Ep.53 Dynamic Shared Ownership: The Future of Leadership. Guest Lars Bruening – DSO Catalyst at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Berlin, Germany

“In this Dynamic Shared Ownership process our team in Italy invented a tool that would have taken 18 months in our traditional leadership model. They did it in 2-3 months. It makes it easy for the patients to keep the two vials and the two syringes, hold them in a little tool that is produced by a 3D printing in the end. It’s called froggy because it has a little bit the face of a frog.”

“The traditional way of management stems from industrial revolution, right? It was all about doing a process in steps and having people work in that process hand in hand so it always passes on, but you needed to define very precisely what each individual was contributing to.”

“Leadership is needed. Even though you say the decisions are made on the lowest possible level and that’s the operating teams really. But you need leadership. You need less than before, but you need leadership.”

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Summary

Lars discusses the transformation in leadership style at Bayer, focusing on dynamic shared ownership and its impact on innovation and people. The traditional hierarchical decision-making process in large companies can be slow, so Bayer implemented a new operating model where decision-making sits with operational teams called front runner teams. These teams have more flexibility and autonomy, allowing for faster decision-making. Lars shares an example of a team in Italy that invented a tool to make injections easier for hemophiliac patients, which was brought to market in just two and a half to three months. This new approach challenges the traditional command and control leadership style and emphasizes the importance of outcomes, authenticity, and trust.

Takeaways

1. Bayer implemented dynamic shared ownership as a new operating model to speed up decision-making and innovation.
2. Front runner teams have more autonomy and flexibility to make decisions without going through layers of management.
3. A team in Italy invented a tool to make injections easier for hemophiliac patients, which was brought to market in just two and a half to three months.
4. The new leadership style challenges the traditional command and control approach and emphasizes outcomes, authenticity, and trust.

Keywords

dynamic shared ownership, leadership transformation, innovation, decision-making, autonomy, front runner teams, faster decision-making, hierarchy, traditional management, ownership, outcomes, authenticity, trust