The annual MERIT Summit, which had its inaugural event in Barcelona in 2017, is a forum where speakers, exhibitors and delegates specializing in HR and business education connect to discuss ideas, concepts and theories around what the workforce of the future might look like and how it would function. This year saw a mix of 250 participants from more than 20 different nationalities convening to drive the conversation forward.
Carlo Giardinetti attended the 2018 MERIT Summit in Lisbon as one of their esteemed speakers. In a talk titled ‘How Are Principles of Self-Management Gaining Traction in More Traditional and Hierarchical Organizations? An Update from Business and Business Education’, Carlo discussed how macro-trends forecast the emergence of new forms of governance in response to organizational needs for more agility, autonomy, and purpose. Addressing the fact that concepts like self-organization and self-management are no longer just academic terms and providing examples of concrete tools and successful case studies that are flourishing around the globe within a variety of organizations. Interrogating why this is happening, how this move towards worker autonomy is set to help businesses operate better and how these trends are projected to help our ‘dear world’. Using BSL as a case study, Carlo took attendees through his personal experience of working in a self-organized business school and supporting students at all levels in learning the principles of self-management and self-organization, truly defining the role business education plays in this transformation.
Speaking of the event Carlo explained that “VUCA and leadership programs were certainly hot topics at the summit. There was lively discussion around a blended learning approach combining short trainings, continuous job training, reflection points and ongoing coaching and monitoring to support business professionals.”
Added to this, there really does appear to be a lot of focus on teaching leaders the importance of changing perspective by sending them to bootcamps, and abroad to other offices, to escape the day to day and facilitate the transition to big picture thinking.
“It was apparent that self-organization, agility, autonomy, purpose are highly desirable by everybody, however, there was some resistance, especially from the perspective of the largest companies who are keen to learn more of what they can do without changing the paradigm completely” said Carlo.
Watch Carlo’s presentation at MERIT here.
