Free Range Humans

Want Better Learning? Build Relational Organizations - A Conversation with Jody Hoffer Gittell

Episode Summary

"If all you are pushing are the numbers, people will come up with crazy ways to make the numbers, but it's not necessarily going to achieve the results you want." Professor Jody Hoffer Gittell shares insights about what a humane approach to organizational culture looks like, and how schools can build a culture of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect.

Episode Notes

Jody Hoffer Gittell is Professor of Management at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy & Management, and co-founder and board member of the Relational Coordination Collaborative. She is an expert in the human and humane approach to building organizations.

Highlights from the conversation include: what it means to build a relational organization and culture; emphasizing internal conversation as a better form of accountability; having a broader set of measures when  assessing both individual and whole community performance;  leveraging numbers and data to promote a  feedback loop of learning, coaching and teaching as opposed to just punitive judgement; how to navigate power structures and politics while also recognizing the interdependence within an organization; building mutual relationships with external stakeholders; and Rod's golden rule of simply treating everyone  like human beings!