We are reaching an inflection point in the history of management and entering the fast-paced, unpredictable innovation economy. At the same time, employee disengagement has never been so high, and this is true all over the world. While business models have been largely disrupted, the Taylorian management style persists.

To manage this growing complexity and speed, organizations need new forms of governance and new modes of management. 

They are faced with unprecedented challenges of adaptation.

• How do we restore a sense of purpose in action?
• How is it possible to share a vision?
• In which ways can we feel like we are all involved in a common raison d’être?
• How should we unleash the creativity and energy of employees by valuing risk-taking, responsibility in all its dimensions, and room to maneuver?
• What about reconciling common and individual objectives? 

The adaptive company is focused on its purpose, innervated by its values, based on authenticity and integrity. It provides the framework, decentralizes authority, promotes autonomy, responsibility, transparency and trust to achieve something greater.

What are our mental models of people and organizations that influence our practices and behaviors at work? 

We will focus on the human functioning models described in Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. We will also discover the differences between Taylorian, Newtonian and quantum-based organizations as well as complex adaptive and cellular systems.

The main thing will be to ask ourselves on which mental model to base our practices and if our current functioning and practices are adapted to the challenges to come and to the change desired by our collective.