Management 3.0

I want to write today about my experience with the knowledge provided by the teachings proposed by Management 3.0. I had the opportunity to attend two official training sessions. The first one was between April 1st and April 8th, 2020, during which I became certified in Management 3.0 Online. The second one was on June 6th and 7th, 2020, when I became certified in Fundamentals Online Workshop. Since then, whenever possible, I seek to apply and encourage this model and its tools with my clients because it genuinely helps in the harmonious development of teams. When well applied, this model can bring many positive consequences for team productivity.

Since 2010, I have been working with Cognitive Behavioral Development. Throughout this period, I immersed myself in seeking knowledge on the subject. I attended numerous trainings, studied on weekends and holidays, and read many specialized books and articles. This led me to achieve internationally recognized certifications and diplomas, such as MBA in Project Management, MBA in Human Talent Management and Executive Coaching, Postgraduate in Positive Psychology with Coaching, Postgraduate in People Management with Coaching, Master Coaching Senior Trainer, Prince2 Practitioner, PMP, Master Behavioral Analyst Trainer, Advanced Leader Coach Training, Agile Coach Professional, Okr Master Certified, Kanban Professional, Business and Executive Coaching, Scrum Foundations Professional, Scrum Master, Professional & Self Coaching, among many others related to management, human behavior, and behavioral development. These knowledge areas were an integral part of two of my published books, “The Coaching Secret,” as a co-author, and “The Map Is Not The Territory, You Are The Territory,” published in Portuguese and English (soon to be available in Spanish) and available for sale in over 40 countries worldwide. They also contributed to my doctoral thesis on “The Relationship Between Teleworking and Burnout Syndrome,” which supports the defense of tangible and intangible risks that teleworking can cause in terms of psychological disorders, including Burnout Syndrome, in individuals.

I present this curriculum summary to support the claim I made about Management 3.0 and its structure and didactic content, which, when properly applied, enables effective results in team management and development, especially in the agile world. Jurgen Appelo, the creator of this model, clearly incorporates elements of positive psychology, behavioral psychology, and social psychology into his work. He bases his theories on modern complex systems, recognizing that current organizations are active and interconnected systems. Throughout his work, it is easy to observe various points of convergence between these psychological concepts and his ideas, especially visible in the various tools and games of Management 3.0.

For this reason, I fell in love with the proposed management model because it is connected to people and their relationships. It makes a strong statement with its methodology by asserting that “management is too important to be left only to managers,” and it is absolutely correct in his book “Management 3.0: Leading Agile Developers, Developing Agile Leaders,” published in 2010, that the concept of Management 3.0 brings a more humanized management approach to the company, where people should be the most important asset of the organization.

Indeed, when you apply the proposed knowledge and tools, it becomes evident that the focus is on human resources, and they are central assets in any company. However, for talents to make quick and appropriate decisions, it is necessary to provide them with ample autonomy and freedom, empowering them. This instills in people the fundamental idea that confusion about priorities and restrictions can compromise the quality of deliverables. Therefore, it is essential to have clear boundaries and requirements for all stakeholders. Communication and human relationships then become key elements in any management approach, regardless of the model.

Management 3.0 is not necessarily a methodology, but rather a set of concepts that align with a series of practices. There is no strict rule or linear path to follow. To apply it, you must first know where the company wants to go and what it will pay attention to. To do this, you must understand how the complex body of your company works, have a clear organizational culture, and identify where your time bottlenecks are and how your team is performing in terms of interaction, deliverables, and productivity. One of the objectives of this model is to engage people through healthy relationships and thereby boost business growth with clarity and transparency through sincere feedback among all team members, focusing on a common goal: rapid, effective, and agile deliverables for creating incredible products. This also reduces employee turnover and increases satisfaction. In other words, Management 3.0 fundamentally serves to change people’s way of thinking. Leaders and managers become involved in systemic reflection on actions, with leaders taking on the mission of exercising Agile and Lean principles as a provocative guide for themselves and their teams to become “agile.”

Therefore, one of the main measures to make it real in companies is to create an environment where everyone involved feels comfortable thinking, deciding, and innovating. To understand Management 3.0, Appelo makes reference to other models in which he contextualizes the timeline of various people management approaches. He summarizes it as follows:

• Management 1.0:

An outdated model in which companies tend to follow hierarchies, guided by orders and commands, with little to no freedom in decisions and creations. Power is centralized and in the hands of a few individuals, and the decision-making structure is top-down.

• Management 2.0:

Became widespread from the 1980s onwards. It is based on a style that seeks quality and brings improvements to management, developing some more effective new techniques such as the Six Sigma methodology, Total Quality Management (TQM), and others. However, the decision-making structure is still very hierarchical, and employees have little active and participatory voice.

