Growth Hacking | Growth Culture
Nordic Leadership
Regardless of the differences between the Nordic countries, the world sees the Nordics as one region which forms a specific cultural cluster, and they do share many of the same values. Nordic leadership includes characteristics such as inclusive decision making, teamwork, flat organizational structures, and it is associated with motivated employees and an inclination toward innovation and competitiveness.
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Growth Culture
Leaders widely delegate responsibility and share power, i.e., decision making. On the other side, everybody expects to be heard and involved in decisions that concern their work. There is a high degree of interdependence and trust, and communication is open and flows in all directions. Organizations experiment and fail, but first of all, they learn from mistakes and failures.
The culture of experimentation is a prerequisite for innovation to happen. If you do not dare to experiment, try out things that no one has tried before, and allow people in your organization to admit that you will never evolve and find new solutions to problems when they have failed. Nordic leadership is straightforward. The Nordic leadership style can be described as a "no bullshit" style, meaning that people care about results and often go directly to the point when a problem needs to be solved.
Characteristics of
Nordic Leadership
Inclusive
Open and transparent
Responsive
Result-oriented
Purpose-driven
Caring
Nordic Leadership approaches things in a relatively flexible, but goal-oriented way. They can act swiftly and can adapt quickly. It is an interactive and dynamic process, which involving and including all employees.
“What Nordic businesses, large and small, tend to demonstrate are high levels of responsiveness. Their open cultures mean that they are generally able to resist the rigidity and ossification that can affect aging or expanding organizations. In the mobile technology, app development, and computer software industries, all of which are prominent in the Nordics, there is a cycle of development and testing that often involves representatives from the target users of these products and services. This can go through many iterations, with the penultimate known as beta testing. Canadian consultant Harold Jarche contends that in the era of digital networks, in order to remain relevant and responsive, we have to maintain a state of ‘perpetual beta’.” – Harold Jarche (page 185, Return of the Vikings, 2018)
Nordic values
Nordic Leadership based on fundamentals of Nordic values, where human development (UNDP), transparency (Corruption Perceptions Index), education (OECD PISA), happiness (WEF), security (e.g., the least corrupted countries by International Police Science Association) and competitiveness (the most innovative countries in the world Bloomberg Innovation Index 2019 ) sets the critical success factors. No wonder that Nordics are in the top 10 countries in the world in every category.
For example, Finland developed into an exemplary country in many respects (list). Can an organization be based on these fundamentals, too? If your country cannot be like Nordics, your organization can be the most trustworthy, safe, innovative, and competitive organization.
New case studies
In Jukka's new book, Johtajuuden rakentajat (cases from 12 Finnish companies), first published in 2019, Jukka is working with the critical aspects of the shared leadership and the culture of experimentation – how to start the change towards self-management and what are the fundamental problems during the journey. Here he discusses the challenging the present change management truths and inconsistent demands placed on leaders, and how the best servant leaders manage to deal through the transition. Continuous transformation is why you need to develop a culture of evolution. The concept of Nordic Leadership is a much-needed guide for any company that seeks to succeed in the digital transformation.
Nordic leadership is something to be desired, but not yet fully discovered.