The Loop Approach
Part of 9/24

r of roles at the same time.  
Let’s take a Human Resources department as an example. In that department “HR Manager” is a job but “researching recruiting events” is a role as it covers one specific task. The HR Manager could take on the role of researching recruiting events but so could an HR intern. The role in other words is exchangeable between individuals whereas jobs are not.   
Now that we have a handle on teams tensions and roles we’re finally ready to move onto the Loop Approach proper. Ready to loop in? 
To function effectively a team needs to align its purpose clarify its members’ strengths and define their roles.  
Sometimes who you are and what you want are just not clear enough. But without clarity you can’t move forward. 
That’s why the Loop Approach begins by focusing on clarity. To implement the Loop Approach in your organization you’d hold a series of three workshops each of which is two days long and is referred to as a module. Module 1 Clarity kicks things off b

The Loop Approach
Part of 6/24

vent of sustainable transport.” Tesla can come up with different strategies for how to achieve this. For instance it can improve electric battery technology or it can work on reducing the cost of electric cars so that more people can afford them. It can also use both these strategies at once. The point is its core purpose – to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport – guides its shorter-term strategies and goals.  
Yet another key principle of the Loop mindset is autonomy and self-organization which means that individuals and teams must have enough independence to act autonomously. The online shoe retailer Zappos embraced this principle when in 2013 it eliminated its managers to put more decision-making power in its employees’ hands. The idea is that such a transition will help the company become more flexible in sensing and responding to changing conditions.  
Ultimately these principles are so important because they lay the groundwork for an organization’s ability to transform

The Loop Approach
Part of 7/24

 itself into a more agile flexible entity. 
The Loop Approach is a tool kit that focuses on teams tensions and roles to empower organizations to become more agile.  
Change is scary. A new move a new job a new baby can lead to a lot of stress.  
And when it’s hundreds or even thousands of people experiencing change in an organization? There’s not only stress there’s chaos.  
Thankfully the Loop Approach is designed in such a way that organizations whether large or small aren’t overwhelmed by upheaval when they begin the process of transformation. How does it do this? By focusing on one team at a time.  
Teams are the building blocks of any organization. Changing the way an organization works means changing the behavior of its teams. As such the Loop Approach pursues a step-by-step strategy that empowers individual teams to execute small changes independently – which add up to a big change.  
What’s more the Loop Approach specifically focuses on equipping teams to deal with tensions

The Loop Approach
Part of 8/24

 . In the Loop Approach “tensions” don’t necessarily mean something negative. Instead they’re defined as a “positive impulse for change ” a gap in the way the team works that signals unused potential. A tension for instance may exist when tasks are not evenly distributed among team members resulting in some people being overburdened. One major objective of the Loop Approach is to provide team members with a framework for communicating such tensions and to encourage the team to work to solve them.   
Just as teams and tensions are central elements of the Loop Approach so are roles . But don’t confuse roles with jobs – they’re quite different.  
In a traditional organization jobs are fixed. Each employee is usually hired for and has one job. Roles however are flexible. They’re created when needed and disappear when not needed. A role is more narrowly defined than a job in that it pertains to one specific need within an organization. In a role-based organization employees can hold a numbe

The Loop Approach
Part of 5/24

 the top of the pyramid – decides on a predefined endpoint and then someone else is tasked with scribbling furiously on a whiteboard to come up with a plan for how to get there.  
The Loop mindset by contrast is based on sense-and-respond thinking. What does this mean? Imagine an organization as a complex machine in which every employee is an intelligent sensor. In a sense-and-respond organization employees act as sensors that receive and evaluate signals from the outside world. In this model the ability to sense and respond is distributed throughout the organization rather than being concentrated at the top of a pyramid.   
Another key principle of the Loop mindset is purpose-orientation – the notion that an organization must not only have well-defined goals and strategies but also a greater driving purpose.  
If we take the electric car company Tesla as an example we can deduce that its core purpose – the answer to the question “Why does Tesla exist?” – might be “To accelerate the ad

The Loop Approach
Part of 4/24

at the top of the pyramid who notices. It’s the workers at the bottom who interact with the surrounding environment directly. But by the time that change in conditions is communicated up the chain of command so that decisions can be made in response it’s often too late. Faster more agile competitors have already reacted and moved ahead.  
For all these reasons it’s time to say goodbye to the pyramid structure and hello to the Loop Approach.  
The basis of the Loop Approach is the Loop mindset a series of principles that changes the way an organization thinks.  
It goes without saying: before you can change how you act you have to change how you think.  
What’s true for you is also true for organizations. Just as individuals must cultivate a certain mindset to change their habits so must organizations.  
Traditional organizations rely on a predict-and-control mindset. When they want to change something they often aim for a certain result – more sales say. Someone – usually a boss at

The Loop Approach
Part of 1/24


What’s in it for me? Learn how to effect big change in small steps. 
Those of us who have worked in big clunky organizations know that it’s common to experience a fair amount of dysfunction there. Slow bureaucracy a toxic workplace and inefficient time management are but a few of the miseries we’re likely to confront.  
As powerless as we may feel in such an environment there’s hope. It comes in the form of the Loop Approach. This approach equips us with ideas tools and methods to effect change in an organization one step at a time one team at a time. In doing so it helps us transform even the largest of organizations from the inside out.   
In these blinks you’ll find out 
how to improve your effectiveness using powerful self-management methods; 
how to work through tensions to develop a team’s effectiveness; and 
how your team can evolve so that it can adapt to changing conditions.  
The pyramid structure that defines most organizations is no longer suited to the condition