• Management 3.0:

It is a mindset, combined with a collection of games, tools, and practices in constant evolution, to help any professional manage the organization. It is a way of observing systems at work. It seeks to value people and teams. The focus is on creating an environment where everyone is responsible for the success of the business, and it is up to the teams to determine how tasks are done, removing verticality from the management system and seeking a more horizontal, less bureaucratic, and open-door management approach. There is a concern for human relationships, encouraging communication and interaction among people. The quality of life and well-being of employees also become a concern for the company. In this sense, Management 3.0 proposes six clear and objective principles:

Energize People:

For the strategy to be successful, it is essential to engage people and keep them creative and motivated to do their best. Energizing people is the first step in changing the company’s culture by applying the practices and concepts of Management 3.0. Through this, people feel more important and valued in their contexts, capable of progressing and accepting organizational changes. There are two types of motivators: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivations lead to introspective intrapersonal behavior, where the person is rewarded for what makes sense to them, something unique. These motivations are closely related to personal values, purposes, aspirations, interests, desires, dreams, etc. Extrinsic motivations involve behaviors motivated extrospectively by interpersonal factors, such as respect, recognition, belonging, financial gains, benefits, etc. Extrinsic motivations tend to be more volatile since their value is quickly dissipated. Therefore, the focus should be on intrinsic motivations first and then on extrinsic ones. It is essential to recognize that all motivators should be considered as personal preferences, and each person sees life differently, attaching value to what makes sense to them. However, neuroscience also determines that there is a reward system activation in all of us, and understanding how this system works allows us to design strategies according to individual and collective profiles.

Empower People:

Teams should be self-organized and, therefore, need to have autonomy and trust from management. The goal is to decentralize to grow. Recognize the best in each team member and help them become self-managed. In this way, the team itself functions without the need for external pressures. Team members seek to achieve organizational homeostasis and clearly understand what is expected of them, with what level of specificity, and within what time frame they need to complete their activities for the smooth progress of the project. When the team reaches this level of maturity, relationships become respectful and reciprocal, where everyone feels like part of a self-managed group, helping each other whenever necessary. This leads to sustainable professional and knowledge growth and encourages freedom to seek help, negotiate, change work formats, and more, as long as it benefits the team. The role of managers or leaders becomes that of a facilitator, ready to make recommendations, provide guidance, and observations, but the team can continue without constant supervision.

Align Constraints:

Even when teams are encouraged to self-management, they must ethically develop rules and limitations to avoid confusion between freedom and disorder. Misusing freedom without common sense, even though it may seem like freedom, actually goes against the principles of responsibility. Freedom cannot compromise focus and should not trigger issues such as vanity or ego, as all these can become toxic to the company. Therefore, it is essential to establish a consensus to set limits or restrictions before starting a project, whether it’s software development, creating another product, or managing a department. Flexibility does not mean there are no rules. On the contrary, rules play an essential role in allowing everyone to adapt their activities to the work rhythm that suits them best without disrupting the rest of the team. Aligning constraints is one of the necessary perspectives for those adopting Management 3.0, facilitating clarity and feedback.

Developing Competencies

A self-organized team must also be self-sufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the collaborators, and multidisciplinary teams can be created, where everyone can contribute to the progress of a project. It is the manager’s responsibility to foster the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes of each team member so that the team becomes capable of handling demands and achieving results. Continuously developing people and creating a cultural environment where knowledge is shared should be a priority. It is essential to create favorable environments for the development of various competencies, from technical skills to so-called soft skills. Competencies such as behavioral skills, leadership, emotional intelligence, and self-control gain relevance as they facilitate teamwork and enhance the creative potential of collaborators, allowing them to learn about the customer’s preferences through an empathetic perspective.

Growing the Structure

A well-administered organization that delivers quality products or services will always tend to grow. Therefore, if there is cooperation among collaborators and a management focused on results, expansion should always be on the radar. As the organization grows, its organizational structure also needs to evolve consistently and sustainably, without losing sight of a positive work environment. Changes should not cause trauma or revert to old management concepts based on command and control. One of the most evident ways to achieve this is by focusing on communication and collaboration between teams, encouraging conscious business growth with a focus on quality while maintaining the well-being of employees. In this way, there will be no intangible goals or excessive demands for rapid expansion. The key is for the team to develop enough to handle greater responsibilities in a healthy manner.

Improving Everything

Finally, it must be clear that for Management 3.0 to be properly applied, continuous improvement is mandatory. This model requires always seeking constant improvement, and mistakes should be seen as opportunities for improvement. Both leaders and the rest of the team should understand that errors are part of the journey and are essential for growth. By doing so, the business can thrive sustainably and predictably. Many valuable lessons can be learned from mistakes, so it is necessary to create space for them, identify failures quickly, and correct them, refining the activity. This way, neither leaders nor other collaborators will be afraid to take on responsibilities, as they can use mistakes as stepping stones to a successful experience in the near future. Over time, it becomes easier to predict and avoid small and large occurrences, something that is understood and desired by everyone. Sharing lessons learned, being open to criticism and suggestions, and being present to help those who have difficulties are crucial in this process.

