For millions of us work feels like The Office - only less funny. We’re drowning in nonsense, whilst pretending it’s all perfectly rational. But where did all this b******t come from? Why is it so universal? And how do we make it go away? Dysfunction is everywhere. Employee engagement is dismal across the globe. Corporate greed and scandals are our daily bread. Many of us are in a constant state of stress at work, and some have burnt out. There’s an epidemic of work-related mental health issues. The bad news is that your organisation is massively dysfunctional. The good news is that it’s not unique. Many billions have been wasted on endless interventions—transformation, restructuring, management consultants, leadership gurus, new technologies, and astronomical remuneration for superstar CEOs. Why have all these efforts failed to move the dial? Why do almost all organisations seem destined to be mediocre at best? From blind acceptance of hierarchy to pseudoscience research, management fads, and the soundbites of self-proclaimed gurus, we are continuously sold simplistic solutions that promise to improve everything. But they never do. They simply trap us in a doom loop of nonsense that conspires to protect our organisations from any assault by common sense. To understand how we got here will require us to weave together strands from diverse disciplines - systems thinking, complexity theory, anthropology, psychology, social science and behavioural economics. It turns out that there are multiple factors at play, internal and external forces that converge on the world of work and create self-reinforcing loops and belief systems that ensure we make the same mistakes repeatedly. This is the story of how we got here, why we keep falling for the same nonsense, and what we can do to change the misguided belief systems that collectively prevent us from reaching a better future at work.
