Hack:
Yes, you can

We've studied organisations where this aversion to risk often finds it's ultimate expression in the way that the organisation addresses and instructs people in the most fundamental everyday ways possible. In one organisation, we memorably encountered a staff kitchen area containing almost 20 signs and posters telling people what they couldn't or mustn't do. Examples included:

• Do not place unwashed cups in the sink
• Do not leave your lunch in the fridge for more than 2 days
• Don't place your hands under the flow of boiling water

It's easy to see what has gone on here over time. Often, you can spot the first instruction, because it's a really important one that people might not otherwise know about - for example, don't open this cupboard door too hard, because it has been known to fall off it's hinges. But very soon, it becomes open season on similarly instructive posters, and before you know it, something a simple as getting a cup of coffee feels like being enclosed by a deafening chorus of often unecessary instructions.

This is partly about comms and signage, but they are just a symbolic expression of what this hack is all about. It goes deeper than that - into the way that we talk to one another and write policies.

This kind of thing matters because organisations need to adapt to the new freedom, experimentation and meritocracy that the deep principles of the web are driving in our society. Can you imagine a redesigned log-in screen on Twitter that got in your way by always listing 20 or so things you couldn't or mustn't do, and you needed to understand that before you were allowed to log in?

Twitter is a good example, because it offers a true and relevant expression of the accepted and collective wisdom of crowds. If there is something you need to know about a service provider, apps like Twitter and Foursquare have already crowd-sourced this. You take it seriously if you read someone you follow telling you about something you may need to be aware of.

So how can this work in organisations?

We think it starts at the very beginning of the relationship between a new colleague and an employer. We should use onboarding to give new colleagues licence to challenge and ask why when they are told about something that they can’t do.

This would create a constant, self-renewing insurgency and would do away with the issue that sometimes rules have been in place for so long that nobody can actually remember why they exist. It would force us to become better at making sure we knew why some things remain important. In addition, we need to be better at demonstrating that we want people to be courageous about sharing ideas.

When people have a good idea that works and is taken up, is that always highlighted? If not, it should be.

Even a simple, practical step like replacing ‘please don’t...’ posters with ones actively encouraging people to do bold things, and replicating this in the language we use more generally in the organisation will have a collective impact over time on helping nudge the culture towards something more open and collaborative. Even when red “don’t” signage is needed, we suggest accompanying it with companion green signage stating what other thing “can be done” and how this is valuable for the organisation.

This hack isn't just about removing the ways in which we tell people what they can't do. It's about encouraging experimentation and hacking across the organisation. So successes need to be highlighted and attributed, so that people know and understand which bits of accepted organisational practice started with a hack or an employee-driven experiment.

It's also about offering people more choice. Got an appraisal system that doesn't work for you? Guess what, you're not alone. What are the basic essentials the organisation needs from an appraisal? Beyond that, what have other people tried that has worked for them? Promoting this ability and freedom to hack beyond the essentials could be transformative in organisations.

And consider for a moment some organisations in which this more open and empowering style of language and communication works well for customers and staff:

• Netflix has built it's brand on being easy to interact with. It doesn't bombard customers with instructions or restrictions - instead, it talks from the first screen you see about how easy it is and how little effort you need to invest in order to start viewing it's content.
• Innocent famously pioneered a chatty, informal tone that has been widely (and not always successfully) imitated since - but in the process, it won a very loyal customer base by moving away from the cold and mechanical lists of ingredients, to talking to consumers about some of the great things about Innocent.
• Whole Foods adopt a similarly empowering and encouraging style of communication not just with customers but in the way they communicate with candidates through recruitment and selection.

These, and many other examples show organisations who have recognised the value of developing a culture of freedom, where individuals are trusted and empowered to make choices rather than be shepherded through narrow or confusing paths that leave them feeling as though they can't be relied upon to just follow the path that feels right for them.