I spent the weekend having my mind blown by Hyper Island, a bunch of Swedish hipsters / digital media industry experts, who conduct intense learning experiences in a converted prison on the Karlskrona archipelago.
Over a long weekend in Karlskrona, Sweden, along with my LBi colleagues, selected LBi clients and a handful of journalists (one of whom has starred in TWO Bollywood movies), I attended a Master Class in blending prepared specifically for us by Hyper Island.
I had mixed expectations. There was some trepidation — I knew only a handful of the 35 attendees — mixed with curiosity and hopefulness. What did they want with me? Why were there only two technologists going (the other one was from New York)? What would I be expected to contribute? I had visions of them asking me to build them a website in 2 days. Thankfully they asked nothing of the sort. But I did have one of the most intense learning experiences of my life. And I never thought I’d say that about change management.
As an overview of what we looked into over the 3 days, here’s a summary of the topics which stood out enough for me to remember them with no notes:
- We started by looking at transformational business change. Why it happens, or why it doesn’t happen, and what happens next.
- We talked about what we hated about our business, our jobs, and the way we did things.
- We talked about ourselves a little bit.
- We talked about a new, non-linear culture, where participation is the norm.
- We learned that if our clients are no longer a traditional destination for their customers, we need to work with them to identify their customers’ world and make them ubiquitous in it.
- We talked about learning from failed businesses, especially those who refused to change (or changed too late).
- We talked about helpful and harmful beliefs which a business (and its employees) can have.
- We talked about value not being held in products, but in customers.
- We talked about creating market spaces around customers.
- We learned about identifying desired outcomes (what the customer really wants).
- We learned to identify waste, remove it, and and add value instead.
- We talked about creating a case for change in order to succeed.
- We talked about changing the business creatively and imaginatively, but in a structured, disciplined manner.
- We learned to identify the main types of people in our business, those who could help and those who could hinder change.
- We talked about picking the best people, getting early wins, taking risks and being brave.
As so often in our industry, there were a few too many references to Apple, Inc. for my liking. Everybody can’t be an Apple, if only because so little is known about the way they run things internally. (Although actually I think we could definitely learn from mid-period sans-Jobs Apple, when first John Sculley and then Gil Amelio were in charge and they were rapidly going down the toilet. Those guys really did fail to put the customer first.) However David, Alan and Jonathan, our presenters over the 3 days, were obvious, outstanding experts in their fields, and had case studies, data and references coming out of their ears. I never once doubted their credentials.
The 3 day course was structured perfectly to first frustrate us, then to stimulate us and eventually to allow us to explore ourselves and our business in depth. The mix of international offices, clients and journalists was spot on. Our international LBi cousins were a fantastic bunch, the clients really seemed to buy into the experience (they were often more vocal than we were!) and I always felt I was able to be fully honest, and that what I expressed would be held in confidence by the group.
I’m aware that the power of what we learned felt strongest when it was still within the context of learning and exploration, facilitated by Hyper Island. I was wary of bringing all of our enthusiasm and verve home, to a possibly cynical crowd. But over several informal conversations since I’ve returned it really seems like a huge number of people are thirsty for change and improvement, and perhaps have been waiting for their voices to be heard.
Momentum will be important. It was great to be among like-minded individuals, and that will help when we need to continue pushing for new ideas and new ways of working.
The power of feeling in the room at Hyper Island was obvious from the start. The group had a fierce collective intelligence, were hungry for change and want to create true blending, not just talk about it. Talking about blending when we really mean ‘working in cross-discipline teams’ is not enough. Again and again we asked how we could apply what we learned and discovered to our everyday work. I feel we have been given permission to propagate change. Hyper Island’s expert facilitation techniques ensure you see the problem clearly, as well as the route to a solution. But you are entrusted to find your own way there.
This might include finding new ways of working more closely with clients; finding new ways of generating ideas; entrusting decisions to people other than ourselves; saying ‘no’ more often, and offering a better alternative. We might need to be ready to teach others our skills and give others responsibility; be more honest, and accept others’ honesty; identify clients’ and customers’ real needs, and address them. And so on.
One of my favourite messages from the whole experience was this line from David:
“Customers don’t care what department you belong to and who owns what asset or technology or who reports to whom – it’s the unified experience they value.”
In other words — you are what you make, not what your title is. So, what have you made today?
I felt privileged to have been invited to join the Hyper Island weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and feel energised and invigorated. I highly recommend them to anybody wishing to look at their business in a new way.
Some other views on the weekend:
- Contagious magazine article by @em2345
- montymunford’s (he of Bollywood stardom) What Happens In A Swedish Digital Prison, Stays In A Swedish Digital Prison
