This year has been a remarkable one for books, particularly for Promentum and consequently for you as well. Three books have been published, all authored by Promentum consultants. These books not only enrich, but also challenge our understanding of organisations, leadership and implementation.
Klaus Bakdal’s visionary exploration of “The regenerative organisation” invites readers to integrate regenerative principles into the DNA of any organisation. Majken Juel Heskjær’s “8 illusions about work life” critically examines fundamental assumptions about leadership and motivation. Andreas Lindemann’s pragmatic “Everyday implementation” demonstrates how strategies can unravel when confronted with the complexities of reality and offers solutions to prevent this.
These books offer not only insight, but action. Making them essential reads for anyone aiming to understand and improve modern organisational practices—so we believe.
If you haven’t read these books yet, we have compiled three recommendations that might inspire you to dive into the world of Promentum.
‘The regenerative organisation’ by Klaus Bakdal
Recommended by Mikkel Flod Storgaard
I highly recommend Klaus Bakdal’s new book, ‘The regenerative organisation’. If you’ve heard of regenerative concepts, but haven’t fully explored them or if you’re aiming for regenerative development in your organisation and need inspiration, this book is a promising guide.
There is something for both the practical and the theoretical, beginning with an introduction to regenerative principles and explaining why definitions and changes cannot be universally applied. It argues that there are no simple three-step solutions to fix the entire world. In fact, the book also concludes with this point under the heading “You are the one!”
Between the beginning and end, the book is filled with practical models, concepts and approaches. ‘The regenerative organisation‘ doesn’t advocate for a complex and revolutionary change in one fell swoop, but encourages the gradual infusion of regenerative ideas into opportunities and gaps.
Most of the book is dedicated to regenerative models applicable across various organisational contexts, including organisational change, leadership, meetings, conversations and moments.
Throughout, the anchor is “creating the best possible conditions for life.” This is a fundamentally open assumption, but it serves its purpose: Is what we’re doing as life-giving as possible? If not, what can we do about it? The book is full of inspiration to answer these questions.
Read more about the book here.
‘8 Illusions About Work’ Life by Majken Juel Heskjær
Recommended by Henrik Juel Heskjær (former communications director and Majken’s husband, but 100% objective in this recommendation)
We are in a time of emerging shifts in work life. More than ever, as employees and leaders, we are thinking, discussing and reflecting on how we lead, work and organise. We witness phenomena like “quiet quittiers” and we see alarming statistics on the costs of stress to people and society each year. Amid this chaos, the question of whether we are doing something wrong or could do things differently grows louder.
In 8 Illusions about work life, Majken Juel Heskjær offers a refreshing crasp of many established beliefs about how work, leadership, and organisation should be. She examines how since the advent of industrialisation, we have organised work around guiding principles that we have elevated to absolute truths but which, from her perspective, may be illusions – at the very least, these are concepts we could approach differently. Drawing on over 20 years of practical experience in organisational development, Majken questions how we address concepts like motivation, change, control, efficiency, feedback and even profit, contemplating when enough is enough as we simultaneously break people down in large numbers.
In the crowded field of leadership literature, this book stands out as a practical guide. Alongside Majken Juel Heskjær’s assertions that many established norms in work life are illusions, she uses her experience in developing organisations to offer suggestions on how, as a leader, you can begin to approach leadership differently with small steps as soon as you set the book down.
Undoubtedly, many everyday leaders will fundamentally reject both the book and its approach, adhering to the belief that they know how to lead and viewing the author’s perspective as a hippie dream. For those committed solely to the leadership approach taught at business schools or by global consulting firms, this book indeed takes a different direction, questioning the conventional norms of leadership and work life.
However, if you dare to lower your guard and reflect with an open mind on the various thoughts and points the author presents, I believe you will find elements in the book that many could benefit from, to the advantage of both people and organisations.
Read more about the book here.
Everyday Implementation by Andreas Lindemann
Professor Steen Visholm
Andreas Lindemann has written a book that clearly demonstrates the necessity for leaders to follow through with implementation across the entire organisation in a persistent process if strategic work is to be effective. By combining change management, recent neuroscience and psychodynamic organisational psychology, Lindemann delves deeply into the organisation with numerous valuable recommendations and observations.
Excerpt from a review in Børsen by Henrik Ørsholt
When I finished reading ‘Everyday Implementation’ by Andreas Lindemann, I thought of Dan Turèll’s song/poem about everyday life. There are more of them and it’s where things happen. (…)
This is precisely where changes fall apart. When they encounter everyday life, nothing more comes of them. During celebrations, when there is consensus to launch a new plan, the will is present. It is not difficult to come up with changes. Develop a new strategy with numerous action plans and perhaps even new policies. But making them part of everyday life is entirely different. It’s about behavior and ensuring that behavior remains part of everyday life. It’s just not that easy. This is the book’s starting point.
The book adheres to all academic virtues: references and structure. It is as it should be. (…) Academically, the book is comprehensive and you can clearly sense that the author is well-read and knowledgeable about his theorists. Karl Weick makes several appearances and although he can be very theoretical and challenging and Andreas Lindemann does an excellent job of communicating his ideas.
Excerpt from a review on Inside Business by Sofie Breum
The book centers around three phases that all implementations go through: Mobilise, frame and respond. A step-by-step model that makes sense to most—and is nicely elaborated throughout the book.
The first part of the book provides readers with an understanding of concepts, theories and the intellectual foundation (i.e., change management, neuroscience and organisational psychology). These are thoroughly explored and well-described.
The second part focuses on what strategic leadership specifically needs to pay attention to in terms of strategic/rational leadership in practice and what to be particularly aware of concerning psychological processes in and between people when designing implementation in practice.
(…)
A strong theoretical contribution to implementation literature
The book is well-written with a fluid style, but its high readability level may cause some readers to drop off along the way. It is simply more of a textbook than airport literature.
Read more about the book here.
