BY PETER ØSTERGAARD, CO-CEO, DELEGATE
Jeg får nogle gange spørgsmålet, hvornår jeg begyndte at interessere mig for organisationsudvikling og dét at “bygge en forretning”. Og som mange andre har erfaret gennem deres karriere, så handler det ofte om den rette kombination af tid og sted, hårdt arbejde og så en smule held. Men for flere år siden overbeviste én bestemt bog mig om, at der skal mere til end det.
Mens jeg læste til cand.polit. tog jeg faget organisationsteori. Jeg var det, som mange den gang kaldte en “blød cand.polit.”, for jeg var ikke specielt interesseret i mikroøkonomien og de mange matematiske formler og beregninger, som de fag handlede om. Jeg var derimod interesseret i læren om organisationers opbygning, og hvordan man bedriver “ledelse” og skaber motivation.
I organisationsteori fik jeg til opgave at holde oplæg om en selvvalgt bog. Jeg valgte den amerikanske bestseller “In Search of Excellence” af Tom Peters og Robert Waterman. Bogen er baseret på forfatternes undersøgelse af 43 succesfulde, amerikanske virksomheder, herunder blandt andet IBM og Hewlett-Packard. Gennem deres research identificerede Peters og Waterman otte fælles karakteristika, som gjorde virksomhederne succesfulde.
“Som Co-CEO i Delegate er de tre ovenstående karakteristika; medarbejderomsorg, stærke værdier og et målrettet fokus på kunden, helt afgørende for mit daglige arbejde, for det er de grundsten, som Delegate bygger på, og som vi skal vokse ud fra.”
Peter Østergaard
Co-CEO, Delegate
For those of you who have not read or know this fant?astic book, here are some points from the book that I found very interesting – and still find inspiration in to this day:
If you have worked with building a company, management or organizational development, these points should not surprise you, but when the book was published back in 1982, they were quite an eye-opener to many.
Peters and Waterman's book was ahead of its time and broke with the idea that running a business is only about rational behavior and the bottom-line figures: A company consists of colleagues and customers who are human and not robots. Focus is on the human being both internally and in the dialogue with costumers.
Of course, employees will always want good conditions and a decent salary, and customers want service and a good product. But according to Peters and Waterman, employees and customers want more than that. They want 'purpose', which the eight identified characteristics in 'In Search of Excellence' cover.
As Co-CEO of Delegate, the three beforementioned characteristics; employee care, strong values and a targeted focus on the customer are crucial, because these are the cornerstones on which Delegate is based and from which we must grow. We differentiate ourselves through our culture and our values – both towards colleagues and customers, we call it our employee and costumer promise – and we believe that this is the right way to go if we want to ensure a company and organization that constantly develops and subsequently grows.
For many years, we have worked purposefully with the challenge of growing in size while maintaining Delegate's presence and fundamental values. In an effort to maintain our strong values, we have created a written set of values – our very own version of Emma Gad's “Etiquette” – and it says that “nærvær”, reciprocity and recognition, our three values, are crucial to the way we interact with each other and our customers in Delegate. The purpose is to have a common, written identity in our company, which everyone works on the basis of – regardless of the number of colleagues.
Which book has inspired you the most? Please share in the comments.
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