Book SummaryBrave New Work, by Aaron Dignan

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Brave New Work

To get the best results, leaders often try to control every aspect of an organization. However, the resulting bureaucracy and hierarchy actually prevent people from doing their best work. In Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan describes how to revolutionize organizations so they can adapt to the rapid pace of change in the modern world and help employees feel more engaged. His strategies to achieve autonomy and flexibility are customizable, and they’re shaped by collective input from employees as opposed to top-down reforms.

Dignan is an investor and...

Brave New Work Summary Why Old Organizational Structures Are Failing

In this section, we’ll explain why traditional organizations (which Dignan calls “Legacy Organizations”) are ineffective in the modern world. Dignan defines traditional organizations loosely as those having a rigid hierarchical structure. They tend to have managers at the top who make decisions and monitor other peoples’ work, and other employees who carry out their instructions and have little or no authority.

Dignan identifies two ways that traditional organizational structures are failing us today: They’re hindered by organizational debt (obsolete processes and structures that hinder an organization), and they undermine employees’ engagement at work.

Organizational Debt Creates Inefficiency

Organizational debt comes from processes that may have provided an important function at some point but no longer serve the organization.

For example, if an employee once spearheaded a project without permission, and it didn’t go well, a manager might have established a lengthy review process for approving new projects. This rule might have been intended to prevent a negative outcome in the future, but it ultimately discourages people from taking initiative, and it slows the...

Brave New Work Summary Foundational Principles: Autonomy and Flexibility

Now that we’ve discussed how traditional organizational structures are both economically inefficient and less enjoyable for workers, we’ll cover Dignan’s foundational principles to revolutionize organizations: autonomy for employees (what Dignan refers to as “people-positivity”) and flexible structures (what Dignan calls “complexity-consciousness”).

Dignan explains that his principles aren’t necessarily intended to help leaders run their organizations better, but rather to enable organizations to run themselves through decentralized yet coherent work toward a common goal.

Employee Autonomy

Dignan’s principle of autonomy is based on the assumption that people are trustworthy, intrinsically motivated, and capable of problem-solving. In a context where leaders expect these qualities in their employees, Dignan believes that employees will fulfill these expectations. On the other hand, if leaders believe that people are extrinsically motivated and need to be micromanaged to do good work, people will also internalize and fulfill these expectations.

(Shortform note: The term [“stereotype...

Brave New Work Summary Set the Stage for Change

To implement the key principles of autonomy and flexibility in your organization, Dignan explains the process of preparing your organization for big changes. He describes guidelines for introducing the principles over the long term and emphasizes the importance of establishing psychological safety and a consent process.

While some leaders might be less inclined to invest time and energy in invisible structures such as these, this type of groundwork is foundational to changes in other areas such as budgets, profit, and productivity.

Introducing the Principles Into Your Organization

Dignan notes the following points to keep in mind at all stages of change, particularly at the beginning when leaders have to commit to the process:

There’s no one-size-fits-all plan. Unlike other organizational strategies that provide step-by-step, detailed instructions, Dignan’s principles require group reflection and collaboration to design a system that works for your specific organization.

(Shortform note: Although each organization will have a unique pathway to becoming more flexible and autonomous, William and Susan Bridges’s _[Managing...

Brave New Work Summary Strategies for Implementing Change

Once you’ve set the stage for reform by establishing psychological safety and a consent process, you’re ready to implement Dignan’s strategies to combat disillusionment and inefficiency at work. Each of these strategies aims to incorporate his foundational principles of autonomy and flexibility into your organization.

Define a Unifying Purpose

Defining a unifying purpose is an essential step in establishing autonomy and flexibility because it enables cohesive work in a decentralized context. This should be a group effort (ideally using the consent process) to determine the overall purpose of the work, who your purpose serves, and how the purpose could be changed in the future if needed.

As individuals and groups gain the freedom to act autonomously, the unifying purpose should guide decisions and determine what organizational changes are needed. Metrics can be used to determine if the work is aligned with the unifying purpose, but not necessarily as a measure of success.

For example, if your organization’s purpose is to make access to clean water more equitable, members can use statistics on the number of new wells installed as a helpful indicator without it...

Shortform Exercise: Get Your Organization Ready for Reforms

Before you can begin revolutionizing your organization using Dignan’s recommendations, think about whether your organization satisfies the two conditions for implementing change: a unifying purpose and psychological safety.

Describe the purpose of your organization. Does the purpose motivate you and guide your decisions, or is it easy to forget amid the work?

Shortform Exercise: Identify Problems and Practice Looping

Dignan emphasizes the importance of enabling autonomy and flexibility as the foundation for making reforms in an organization. To guide more specific changes, Dignan recommends the process of looping—experimenting with new practices and assessing how well they work for your group. Looping begins with identifying areas that present a challenge or conflict.

Think about your role within an organization (your workplace, a nonprofit, or a community group), and write down one area that prevents you from doing your best work. This could be your relationship with a superior, your schedule, or a tedious bureaucratic requirement.