Business leaders, multiply your intelligence!

What makes you accumulate years of experience in the fastest way possible? What brings you a different and, potentially, richer look? What makes you gain neurons without resorting to any futuristic surgery? A human of course! Obviously, not just anyone, a human who knows your work, your issues and knows what he and you are talking about. A human who is already an integral part of your entourage: colleague, collaborator, partner, supplier… Several of these humans and it’s guaranteed genius!

In nature, communities show a extraordinary intelligence from the mere fact of their federation. Ants, bees and other insects are representative of what the collective is capable of producing. However, it is not enough to associate individuals, however intelligent they may be, for the expected results to be achieved.

Move faster together

It is then very often difficult to reconcile personal and collective needs without particularly rigorous methods. A number of reflexive and decision-making traps can also be thwarted, but require a reading grid, such as the knowledge of group dynamics. It is sometimes easier to make a decision alone than to seek an agreement between several parties. Deciding authoritatively can be the only solution at a time when you have to act very quickly. However, the benefits of pooling weigh more heavily in the balance than the obstacles that stand in the way of collective decision-making.

Thanks to the collective, mobilizing all information, skills and intelligence makes you produce better decisions. So you: find ideas new and relevant; have the work force of several people; avoid errors by seeking the knowledge of experts and/or operational personnel in contact with the field; value the participation of your team, of the stakeholders you have involved, thereby promoting a better understanding of the reasons for the final choice.

However, everyone can be good on their own without, once all together, the mayonnaise does not take. So the ” collective intelligence » lays the groundwork for how individuals increase their performance tenfold, together. It results from a complex system which, through its interactions, learns collectively and provides common knowledge, significantly different and superior to that which would be provided by individuals taken separately: the synergy of a group is much more than the sum of the individuals. who compose it. Just look at the technological level that humanity has reached. It is a community of individuals who, interconnected, have pooled their knowledge and created learning and intelligence. (…)

Rethink the organization

So deploy leadership of excellence, foster a participating management promote it networking , make fair rules, be relevant and transparent, friendly as much as possible and ensure good relations between the members of your team. Above all, decentralize knowledge and powers as much as possible to avoid long and costly decision-making layers. Valuing the potential of actors is also beneficial for everyone. (…)

The limits observed on the intelligence of pyramidal organizations teach us how to proceed better or, at the very least, what to avoid reproducing. So inverting the organizational pyramid involves distribute decision-making power among all. It is about redesigning the organization according to a latent reality, without using tricks. Because collective intelligence already exists in its natural state and is just waiting to be revealed.

With the firm conviction that the economy of tomorrow must integrate notions of sustainability, intelligence is unique in that it can expand to infinity without losing the slightest ounce of value. There are therefore ways to manage the company’s knowledge so that it is both profitable and sustainable. The valuation human capital remains a fundamental lever for obtaining ideas, moral and financial values. The creativity and theinnovation are then the high point so that your continuous improvement approach works in the long term.



Aurélie Gautier Bartolo is the author of the book “Le Grand Guide du Management de l’excellence”, published by Afnor in May 2022.

The author:

Holder of a professional master’s degree in Social Psychology of Organizations in Aix-en-Provence, Aurélie Gautier Bartolo is a social psychologist, quality expert and manager. She is also a graduate of specialized masters from the Ecole centrale de Marseilles, Kedge Business School Marseille and CESI Aix-en-Provence in Innovation and Continuous Improvement. This text is taken from his book “Le Grand Guide du Management de l’excellence”, published by Afnor editions in May 2022, 324 pages, 26 euros.

Business leaders, multiply your intelligence!