How Meetup Tore Up the Rule Book
This is an interesting article about the management of meetup.com ‘giving up control’ and allowing employees to set the company’s priorities and projects.
Developing effective ways to collaborate and organise is the biggest challenge faced by bright, creative people working together to do something great, so I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, better, with more panache, flair and fun.
The comments about meetup add some fascinating extra details to the picture: employees are publicly supportive of the move, (some) vocal users hate the new product.
On that basis, I don’t know if meetup have taken a bold creative step to set talent free, or executed a staggering abdication of leadership. What I am sure of is that in our kind of business, ‘control’ is an illusion. Management can guide, lead, direct, inspire, but it’s no easier to ‘control’ talented, inquisitive creative people than it is to herd cats.