8 | Wiring the Winning Organization [with Gene Kim and Steven Spear]

Register for a chance to win a copy of Karina Mangu-Ward's book "Teams that Meet the Moment"  Learn more and apply for the November 2026 cohort of my Japan Leadership Experience: https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/Have you ever wondered why some organizations consistently outperform others? And why, even when using the same tools and methodologies, some companies are able to leverage them to achieve success whereas at others they just become the flavor of the month?If you are curious about the answers, you won't want to miss this episode with Steve Spear and Gene Kim where we unpack what makes companies “great” and explore key concepts in their new book, “Wiring the Winning Organization: Liberating our Collective Greatness through Slowification, Simplification, and Amplification”. Together, we peel back the layers of organizational innovation and problem-solving to focus on the critical – and often missing elements – for high performance.Tune in to discover the role that management systems and leadership play in shaping an organization's success, and the mechanisms that enable innovation, problem-solving, and collaboration across large, complex organizations.It makes no difference what you call it  – lean, agile, DevOps –  wiring your organization to win always comes back to the principles of good leadership.If you are a leader, an operational excellence practitioner, or simply someone aspiring to create and thrive in a winning organization, this is an episode you can't afford to miss.In this episode you’ll learn:What defines a winning organization and separates great organizations from “not great” onesHow to navigate from the “danger zone” to the “winning zone” The three layers of organizational problem-solving and continuous improvement The critical role of leadership and management systems in creating conditions for successThe sociotechnical mechanisms of winning organizations: slowification, simplification, and amplificationThree questions leaders should ask daily to enable a profound organizational transformationLeadership behavior shifts to be more effective in wiring your organization – and team –  to winTune in discover how you can build a high-performing organization and wire your organization for greatness.About my guests:Steve Spear is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and is a renowned thought leader in the field of organizational excellence and high-performance organizations. Gene Kim is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author and former CTO of TripWire, specializing in improving software development and IT management for high-performing technology organizations.Links:Episode webpage and book giveaway registration: https://chainoflearning.com/8Book “Wiring the Winning Organization”: https://itrevolution.com/product/wiring-the-winning-organization/Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevespear/ Connect with Gene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realgenekim/ My Book: Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn: https://kbjanderson.com/learning-to-lead/ Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbjanderson/Work with me: https://kbjanderson.com/Timestamps 01:30 Introduction of Steve Spear and Gene Kim03:41 Definition of a winning organization04:02 Understanding what high performance is06:10 Disparities in organizational performance and the role of management systems07:53 Common mechanisms of performance 09:55 The three layers10:06 Social circuitry11:13 Capability and competency13:50  The socio part of the sociotechnical system14:05 Mr. Yoshino's paint mistake story15:49 Paul O'Neill's three critical questions for leaders18:50 The role of leaders in creating conditions that enable individuals to succeed19:07 How to move from the danger zone to the winning zone19:17 Slowification, simplification, and amplification21:29  Culture of learning and improvement through social circuitry25:30 How slowfication helps winning organizations30:24 The performance paradox and learning zones31:17 The importance of simulating disasters 33:03 Misuse of terminology and principles i.e., “lean”35:12 Interrelationship between management practices37:18 Lessons learned from the writing and collaboration process43:09 Steve and Gene’s behaviors to be more effective in wiring winning organizations47:17 Breaking the telling habit Register for a chance to win a copy of Karina Mangu-Ward's book "Teams that Meet the Moment" : https://kbjanderson.com/giveaways/teams-that-meet-the-moment/ Learn more and apply for the November 2026 cohort of my Japan Leadership Experience: https://kbjanderson.com/japantrip/