In summary, as stated in the text “How to Improve Everything” from the Management 3.0 website, “A great way for a manager to drive change is to make it desirable and make stagnation painful.” Once this sentiment becomes part of the company culture, improvement initiatives will become more natural. There are three strategies to improve performance: experiment and change individual habits, combine old practices of good managers with current ones, and learn from other leaders who share their information. According to Appelo, you can use 7 rules to manage creatively:

1. Foster diversity.
2. Establish a competitive market.
3. Trust in the practical applications of Management 3.0.
4. Do not make predictions, always keep your eyes open.
5. Keep the workplace up-to-date.
6. Optimize changes.
7. Keep an open mind, make connections instead of limitations.

PRACTICES AND APPLICATIONS OF MANAGEMENT 3.0

One of the aspects that I identify most with Management 3.0 is its close alignment with the agile world. This makes sense when we understand that Jurgen Appelo has a background in software development, and therefore, the six views of Management 3.0, with a focus on people, resemble the Agile Manifesto. I truly believe that Management 3.0 would not exist without Agile Methods. However, the significant difference is that the concept was developed primarily for use in IT companies, but Management 3.0 can be applied to other areas and types of companies. Its principles and practices are “living” and self-adjusting, providing a new approach to managing teams to achieve more engaged and productive people, aiming for a more agile organization.

Once you master the practice, you will come to the same conclusion that I did: Management 3.0 is not just about agility or a rule-based methodology. It offers something much greater, focusing on healthy, sensible, and adaptable management that fits the reality of each company. If Management 3.0 is a change of mindset, the practical applications and games developed by Appelo can lead your company into the 3.0 era. I will now briefly describe the 8 tools that I use the most:

1. PERSONAL MAPS

I was familiar with this practice since my early coaching training. It was one of the first tools I used when conducting coaching and leadership training. This method is excellent for breaking the ice in training or workshops. The results are always surprising, so I continue to use it. The basic idea is to get to know the people who are part of our daily lives, whether at work, family, or friends. How many times in your life have you sat next to someone for a long time without truly knowing them? Its usefulness is fundamental, especially now that companies have increasingly adopted remote work, which tends to hinder interpersonal contact with different opinions and life stories. With this technique, it is possible to understand people better, improving relationships in the process. To apply it is simple: Take a piece of paper and write your name in the center. Then, like a mind map, write words related to you, such as formal education, hobbies, names of family members, friends, personal goals, or anything else you want to include. Start with small and obvious things and expand to deeper characteristics, and then share them with your colleagues. The best teams interact with each other to build trustful relationships. However, this feeling doesn’t always happen naturally. For geographically distributed or newly formed teams or remote teams, building trust can be even more challenging. In the Management 3.0 training, you also learn to deal with challenges of remote or less cohesive teams. The guidance is to create the figure of a facilitator to help the team get to know each other better and increase empathy, thus building trust. According to Jurgen Appelo: When team members understand each other, they also appreciate each other, which generates an empathetic feeling when they trust each other, and that’s the first step to having a high-performance team. To facilitate this, there are some tools that can help, such as Google Jamboard, PowerPoint, or adapting the exercise using mind mapping tools.

2. DELEGATION POKER

I became familiar with this activity in the Management 3.0 course. Appelo had a brilliant perception that delegation is not binary. He brings with this exercise seven levels of delegation ranging from level 1 (Manager decides) to 7 (Full Autonomy). He also noticed that delegation does not have to affect the entire organizational structure. We can handle it process by process, area by area, or situation by situation if we prefer. He also realized that delegation can occur in various types of relationships. I used this exercise for the first time in a leadership development consultancy that I conducted with the company Transforme Soluções Energéticas, located in the Midwest of Brazil, with an office in Dallas (USA), and the result was fantastic. The main objective was to enable the team to organize itself for each significant challenge. The exercise aims to stimulate the relationships within the group to identify who is responsible for each task in the team. Encouraging decentralization and the possibility of self-management creates total synergy. For better results, today I use it in conjunction with the Delegation Board, and I use it for two different moments: the current state (as-is) and the desired state (to-be).

How Delegation Poker Works

Let’s suppose that your team takes on a new implementation project, and you need to define the distribution of tasks within the group based on the desired level of delegation. Who will have the autonomy to determine responsibilities? The game should follow these steps:

1º – A participant chooses a real or hypothetical situation and voices it out loud to the team.

2º – Then, each team member silently chooses one of the seven cards from the deck that will represent seven levels of delegation, according to what they feel skilled in and fully aware should be done in that situation:

• Card 1 – Tell: I will tell the team what to do.

• Card 2 – Sell: I will try to sell the idea of what should be done.

• Card 3 – Consult: I will consult the team and decide what should be done.

• Card 4 – Agree: We, as a team, will agree together on what should be done.