The Loop Approach
Part of 2/24

s organizations face today.  
During the Roman Empire the Emperor reigned supreme. He sat at the top of a hierarchical pyramid issuing orders to minions below him.    
But while the Roman Empire is long gone the pyramid structure upon which it was based is not. In fact most of today’s large organizations and companies rely on a top-down system of organization based on hierarchy. At the top is the equivalent of the Roman Emperor – the CEO – who makes decisions and passes down orders to the bosses below him. From there the orders move down the tiers of managers and sub-managers until they reach those at the bottom of the pyramid – the workers.    
This system is extremely prevalent because it’s effective in organizing large groups of people into an enterprise. That’s because this structure reduces complexity. It’s based on a simple principle: everyone must follow orders from above. It’s largely thanks to the pyramid structure that the Roman Empire came to rule over vast swathes of the W

The Loop Approach
Part of 3/24

estern world. It’s also why so many companies and organizations have conventionally adopted this structure.  
But while the pyramid structure worked well for the Roman empire and until recently for many large corporations and businesses that structure is not suited to dealing with the uncertainties that organizations face today.  
That’s because times are changing. The business environment is more challenging than ever. For one thing technology is changing at the speed of light which means that those businesses that are unable to adapt fall by the wayside. What’s more new competitors and business models emerge every day adding further to the uncertainty.  
This is where the pyramid structure falls short. While this structure is effective when it comes to executing plans it’s slow and clunky when it faces change and must adapt.  
This is especially true of large organizations. Why? Because they’re so big. When an organization’s environment changes for instance it’s not usually the boss

The Loop Approach
Part of 0/24

The Loop Approach (2019) presents a systematic approach to the transformation of organizations. Its toolkit of ideas and methods is designed to help even the largest organization change its bad habits thus enabling it to adapt to the challenges of the future. 

The Body Is Not an Apology
Part of 17/17

 the week to treat yourself with some radical loving. 
Got feedback? 
We’d sure love to hear what you think about our content! Just drop an email to [email protected] with the title of this book as the subject line and share your thoughts! 
Suggested further reading: Hunger by Roxane Gay 
Hunger (2017) is a personal open-hearted account of what it’s like to live with a body that’s frowned upon by society. 
 >

The Body Is Not an Apology
Part of 15/17

vanity and appreciating yourself. It’s important to recognize and own your place in society and not be afraid to celebrate yourself. 
The singer/songwriter Jill Scott demonstrated the proper way to speak up for and praise herself while being filmed for a documentary at one of her concerts. Fellow musician Erykah Badu was performing on stage and Scott was to come on right after. The documentary reporter asked Scott whether she felt nervous having to perform after Badu’s spectacular show and Scott’s retort was to ask whether the reporter had ever seen her Scott perform on stage before. Scott showed not only how to be confident but that you don’t have to belittle yourself to appreciate another person’s talent. 
To increase our self-love further we can practice meditation. 
Talking negatively about yourself is closely related to the way you feel about yourself and those feelings can be worked on through meditation. 
A 2016 study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh found that medita

The Body Is Not an Apology
Part of 16/17

tion increased participants’ sense of well-being and reduced their stress levels. Furthermore it showed that meditation stimulated the part of the brain involved with the processing of stress good communication and the production of calm feelings. 
Clearing your mind enables you to see your body for its true worth assisting you on your path toward radical self-love. 
Final summary 
The key message in these blinks: 
Body shaming is something you learn as a child and is reinforced by society. By becoming aware of your implicit biases and the impact of capitalism and the media you can work toward radical self-love. This journey involves spending time getting to know your body and changing the way you talk about yourself. 
Actionable advice: 
Give in to pleasure. 
Spend five minutes thinking about what makes your body feel good. Delve into your childhood if that helps. Remember how good it felt to roll around naked in the sand as a kid? Come up with a few ideas and set aside one day in

The Body Is Not an Apology
Part of 12/17

 more complex things like shredding the guitar. 
Now extend this examination to other parts of your body. Repeat until you cover every single fascinating area. 
Once acquainted with your body get active with it. 
Radical self-love gives you the chance to rediscover your body’s ultimate love – movement. Dancing sport and sex are all great activities for your body. 
After you learn to love and appreciate your body running and dancing will no longer seem like a chore. This is your opportunity to discover a new hobby. Go dancing in the moonlight cliff-diving or even surfing. Remember this isn’t about losing weight or changing your body – radical self-love is about enjoying what your body is capable of. 
Stop participating in body shaming and recognize your implicit bias. 
It’s easy to think of body shamers as the cruel bullies who criticize your physical features gender or disability. But we can’t put the blame entirely on others. 
We all take part in body shaming. 
Though we’re all co

The Body Is Not an Apology
Part of 13/17

mplicit to a certain degree it’s not entirely our fault. As mentioned earlier we learn body shaming behaviors from a very young age mainly through observation. 
Kids typically learn how to behave socially from watching grown-ups. If you witnessed your parents whispering and gawking at disabled people you’d think that this is an appropriate way to act. 
You also learn these behaviors from school. Taylor recalls chants like “Keisha Keisha bald spots ” directed at a girl who suffered from hair loss. 
Body shaming happens ubiquitously but if you don’t defend someone being picked on then you’re allowing the problem to happen. You become a participant of body shaming while simultaneously internalizing the notion that a different body is something to be ashamed of. 
In order to stop participating in body shaming you need to recognize your internal biases. 
The reason discriminatory behaviors are hard to correct is that they’re mostly unconscious. Researchers refer to this phenomenon as implic