Are New Ways of Working really working? 😬

A Wobbly Reflection

Are New Ways of Working actually helping? Are we making work better, or are we just fooling ourselves? I can't help but wonder: do most organisations truly have the interest, capacity, and energy to embark on this journey? And even if those stars align, can people sustain energy for new ways of working in the long run? Or are we underestimating the deeper challenges of shifting behaviours, understanding complexity, and breaking free from outdated paradigms?

Do We Have the Chops for Behaviour Change?

Do organisations and consultants have the chops to navigate the challenge of behaviour change? Truth be told, I’m having a slight wobble about the new ways of working movement on this front. Sure, there are success stories—but for every win, how many efforts fizzle out or backtrack when the initial enthusiasm wanes, or a key advocate leaves? In both self-managing organisations I’ve been part of, things quickly reverted to more traditional ways soon after the CEO who championed the journey departed. An all too familiar story.

While I’ve seen this happen more than once, it seems myself and others haven’t yet figured out how to prevent efforts from frequently fizzling and failing. Could it be that we haven’t yet developed the capacity to facilitate the deep behavioural shifts required? Or is there something more fundamental at play, like the paradigms that shape our thinking?

Are ‘Paradigms’ the Problem?

Maybe the issue is bigger than our capacity for change. Paradigms shape how we understand the world and define what is considered legitimate practice in any given field. The challenge is that most of us don't realise we’re trapped within these invisible boundaries. Paradigm shifts—those fundamental changes in thought and practice—can take decades or even centuries to come to fruition. Think of the shift from a geocentric view of the universe (where the Earth was believed to be the centre of everything) to a heliocentric one (with the Sun at the centre). It took over a century for this radical shift in thinking to gain acceptance, despite overwhelming evidence. Maybe we’re in the midst of a similar shift, or maybe we're clinging to an illusion of one.

Either way, paradigms are powerful forces, causing leaders to stick rigidly to what they know, making only minor adjustments to old methods, even when those methods continue to fail. We need a paradigm shift, but that doesn’t mean we’ll get one. So is the New Ways of Working movement truly part of a paradigm shift, or just a passing trend? We may not know for many, many years.

Do We Really Understand Complexity?

And then there’s the issue of complexity. Traditional top-down management and linear thinking—better suited to simpler, more predictable environments—struggle in today’s complex organisations, which are riddled with unpredictability. The outdated belief that organisations move in a straight line from problem to solution leads to false expectations of order—BS that consultancies sell because too many leaders still mistakenly buy into it. People crave and therefore buy certainty even when it doesn’t exist. This might explain why so many organisational interventions miss the mark.

If we don’t truly grasp the complexities of organisational change, can we honestly expect new ways of working to succeed? Understanding organisations as complex adaptive systems—where multiple parts interact and adapt in unpredictable ways—is crucial. But how many of us are ready to face what that really means? Are we prepared to acknowledge that change isn't linear but rather a tangled web of interconnected factors?

Take behaviour change, for example. It’s not just about telling people to act differently; it’s about recognising that their actions are shaped by a web of influences—like workplace culture, individual mindsets, and external pressures. Do most leaders and consultants really understand how deep and intricate this is? Or are they still searching for and prescribing simple, step-by-step solutions to challenges that are anything but straightforward?

More Questions than Answers

One of the few certainties in this space is that there is no roadmap or blueprint to make new ways of working work. Many of the suggestions out there are well-meaning oversimplifications from people who don’t fully grasp the complexity involved or, at worst, sales efforts from companies that prioritise profit over meaningful change. It’s easy to be drawn to quick fixes, but meaningful change demands much more.

Perhaps embracing complexity and driving meaningful change requires a fundamental shift in mindset—from relying on fixed strategies to accepting an ongoing, often messy process of learning and adaptation. But are we truly prepared for that?

How many leaders, c-suites, and boards are ready to admit that not everything can be planned or predicted? To see organisational change as a series of experiments, where success is uncertain and failure is part of the process? How many are willing to create spaces where people feel confident enough to challenge ideas, share their concerns, and try new approaches?

And from a behaviour change perspective, do enough of us understand the need to make changes easy, visible, and aligned with people's values? Or are we still stuck in the belief that a few workshops or directives will suffice?

Are We Missing the Mark?

So here’s the question I keep coming back to:

Why aren't "self-management" and "new ways of working" experts (myself included) more successful in transforming organisations?

Could the movement’s cheerleaders be making it sound too easy, too utopian, glossing over just how difficult it is to drive behaviour change at scale? Do enough of us truly understand complexity and what it means for organisational change? Are new ways of working and self-management the wrong targets, and are we barking up the wrong tree in our quest to make work better?

🤔 Ultimately, do enough people in organisations really care about ways of working? And does our approach need a radical rethink?

Time to Reflect

After a good decade of effort, with several success stories, many more failed attempts, and, on balance, arguably limited progress for the movement, it seems a good time to reflect.

*I’m critical of our progress because I’m an optimist and believe we could be doing better. So, I’d love to hear your thoughts; hit reply and share your perspective—I always enjoy reading your responses.

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🤔 In my next newsletter, I attempted to answer some of these big questions.

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