• Card 5 – Advise: I will advise on what I think is best, but the team will decide.

• Card 6 – Inquire: I will ask about the decision after they have made it.

• Card 7 – Delegate: I will fully delegate this decision.

After everyone has chosen, they reveal their cards simultaneously by placing them on the table. Everyone earns points based on the values of the cards:

• Tell card is worth 1 point

• Sell card is worth 2 points

• Consult card is worth 3 points

• Agree card is worth 4 points

• Advise card is worth 5 points

• Inquire card is worth 6 points

• Delegate card is worth 7 points

3º – If you are the only one who played a certain card, do not count your points for that card. The remaining cards are tallied.

4º – Count the cards that scored the highest and lowest points and write them on a board visible to everyone.

5º – The cards that were most and least chosen by the team need to be justified by those who selected them, explaining why they made that choice.

6º – It is time to make a decision!

7º – To reach a consensus on the process to be taken for the chosen situation, it is recommended to create a visual board to tally the final result.

3. DELEGATION BOARD

The Delegation Board is important for the team to gradually mature and, as a result, gain more autonomy. It is essential to consider the reality and context of each situation. For example, you won’t hand over a major project to your team’s full responsibility right away. However, you can involve them in decision-making through a 7-step process. When used together with Delegation Poker, it becomes possible to define both the current state and the desired state of the company. I received excellent feedback when using both together at Florus Cosméticos Company.

The Delegation Board is based on the 7 levels of delegation:

1. Tell: You will explain your decision without the need for discussion.

2. Sell: You present an idea and try to convince your team.

3. Consult: You ask first and then, based on the answers, make a decision respecting the team’s opinions.

4. Agree: The decision is made together, considering everyone’s input.

5. Advise: You will give your opinion, but the final decision is up to the team.

6. Inquire: Let the team make the decision, and then ask them to convince you.

7. Delegate: Finally, the decision is entirely the team’s responsibility, as they have the competence and knowledge for it.

It’s important that the discussion topics are properly explained, either by the manager or an experienced facilitator, and ensuring that everyone understands what it’s about. Then, each person chooses their card and displays it to the group – if it’s a remote setting, using a camera is necessary so that all participants are aware of each other’s choices. The extremes explain why they see things that way, the team discusses, and once everyone reaches an agreement, the topic is placed in the corresponding column. To facilitate this, as a suggestion, you can use a project management application for recording and tracking, or a board that can be accessed by everyone.

Using the Delegation Board and Delegation Poker together:

When I apply these two exercises together, I do them in two rounds: The first to highlight where we currently stand, and the second to define where we want to be. It’s essential that the team goes through a process of clarifying the reasons and intentions behind the activities and thus gains the acceptance of all involved parties to be open to the dynamics. Otherwise, there won’t be engagement from those absent or in disagreement with the process.

1st Part – The Current State (As-Is)

In a face-to-face setting, I use post-its and distribute them to team members and the manager. In a remote setting, you can adapt with sharing tools available on Google. An important observation must be considered by all participants in the dynamic: whether or not to maintain traceability of the involved parts. If you decide to maintain it, the main advantage will be clarity, as everyone will know what each part thinks. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that it may inhibit people, so in any group dynamic, it should always be clear about its objectives and the potential benevolence. It is essential to break paradigms.

If you decide to keep traceability, use different post-it notes for the parts. For each process or project, ask people to decide the delegation level they believe they have for it. They write the number between 1 and 7 on the post-it based on their own assessment and awareness of what should be done in that situation. When everyone has chosen, ask them to put the post-it on the board, which should be visible and accessible to all.

Start Filling Out the Delegation Board

If there are divergences, ask people to explain why they chose a specific level, sincerely and objectively. Always encourage people to speak their minds, emphasizing that there is no right or wrong, and the exercise is meant for each person to find their best level, especially for those who are on the extremes, the most or least chosen. Take note of what they are saying. Have a reflection round and repeat the dynamic until there is a consensus. The key is to instigate systemic thinking so that, in other opportunities, people take different positions.

Once you have the delegation level for each process, move on to the next and repeat the dynamic until you reach the last item on the table. Take notes, take photos, and allow everyone to access the board to clarify the chosen delegation levels. This is the portrait of where you currently stand.

2nd Part – The Desired State (To-Be)

Repeat the entire procedure described in the previous section. The question changes to: What delegation level would we like to have? An essential point to note is that the goal is not to reach level 7 for all processes. In some cases, it may not be feasible or adaptable. For example, hiring and firing are much more complex issues that involve a chain of responsibilities and various factors like psychological, financial, and strategic aspects. Therefore, in these cases, it is always advisable for the leader, manager, or facilitator to be involved at this level of decision-making. Changes in the team should always be addressed at a level that requires much more responsibility and maturity. Thus, depending on how mature the team is, you may determine only the maximum level 6.

