The toolbox

Introduction to the toolbox by Lars Kolind (Windows Media, 8 min video, broadband)

The core of "The Second Cycle" is Kolind's toolbox. Kolind became a CEO at the age of 27 and ever since, he has been known for innovative management practices that focus on the important issues of the organization, involves co-workers as partners rather than opposites to management, stimulates innovation and provides the maximum freedom for everyone to make his or her maximum contribution to the organization. Kolind has extensive experience from the private sector, but he has also been involved in managing a large public institution and he has been active in voluntary organizations nationally and internationally for decades.

He has decided to offer his toolbox free of charge for everyone in line with current "open source" thinking: It is more important for Kolind to have an impact on society than to reserve his knowledge exclusively for the companies and organization he is involved in.

The tools can be found in four groups:

• Assessment
• Establish the foundation
• Running the show
• Transformation

Assessment

There are two tools to help you assess where your organization stands with respect to bureaucracy:

• The Second Cycle Index (TSC Index), A rough assessment tool to help you find out if your organization is infected by the lifecycle disease.
• Mental Model Mapper (MMM), A guide to analyze current mental models and develop alternative ones.

I suggest you start by performing a self-assessment of your organization using the TSC Index. Then you expand the use of the tool to, say 100 or 1000, employees of your organization to see if you have the same impression of the level of bureaucracy as your co-workers do.

Then you use the Mental Model Mapper, first on one or two organizations that you know without being personally involved in them, perhaps at least one organization that you are critical about. Once you know how to map mental models you turn to your own organization. The details are in chapter 7 of “The second Cycle”.

Establish the Foundation

Two tools help you establish the values that will guide the work of your organization in the future:

• Value identification Process (VIP). A process to help you identify the values of your organization and turn them into reality.
• Consensus Creation Crash Process (CCCP). A process to help you create a consensus in your organization about values and their implementation.

These tools should be used in that order. You need to work with your management team to establish a basis for the consensus you want to create before you actually go through the consensus building process (CCCP). Details about the two tools may be found in “The Second Cycle” chapter 7.

Running the Show

I have collected two groups of tools to help you establish the best possible organizational framework for your organization:

• Knowledge-based People Management (KPM). A set of tools to ensure that you utilize staff resources to the maximum extent.
• Innovation Powerhouse (IP). A set of ideas to turn the workplace into an innovation powerhouse.

For further information about these tools, refer to “The Second Cycle”, chapter 7.

Transformation

Last but not least I have collected a range of tools to help you carry through the change from the current stage of bureaucracy into the knowledge-based, innovative growth organization of the future:

• Change Process Tools (CPT). A set of tools and ideas to move the organization from conventional habits into innovative and flexible behavior.

More information in “The Second Cycle”, chapter 7.