Knudsen Recommends: Three Things to Explore in January

Photo: Agnete Schlichtkrull

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Knudsen Recommends:
Three Things to Explore in January

04. Jan 2022

If you’re interested in how to design the future organization, our COO Sune Knudsen recommends three things to explore this month. Dive into a book, podcast, and an event

Quick insight

Sune Knudsen

Humankind by Rutger Bregman

Here at the Danish Design Center we’re in our second year of a radical experiment with our organization – freeing ourselves from unnecessary processes and bureaucracy. This experiment is founded on an explicitly appreciative and positive view of our colleagues and of human nature. In light of this, it has been a joy to read Dutch historian Rutger Bregmans well researched and equally well-written Humankind. In it, Bregman argues convincingly that human beings are not hardwired towards promoting our own self-interest, but rather towards helping each other. Basically, the human default position is one of decency. This, Bregman argues, has massive implications for the way we approach each other and how we organize – for instance, trust becomes more natural and effective than control.
Podcast on designing organizational experiments (in Danish)

In this podcast, focusing on the implementation of organizational changes, our CEO, Christian Bason tells the story about our organizational experiment, and how we designed it. The main finding is that as leaders, we often need to step back instead of stepping forward to allow the organization to find its natural way of developing.
Design AM on reclaiming organizational design

In 2022 we hope to engage even further in a discussion with designers, businesses, and other organizations on how to design the organizations of the future. To kick this off we invite everyone interested in a morning session hearing from leaders in organizations that have made radical experiments with the way they organize themselves and we’ll also share our own experiences. More about this event here.