The Sum of Two Dynamics for the Ideal Condition

Visualizing the Current and Desired States

Highlight the difference between the post-it notes that represent the current state and the desired state. For example, use different colors or sizes for this representation (Delegation Poker with the combination of the current state, represented by red post-it notes, and the desired state, represented by green post-it notes). In the end, you will have a board that demonstrates the reality of what the team actually expects in each activity or project. It is essential to analyze with coherence what the board is saying. Therefore, always make it clear that consensus should be reached for situations where the list contains two or more items to prioritize. Which item is the most important on the table? It may be the one that represents the greatest conflict or dissatisfaction in the relationship or the one that represents the largest gap between the current state and the desired state.

Putting It into Practice

The next step is to encourage participants to start the process based on the results of the dynamic and define the actions that everyone will take to move from the current state to the desired state in each process. Remember, everything is possible on the board, but in practice, that’s where things happen. Therefore, it is not enough to define the actions; they must be executed. It is better to have a few possible actions that can be implemented than to have dozens of planned actions with nothing accomplished.

4. HAPPINESS DOOR

Whatever the client work I am involved in, one of my greatest concerns is to monitor their satisfaction. After all, everyone is investing time, money, and dedication in some way. That’s why I always make sure to gather feedback. Feedback is the thermometer for everything I need to improve, and I always pay attention to it. There’s no better way than continuously asking participants to express their thoughts and always considering the structure, the content provided, and my performance as an explainer.

In summary, feedback is a way to evaluate and give an opinion about the completion of a task, for example. In its concept, feedback means the return of information; it’s the natural act of responding to processes, tensions, activities, conversations, stimuli, etc. Feedback is often understood merely as something verbal, but it can be expressed in various ways.

However, it’s essential to clarify that feedback is crucial because it allows us to express how we feel and what we think about someone else’s actions that affect us in some way. It helps create more honest environments and relationships, contributing to development and improvement. It is a rational nourishment that occurs through the provision of information for performance adjustment, based on critical thinking rather than common sense. Therefore, feedback is not an opinion expressing a feeling or emotion, but rather a return that validates or invalidates a given behavior or achievement based on clear, objective, and verifiable parameters. One of the tools I use most with my clients nowadays is the “Happiness Door.” It’s a mix of “Feedback Wall” and “Happiness Index.” In summary:

• Feedback Wall: Participants simply stick notes on the board.
• Happiness Index: Suggests that people indicate their happiness on a scale from 1 to 5.
• Happiness Door = Feedback Wall + Happiness Index

As a practice to use the Happiness Door for obtaining feedback in my activities with clients, I create a board displayed at the entrance of the location where I will conduct my activities. I expose four indicative stages of the participants’ mood. These stages are represented by figures:

• A smiling face in blue.
• A serious face in yellow.
• A sad face in lilac.
• A face with no expression.

At the end of each interval, I ask all participants to write a note on a post-it about their happiness to indicate their satisfaction with the training. Upon their return, I give a 15-minute break to discuss what is good and what can be improved. It’s a rule for participants to place their notes, and they can even put a face with no expression, but they cannot leave the room without posting their position.

Feedback is extremely valuable to me as it helps me become a better facilitator and meet the participants’ expectations. Furthermore, it creates a positive pressure on me to provide valuable training, improve my way of conducting activities, enhance knowledge and training materials, and invest a significant amount of time to always achieve better preparation. By using the Happiness Door, I always confront the reality that I need to evolve, increasing my determination to find my best self.

5. IKIGAI

Certainly, due to the quality and proposal of Management 3.0, the Ikigai “mandala” couldn’t be missing in its activities. It’s an activity I practice with my coachees since I started coaching.

For curiosity, Ikigai means “a reason for being” and is the union of two words: “iki,” which means life, and “kai,” which means realization of desires and expectations. The philosophy was created on the island of Okinawa, in southern Japan, where its inhabitants have a high life expectancy, above 100 years. This activity is applied at a personal level to help a person find their own reason for being (their Ikigai). With practice, you quickly realize that its use goes beyond individual understanding and can be clearly extended to teamwork. Today, it is part of my portfolio of activities.

The first time I used it in a company was around 2013 at the Instituto Áureos do Brasil. I decided to conduct a simple exercise with the team to help them find the reason for being of IAB, which, at the request of the management, they wanted to improve by mastering the identification of what truly matters to their employees ethically. The mandala consists of four circles that identify:

• What You Love,
• What the World Needs,
• What You Can Be Paid For, and
• What You Are Good At.

1º. The intersections of the four circles identify the mission, vocation, occupation, and passion:

• Mission: Doing what you love while serving what the world needs.
• Vocation: Serving what the world needs and being paid for it.
• Occupation: Being paid for what you do well.
• Passion: Doing well what you love.

