CHAPTER 11 THE ACHILLES HEEL
In the past chapter we listed the upsides, and there were a lot of them, now brace yourself for the downsides. We wouldn’t want you to put in all the effort, to change your attitude and to motivate your whole company to build a metasystem, only to fail because of a pitfall we could have warned you about. That would be a waste of your time and ours, and as we know, there is no abundance there. So let’s walk through some common mistakes in building metasystems. Not to make you weary, on the contrary: learn from these mistakes so you’ll be able to move through this new paradigm fast and with confidence.
1. The battle of the egos
Whether egos overpromise, hide, bluff or conceal, they are all fueled by the same fear: the fear of losing face. Please get over your ego. It’s 2020 and we’ve got bigger fish to fry. If you can’t be honest about your results (good or bad), something in your partnership is amiss. The same applies when attempting to impress partners with bloated promises.
2. Multilayer governance
Your company has its governance structure, as do the companies of partner x, y and z. On top of that – or should we say in parallel to it – your metasystem has its own governance. In total, you + x + y + z + metasystem equals a whole lot of governance layers. Politely, we call this ‘multilayer governance’, but in all fairness, this is plain overkill. Try to simplify, cut out layers, let go of control, trust the others.
3. High complexity
The world is becoming more and more complex. We know. You know. That is precisely why we proposed the metasystem, as it is a suitable answer to counter the pressure of this complexity. While metasystems help reduce complexity on the one side, they themselves can be complex to manage and steer on the other. Like we said, metasystems are no fix-all answer to uncertainty, they are a way to embrace uncertainty. So try to keep it simple. Less can actually be more, sometimes.
4. High risk
Business is risky business. It’s always about a lot of money, a lot of people, a lot of futures potentially impacted. Whether you are a three-people startup or a multinational, the health of your company has a proportionally big impact on all stakeholders. If business is risky business and metasystems bring together several businesses, then it follows that metasystems can mean big, big risks. So, don’t go all in with the big chips right from the get-go. Take a calculated risk and surprise yourself.
5. Unclear intentions and goals
Ask yourself ‘why’ and keep asking yourself and the others ‘why’ until you have your intentions clear as day. It’s the intentions you want to get aligned, not the execution. You can perfectly well want the same thing but go about it completely differently. Take almost every politician ever in history, they all want the same thing: the best for everybody, the common good, peace on Earth, and a nice new line on their cv. Still, they don’t seem to agree on how to get there. We’re not claiming all problems would be fixed if only politicians were clear about their intentions. But it wouldn’t hurt. And it wouldn’t hurt you to be clear either.
6. Different values and beliefs
Being vocal about your values and beliefs as a company is one of the first things you do. You may be a perfect match, agreeing on the shape, the numbers and whatnot, but if your values or purpose differ too much, it won’t work. Find out what your values are first. You may have founded your company unaware of your real motives, but these values have been ingrained in your every move from day one. They are the driving force behind big decisions, important hires and the selection of partners to team up with in a metasystem. The tricky part is to uncover them, and have your potential partners do the same.
7. No scenarios and playbook
The beginning of the road might be clear and exciting but partnerships and metasystems are influenced by external events that can have a positive or negative impact. In many cases there are no scenarios defined which often leads to frustration, misalignment or disputes. Discussing potential ups and downs at the beginning of the engagement and how each player will react will avoid trouble down the road.
“Companies need to spend enough
time mapping the scenarios of the
partnership journey in the beginning of the
collaboration. Start with the end in mind
and define how the (potential) exit out of
the partnership will happen.”
PETER SOMERS,
CEO EMIRATES POST
INTERVIEW
WHY JAZZ IS THE PERFECT METAPHOR FOR ECOSYSTEMS AND METASYSTEMS
AN INTERVIEW WITH FREDO DE SMET, CURATOR, WRITER AND DJ CONCERNED WITH THE WAY CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY INTERACT
Fredo De Smet is the host of Gent M, a network of creative friends in Ghent, and the author of Artificial Stupidity, a Manual for Digital Humanism. We asked this orchestrator of ecosystems to share his view on partnerships and networks.
“Networks are like jazz, ” Fredo says. No wonder a DJ would link complex systems to complex music. “Sometimes, in jazz, it feels like the musicians aren’t playing together. It feels like they’re out of tune, like it’s complete chaos, hard to understand and anything but harmonic. And then, suddenly, there is this moment when the musicians find each other and fall back into the same groove.” Jazz, according to Fredo, is a good metaphor for networks, as it teaches you to embrace the chaos. “In a classic orchestra, musicians play together in perfect harmony, guided by a strong leader whose job it is to coordinate all the musicians. Jazz, on the other hand, is improvisation. It allows for a lot of creativity, and while it feels haphazard, the reason it all comes back together is that all these musicians are aware of the framework they’re playing in. It’s a different kind of organization than we are used to, but it works nonetheless.”
“I believe jazz is a good metaphor for networks, as it teaches you to embrace the chaos. Ecosystems simply have another organizational shape than what we are used to. We need to learn to allow for improvisation.”
Just like in jazz, you only need a few agreements to make ecosystems work. “In Catholicism, you have the ten commandments. In heuristics, they are called rules of thumb. In companies, we speak about values or guiding principles. In music, it’s about the beat. These simplified rules create peace of mind and trust. You need to understand what ties your network together.” Rather than come up with a heavily loaded mission, Fredo advises coining a few simple sentences that are less intense and easier to remember.
Being a DJ and using other people’s tracks to put together an evening that’s all about combining existing ideas into something new, Fredo believes we should allow others to build upon their ideas. “Our obsession with owning an idea often stands in the way of creativity, ” he says. Whether mixing tracks or working as a curator for exhibitions, Fredo uses other people’s creativity as a starting point. Of course, this means we should all allow others to pick apart our own ideas and see how they can add to the mix.
“You need a few simple rules of thumb that foster trust but at the same time leave room for creativity.”
And we shouldn’t wait too long to grant that permission, either. According to Fredo, the best way to explore a partnership is to act together. “Don’t say you will cross the ocean together, start building the boat first.” The concept and strategy will change constantly, so you’ll have no choice but to embark on your boat and put up some extra sails or build a nicer cabin along the way. “Don’t get caught up in theory for too long. The most important thing is that you cross the line from thinking into doing. This way, you’ll quickly discover each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
FREDO’S TIPS:
•Create simple rules of thumb for collaboration that leave enough room for creativity.
•Be prepared to let go. No one should own any idea.
•Start building something together as soon as possible.
There is a common denominator in all these scenarios. Whether it’s big egos or betting big money, what can destabilize a metasystem is always linked to a lack of trust. Without trust, not only will you miss out on the positive effects of a partnership, you will probably help yourself to some of the negative ones. Sadly, the latter are much harder to shake.
Not the brightest note to end this part, so we’ll give you a small recap before proceeding. A very short recap, we promise. Here goes.
TRUST!
(confetti)
It’s all about trust. And while we know that making such an intangible concept the key ingredient of your solution doesn’t make it easier to digest it all, we also think that maybe, somewhere hidden deep down, you already knew this. You live your private life according to this idea. All your relationships with friends, family and loved ones are entirely built around trust. So why should our private virtues be lost in the economic realm?
But all the self-reflection and mapping exercises we presented you in this part 2 of the book can help you to make the uncontrollable a bit more manageable. To try and build, foster and grow trust within your company and partnerships, to open up the option of engaging in or building a metasystem.
