Oticon, a Danish company in hearing aids, was experiencing heavy weather when CEO Lars Kolind came on board in 1987. The corporate culture was hierarchical, conservative and complacent. Kolind wanted an innovative, self-directing organisation, where the walls between departments would disappear and people would choose their own projects to dovetail with their passions and talents. […]

Many employees consider the formulation of a vision for their organisation as a time- and money-consuming process without apparent use. Why do managers need endless meetings to come up with a few pretty but hollow phrases, which the workers could have written down in ten minutes? The cynicism felt in many organisations with regard to […]