2º. From these four intersections, four others are generated:

• Passion + mission: Generates joy and fulfillment but lacks prosperity, as vocation and occupation are missing.
• Mission + vocation: Generates enthusiasm and complacency but comes with uncertainty, as occupation and passion are missing.
• Vocation + occupation: Generates comfort, but there is a feeling of emptiness as passion and mission are missing.
• Occupation + passion: Generates satisfaction, but there is a feeling of uselessness as mission and vocation are missing.

3º. The encounter of passion, mission, vocation, and occupation determines the reason for being.

For example, one of the results found among the participants and that delighted me was that of manager Adriana M. S. Gonçalves, a facilitator responsible for training development. Her Ikigai was formulated as follows:

• What she loves: Teaching people.
• What the world needs (and what she can contribute): Interpersonal and intrapersonal knowledge, human values, ethics, equality, and respect.
• What she can be paid for: Knowledge and experience in teaching acquired through her tireless quest for knowledge.
• What she is good at: Communication and content creation.

Considering the four circles, Ikigai needs to contain at least one item from each circle. In her case, she used all the items mentioned, so her reason for being is: “I am proud to be part of the IAB team, where I found space to dedicate myself to what I love the most, which is sharing knowledge. Today, my main activity and purpose are to be a facilitator capable of accelerating the evolutionary process in people’s lives, awakening awareness in human beings and the desire to move from the state of “being” to the state of “doing.”

It is a respectable reason for being, isn’t it? Also, it is very easy to explain to other employees, as it can be broken down into what we love, what the world needs, what we are paid for, and what we are good at, as well as what our mission, vocation, occupation, and passion are. This allows for the simplification of the internalization of one’s organizational participation in relation to the concept.

6. KUDO CARDS

In my work, I am always in direct contact with HR departments of companies, and having activities and exercises that effectively bring results is a significant demand from those responsible for this area. This is because the search for talents nowadays requires a very careful process, as it has become a significant challenge for any HR department. HR departments continuously build structures not only to attract outstanding professionals but also to retain them. For this, it is essential to have a pleasant and stimulating work environment. This is where Kudo Cards come in. They are a tool directly associated with the culture of recognition, which contributes to the appreciation of employees, creating a positive atmosphere. The practice consists of colleagues recognizing positive behaviors and attitudes in each other using cards. For curiosity, Kudo Cards have this name because, translating the term “Kudos” from English to Portuguese, it means public admiration that someone receives for a particular achievement or their position in society.

The idea of Kudo Cards is to increase employee engagement and motivation. At Florus, the results of implementing this activity caught the attention of the company’s CEO, Fabio Mazzon. He clearly noticed an increase in people’s motivation when they adopted this practice in the company. It can be summarized as follows:

When someone from the team takes a positive action, their colleagues can fill out a card highlighting their qualities. The message can also be sent anonymously. However, it is interesting that these cards are creative, fun, and colorful to generate more stimulation.

It works because it incorporates many aspects of positive psychology, a relatively new approach within behavioral sciences that basically focuses on the pursuit of happiness and other positive feelings, such as satisfaction, optimism, kindness, and humor. This theory is based on some elements that constitute the path to achieve fullness. We can observe its influence in the principles of Kudo Cards, mainly when we notice elements such as engagement, relationships, and achievements.

In the case of Florus, the team manager first created the Kudo Box. It is a box where team members can deposit their Kudo Cards. The box doesn’t need to be very elaborate; simple boxes are enough for the purpose. However, remember that the more creative, the better. What matters is that the Kudo Box is positioned in a location that is easily accessible, and anyone can see and deposit the Kudo Card. At Florus, they placed it in the coffee area. The second fundamental point is where the Kudo Cards will be displayed. After printing them, they also place them in a location with high circulation and easy access. At Florus, they were placed in the coffee area as well.

Thus, when someone takes an action worthy of admiration, colleagues can recognize it through the Kudo Card. Team members are encouraged to write elaborate messages. The Kudo Card can be anonymous or not, depending on the writer’s preference. The objective is motivational.

Before implementing this activity, it is interesting to have a brief discussion to reinforce the fundamental objectives and what it adds to the values of the company’s organizational culture through the use of Kudo Cards. For example, you can explain that the author of the Kudo Card indicates which value for the company was identified in the action being recognized. After filling it out, the card is deposited in the Kudo Box. Also, when using Kudo Cards, the intention is not to generate the opposite effect to what is desired: that, instead of stimulating collaborative work, they end up encouraging individualism, feeding people’s ego and vanity. It is essential to emphasize that teamwork works with individual contributions for the group.

The next step is to establish a frequency for opening the box and reading the cards. You can choose monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, for example. In Florus, they hold a special breakfast monthly with the participation of everyone, where the team can see what is being valued and by whom, strengthening the sense of reward. The reading can be done in various different ways. You can choose one person to read all the Kudo Cards, each one being recognized, the author of the message, or even distribute them randomly to the team members to read and deliver to the recipient. In this client’s case, they draw someone to read them. Once a Kudo Card is received, the person chooses what to do with it. There are some interesting possibilities: you can create a mural or reserve a place where people can put their received cards, as is the case at Florus. Alternatively, you can do it individually, with a small mural for each team member. This can be a great motivation for team members. This place is called the Kudo Wall.

