About the MIX

The MIX Manifesto

Why not?

What law decrees that our organizations have to be bureaucratic, inertial and politicized, or that life within them has to be disempowering, dispiriting and often downright boring? No law we know of. So why not build organizations that are as resilient, inventive, inspiring and socially responsible, as the people who work within them? Why not, indeed. This is the mission of the MIX.

Management: a mature technology

There's a lot that's broken about the way most organizations are managed—but make no mistake, management is one of humanity's most important inventions. As a “social technology,” management encompasses the methods and tools we use to organize resources to productive ends. In this sense, management is the technology of human accomplishment… Read More

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Principles of the MIX

  • Everyone Wins When Everyone Shares

    • The MIX represents a pioneering attempt to use the open innovation model to help accelerate the evolution of a critical social technology — management. Rather than struggling in isolation to reinvent the processes and practices of management, MIX members can leverage the expertise and insights of a global community of like-minded innovators. The success of the MIX hinges on the willingness of its members to share their ideas and experiences, which depends in turn on a belief that more can be gained by sharing than by hoarding. Truth is, there's a lot more management innovation going on in the world at large than in any particular organization. Thus the MIX gives every progressive management innovator the chance to share a little and learn a lot.

  • Every Innovator Deserves a Hearing

    • The MIX is a meritocracy of ideas. Any individual, regardless of title, tenure or training, is eligible to contribute content. Submissions are judged by peers, in a process which ensures good ideas get maximum exposure—wherever they come from. On the MIX, what matters is the quality of your ideas, not your credentials.

  • ​Accomplished Innovators Deserve Acclaim

    • Members who consistently contribute highly-rated content will see their reputations and visibility grow within the MIX community. There's no “tenure,” though. Reputational capital depreciates over time, if not “topped-up” by fresh contributions. This ensures that the latest and greatest innovators always occupy center stage within the MIX.

  • The Most Important Problem is the One You Care Most About

    • The MIX has been designed around a number of Management Moonshots”—bold objectives for reinventing management in the 21st century. However, this problem architecture hasn't been locked in place. Over time, the MIX will give users the opportunity to nominate new moonshots, and to group or partition existing challenges. The goal: a dynamic roster of grand challenges that reflects the priorities of the MIX community.

  • It's Good to be Humble

    • We expect MIX members to be open and honest in sharing their stories of management innovation. False starts, dead-ends, and outright failure are part of any innovation process, and are almost always instructive for those seeking to learn from a pioneering effort. Given that, users shouldn't use the mix as a PR platform. Warts-and-all accounts will always be more welcome, and more highly-rated than self-congratulatory stories of individual and corporate brilliance.

  • The Devil's in the Details

    • When it comes to management innovation, the “how” is every bit as critical as the “what.” That's why nuanced and finely textured contributions will usually be regarded as more valuable than wispy outlines. While embryonic ideas are welcome, particularly if they're radical, contributors should always endeavor to provide as much detail as possible. Within the MIX, the best way to ensure that your idea gets traction is to provide a solid foundation on which others can build.

  • Innovation is a Social Process

    • Without a few brilliant builds, promising ideas often remain pipe dreams. Innovation is almost always a social process—it takes a rich mix of opinions and views to turn a nascent idea into a full-fledged success. That's why the MIX has been designed as a collaborative platform. For it to function that way, innovators must be willing to give their ideas away so that others can build on them—and collaborators must be confident that they will be awarded some of the credit when their ahead-of-the-curve idea goes mainstream. Every effort will be made on the MIX to ensure that every valuable contribution is recognized, and every contribution fairly credited.

Contribution Guidelines

Everyone who cares about the future of management is invited to MIX it up. Below you'll find a few suggestions for maximizing the impact of your contributions to the MIX.

  • Be Contrarian
    • People come to the MIX because they know that the industrial-age management practices found in most organizations today are woefully inadequate to the challenges that lie ahead. They're looking for bold new ideas that will make their organizations more adaptable, innovative, engaging and socially responsible. So don't hold back. Challenge dogma. Upend conventional wisdom. Get radical.
  • Be Concise
    • Treat the attention of those who are going to read (and review) your posts as a precious commodity. Organize your ideas or story carefully. Include important details, but stay focused.
  • Be Concrete
    • Structure your contribution so it's easy for others to build on it or borrow from it. Be specific, pragmatic and complete. The more concrete you are, the better the chance that your idea will get traction within the MIX community.
  • Be Constructive
    • As with any sort of innovation, it's often hard to distinguish between ideas that are smart/crazy and ideas that are stupid/crazy—and sometimes you can't be sure until an idea has had some time to grow and mature. So give other MIXers the benefit of the doubt. Feel free to criticize, but take every opportunity to provide constructive advice.
  • Be Collaborative
    • While anyone can review the content on the MIX, the real rewards, both intellectual and reputational, are reserved for those who actually contribute to the community—by submitting original content, or by annotating and assessing content that has been submitted by others. Remember: Innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum—the best ideas usually come out of a collaborative effort. Invite others to help you advance your ideas, and then return the favor.
  • Be Colorful
    • The MIX isn't some sanitized corporate website, so don't be afraid to use blunt and evocative language. Be honest, be passionate, be funny.