This week, we have a special one-on-one episode with yours truly. I hope you enjoy the sound of my voice because together we’ll be exploring some of the lessons that I’ve learned from a book called The Living Company by Arie de Geus.
Arie de Geus was a Dutch business executive who did an incredible amount of research with his team on companies that have been around for longer than his (he worked at Shell), particularly ones 100 years old and older. These are companies that have displayed incredible longevity and sustainability. de Geus wanted to know why, and that’s what we’ll be exploring in this episode.
We’ll also discuss the concept of stewardship and how that was one of the findings from their research. It also ties into our work on shared Vision, shared Assumptions, shared Stories, and shared Experiences, all captured within this idea of shared values, and how important those are in creating a sense of belonging.
And finally, we’ll touch on a topic that is very much top-of-mind for me these days: tacit knowledge and converting that into explicit knowledge, which is something that I think a lot of companies currently struggle with. I’ll start to touch on that topic, and I’ll probably do another whole episode on that one as well because it’s definitely deserving of it.
With that said, let us dive into the research, the lessons, and the stories behind The Living Company.
Full Episode
Show Notes
- The flood of tech startup layoffs. (00:02:50-00:05:17)
- A brief introduction on The Living Company by Arie de Geus, and the four shared traits. (00:05:18-00:06:47)
- The four shared traits:
- Conservatism. (00:06:48-00:07:41)
- Sensitivity to the world around them. (00:07:42-00:09:39)
- Awareness of their own identity. (00:09:40-00:10:28)
- Tolerance of new ideas. (00:11:07-00:13:15)
- The concept of stewardship. (00:13:16-00:14:43)
- The concept of shared value encompasses a shared Vision, shared Assumptions, shared Stories, and shared Experiences. (00:14:44-00:19:32)
- The significance of a Learning Culture. (00:19:33-00:21:26)
Selected Links from the Episode
- The Living Company by Arie de Geus
- Layoffs.fyi
- Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux
- Healthy Organizational Ecosystems Bring the Spirit of Generosity Alive Everyday by Ari Weinzweig
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~ This episode is brought to you by The Learning Culture Experience~