I recommend this activity because, and here I will extend the explanation a bit further: In social psychology, the culture of recognition, in essence, is a treatment model where the company seeks to value its employees in the best possible way. It consists of taking actions that reward team members in a context where the competition for talent is growing every day. Many companies still think that money is the only way to motivate people to work. It is indeed an essential way, but it is only one of the possible motivations. On a scale from zero to ten, where ten is the highest, research points out that financial recognition is between 2 and 3 as a reference for an employee to feel satisfied with the company. Professional achievement, for example, is another powerful tool of psychological stimulation and averages around 8.

One of the things that the culture of recognition brings, and that Kudo Cards reinforce, is intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation, as explained before, is the one that drives people to do things out of their own interest and not because of external stimuli.

It is precisely this concept that connects Kudo Cards and the culture of recognition. Unlike things like bonuses or raises, Kudo Cards seek to stimulate intrinsic motivation, which is more lasting, sustainable, and usually of lower cost.

Small things can be written on the cards, from the kindness of serving a cup of coffee to gaining new clients. They are rewards that improve the organizational climate, creating a sense of gratitude and collaboration.

7. MOVING MOTIVATORS (CHAMPFROGS)

This model, idealized by Appelo, is of great value for individuals to reflect on their own motivation and how they are affected by changes in the company. It is extremely useful for all Business Executive Coaching professionals. The facilitation exercise of Moving Motivators is based on the Champfrogs’ ten intrinsic desires model – what motivates us the most. Jurgen Appelo developed the game based on the works of Daniel Pink, Steven Reiss, and Edward Deci / Richard Ryan. In the Moving Motivators exercise, there are many theories based on psychology about what motivates humans best, all differing in small details. The Champfrogs model is one of the best approaches of all. The name CHAMPFROGS is an acronym for the following words:

– Curiosity: Workers are motivated when they have many things to investigate and think about – Do you still have things to think about and relevant ideas?

– Honor: Workers feel proud when their values are reflected in their work – How do you win people around you? Are you proud that your personal values reflect in your work?

– Acceptance: Workers are motivated when their colleagues approve of what they do and who they are – Am I accepted for what I do and for who I am by my colleagues?

– Mastery: The worker is motivated when the work challenges their competence but within their possibilities – Are my skills capable of handling the challenges?

– Power: There is enough room for workers to influence what happens around them – How do I exercise authority, and how do I receive it?

– Freedom: People are motivated when they are independent from each other with their work and responsibilities – Are you independent and free to do your activities? What are the limits?

– Relatedness: People are motivated when they have good social contacts with others in their work – Do you relate well to your colleagues?

– Order: Workers are motivated when they have enough rules and policies for a stable environment – Are you organized? Are the company’s rules enough for the environment?

– Goal: People are motivated when their life purpose is reflected in the work they do – Do your life goals reflect in your work? Are you optimistic?

– Status: People are motivated when they have a good position and are recognized by their peers – How is your credibility in the company?

Now let’s move on to the game! Moving Motivators is a facilitation format that I often use. Moving Motivators use a set of cards as metaphors to reflect on people’s motivation and how it is affected by organizational changes. It is based on the Champfrogs’ ten intrinsic desires model – what motivates us the most.

For this activity, a facilitator is essential, not mandatory, but having someone facilitating and guiding makes all the difference. The facilitation of Moving Motivators reveals the effect of a (organizational) change on people’s motivators. When most important motivators drop, or when only the less important ones go up, you may notice that you have some work to do on your own motivation. For facilitation, prepare a set of cards for each participant. The facilitator should ask the participants at the beginning to make notes on their own and others’ results.

Each word represents a card. The first step is to place the cards in order of individual importance. For example, if you think Freedom is more important than Status, put the Freedom card first and continue the sequence until you reach the least important one.

The second step is to discuss how changes, both external and internal, can affect your motivation. What if you changed departments within the company? What if some rules and permissions were changed? Here, you can create scenarios that are possible in your company. The mission is to organize the cards between positive and negative motivations, like a list of pros and cons to help you make decisions.

The third step is to discuss which points are more or less important for the team. With the discussion done as a group, you will be able to see which indicators are important for that team and which ones can hinder productivity. When I apply this activity, I consider the following rules:

Golden rules for applying Moving Motivators

– What motivates me? – time-box: 10min:

The facilitator should ask the participants to determine which motivators are most important to them individually. The participants should respond by ranking the cards from left (less important) to right (most important: 5 min). When the participants finish their ranking, everyone should explain to others their ordering of motivators (5 min).

