING
GUM CONTINUES
PARTNERSHIPS AND
PORTFOLIOS
THE CHALLENGE
1
PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
Technical leadership & management
Convergent, linear thinking
Continuity
10
ORGANISATIONAL
RENEWAL
Adaptive leadership
Divergent, associative thinking
Discontinuity
“The answer is in the question “
EXECUTIVE TEAM COMPOSITION
PERFORMANCE
MANAGERS
ORGANISATIONAL
RENEWERS
Emergent Partnerships
The individual member
Managers
External
Providers:
Transactional
Strategic
HR Specialists
THINK CLUSTERS OR
PORTFOLIOS OF HR
PRACTICES,
NOT SINGLE INITIATIVES
HORIZON TWO: THE EMERGENT
FUTURE
 New
definitions of success for corporations
and individuals
 Changing our
vocabulary
?? “Human Resources”
?? “Employees” and“organisation”
 Members and Communities
 Competencies and
Capabilities
Definition of Capabilities
A corporate capability is the capacity of an
organisation or a group of people, supported by
systems and processes, to make a contribution
that enables high performance and potentially
competitive advantage.
Examples
Flight Centre
McDonalds
Implication!
We need greater input from
Sociology
Anthropology
 History !
HORIZON THREE:
COMING OVER A
HORIZON NEAR YOU!
HYBRID VIGOR
THE POTENTIAL OF HYBRID
VIGOR
12 - 15 % faster growth !!
SO, WHERE SHOULD WE
CREATE HYBRID VIGOR ?
Hybrid professional bodies,
conferences and events
Hybrid occupations / professions
Hybrid careers
Hybrid departments and teams
“The voyage of discovery
consists
not in seeking new
landscapes,
but in having new eyes”
Marcel Proust
The way forward is,
paradoxically,
to look not ahead,
but to look around”
It is not the mountain
that we need to conquer,
but ourselves “
“
Sir Edmund Hillary
SO, CHECK YOUR
ATTITUDE TO THE FUTURE
ROTTER, 1966: “LOCUS OF CONTROL”
EXTERNALIST
INTERNALIST