In case you missed it, I got the cover on the September/October issue of Associations Now magazine with an article about the main concepts in Humanize. “We Are Not Machines” makes the basic argument for creating more human organizations, which is quite different from the organizations we have today that were based on the machine model.

It’s interesting, actually, how deeply rooted we are in machine-like thinking. As I explain in the article, it actually dates back to Sir Isaac Newton and his colleagues. They discovered the basic mathematical formulas that explained pretty much everything in the natural world (at least until quantum physics changed our paradigm) and to them, the universe was like a divinely designed clock. That mindset holds firmly today as we have organizations with chains of command, units, divisions, silos, directors, outputs, etc.

Social media, of all things, has been shaking us out of that mindset. It grew by being more human–leveraging trust, decentralizing, being transparent, and encouraging action and ownership throughout the system. The article (and the book) presents a different lens for looking at our organizations–one that is based on principles of being human, rather than principles based on our machine world view. One of the best quotes from the article was placed on the cover of the magazine itself:

When we create more human organizations, problems get solved. Actions get taken. Innovation becomes a reality rather than an intention.

Check it out, and if you’re an ASAE member, log in and comment to let me know what you think.