– How changes affect my motivation? – time-box: 20min:

The facilitator asks the participants to consider a change in their professional life, such as an Agile transformation, a relocation, a new project, or a new job. If the change is positive, the participants should move the card upward, or if the change is negative, move it downward. When the change had no effect on the motivator, the card should stay in the middle. (15 min) Allow each participant to explain their results to others to ensure high visibility (5 min).

You will probably see that organizational changes have a different impact on different motivators. For example, the Agile transformation of your team might make your Curiosity card go up, but your Competence card may (temporarily) go down. Or the new job you applied for will increase your own Status, while it may decrease your Relatedness. Depending on the complexity of the exposed facilitation and the given timeframe, the facilitator often repeats step 2 to analyze the dependencies of changing a new motivator for all other motivators.

Management 3.0 presents this model to help understand the main motivators of each person. It specifically deals with motivation in the context of work life and consists of ten motivators that are intrinsic, extrinsic, or a little of both. In it, each team member has ten cards representing the ten Champfrogs’ motivators. Each person places these cards in order of value from most to least important to them and then moves up the motivators that are being positively triggered and down the motivators that are being negatively triggered. Based on this, the team can debate their motivators, energize the team, and identify areas for improvement. What motivates you most as a person and as a professional? Would it be recognition from your professional peers or having autonomy and freedom in your daily work at the company? Discovering these motivations is the goal of the Moving Motivators practice. Besides providing individual and collective self-awareness, it is also used for activities with leaders to allocate professionals more accurately according to each project’s needs.

8. 12 STEPS TO HAPPINESS

Finally, I want to address here a dynamic that has become a “mantra” in all the companies where I provide consultancy. I always encourage and make it clear about the 12 steps to happiness. Talking about happiness and satisfaction in the workplace may seem like an illusion or a self-help issue, but it is not. The well-being of employees is what should be the main focus, and in the complex system that a company is, Appelo developed 12 steps to achieve happiness that should be practiced in all organizations:

1. Thank at least once a day, for something or someone within the company;

2. Give something to someone or make it possible for someone to give something to another person;

3. Help someone in need;

4. Eat healthily;

5. Exercise;

6. Rest;

7. Try new things;

8. Explore nature, not just stay stuck in your concrete office;

9. Meditate;

10. Maintain and pay attention to your social relationships;

11. Set a goal and make sure that the company’s employees understand it and help achieve it;

12. Smile.

Finally, whenever you apply the Management 3.0 dynamics as a facilitator, always pay attention to the following:

– Properly prepare the environment and have a formal chat before explaining the advantages and reasons clearly.

– Explain to people what it is about, its objectives, and the reasons for the task.

– Make sure all participants are harmonious and free.

– Always guide the process, paying attention to the details.

– Help them maintain focused and objective discussions.

– Moderately handle conflicts and disagreements.

– Help the group explore multiple aspects of the issue (systems thinking).

– Masterfully and sensitively shift focus from one topic to another.

– Help group members deal with the content by asking investigative questions.

– Help group members identify areas of agreement and disagreement.

– Create opportunities for everyone to participate.

– Summarize the key points of the discussion or ask others to do so.

Now that you know what Management 3.0 is, I invite you to take the training and improve your knowledge on the subject. I am sure it will make a significant difference for you as a person and as a professional, and it will bring results wherever you go. After all, the traditional corporate mindset, teamwork, and leadership used to be more or less separate entities, often authoritarian, bureaucratic, centralized, and top-down. There was a hierarchy, a corporate ladder. People led, and others followed. Teamwork existed, but it operated under the rules set by management and leadership. There was no room for innovation, inventiveness, or creativity. This type of mindset worked for years, but given the demands present in the increasingly identity-driven market today, companies and brands need to rethink their approach to managing things. With contemporaneity ready to take not only the customer base, but also the way things work today is less anchored in the way things used to be done. That’s what Management 3.0 is changing.

Management 3.0 sees and highlights the human value of teams and individual capacity, experience, and skill. Teams no longer depend solely on centralizing decisions from managers or even executives – instead, they gain a much greater sense of autonomy. In turn, this will be based on team characteristics, such as skill, competence, and reliability. These same factors will also contribute to what types of tasks are assigned to that team, as well as the turnaround time needed to complete the project. Management 3.0 also focuses on team growth, not individual growth, allowing teams to become more efficient and function as a cohesive and harmonious unit. This focus on growth is an essential characteristic of Management 3.0, making it a relevant and critical method that brands and companies should consider if they want to continue succeeding in the future.

With Management 3.0, it becomes much easier and direct for teams to undergo, understand, and accept gradual and radical changes, taking small steps and giant leaps to navigate through a challenging landscape. These changes are achieved through experimentation, explanation, (parallel) practicality, and consolidation of best practices from previous successes, as well as learning from others who are willing to share their own recommended practices.

Management 3.0 rewards investment in all directions and helps with growth, seeing any obstacles and challenges along the way as a means to a great end. Change means evolution and ongoing relevance. Staying stagnant and complacent is a death sentence.