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In this final episode of Maneuvering Monday the podcast, AK and Ivanna wrap up everything and share the next steps for our book project.

There is a bit of heavy breathing (sorry!) as we discuss Natalie and her trajectory, and how she ends up finally connecting with her purpose and passion after having suffered from 'The Peter Principle' throughout the story in her role as CEO at Zebra Apps.

We talk about Anne and how she started off a bit arrogant, but ended up with good self-reflections (and a bit of a depressing conclusion about the human inability to improve company culture, which we do not believe is true).

We investigate Carrie's mum's actual problem, and talk about the pressure and competition amongst parents with children in kindergarten and school - and not least society's expectations to us as mothers, when really the fathers of our children are Chief Playdate Officer and Head of Spare Kindergarten Outfits.

We ask ourselves why the two most unlikeable and unpopular characters end up winning in the end, and whether a bit of friction might actually be necessary to progress.

And suddenly, Ivanna quotes John Lennon for the first and last part on this show (and maybe in general?).

Finally, we talk about how it all started vs. how it ended, how we got unexpected praise from a publisher for having a story with "a beginning, a middle part and an end", and then we share the most recurring questions and comments from our beta readers. We disclose the next steps for the book and what we wish we had known before we started to write. And will there be a Maneuvering Monday the movie?

Thanks a million to our beta readers, guest experts, voice talents, and listeners.

Stay tuned for more maneuvers!

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The fate of Zebra Apps is finally decided, and all the characters' stories are wrapped up. What will be next for Marie? Tune in and listen to this final episode of the entire story to find out!

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Our very last guest on the podcast, Cecil 'Gary' Rupp, is an expert in leadership, business transformation, and Lean-Agile frameworks. With both executive management and management consulting experience, Gary brings a unique perspective to what our friends in Zebra Apps need to be doing to save their own future.

Value stream mapping is the name of the game in this episode. Gary takes us through the concept, which is covered in his newest book, The Lean-Agile Way, co-authored by several other experts (Richard Knaster, Steve Pereira, Al Shalloway).

As a proficient "herder of human cats", Gary shares advice on how to get large numbers of people to go in the same direction by applying a systemic perspective to improve flow. We talk about green Lamborghinis, project vs. product, and Lean vs. Agile. We talk about people, process, information, technology, and services as business enablers. And we discuss Eliyahu Goldratt's point about how it is waste to spend money on anything that is not an organizational constraint.

But most importantly, we discuss value stream mapping from concept to delivery and how this continuous exercise will lift an organization's ability to reach its target. Gary also shares insights into the BLAST and BASE frameworks for team collaboration in a Lean-Agile setting.

Curious? Check out The Lean-Agile Way, visit Gary's homepage and browse his learning site The Lean-Agile Accelerator Bundle. You can also find Cecil 'Gary' Rupp on LinkedIn.

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Richard himself makes an appearance in the meeting, where a group of Zebra employees investigate scenarios for the company's survival. The tension builds as it becomes clear that Zebra Apps will not make it for much longer with its current setup. But then what?

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To kick off the final chapter of Marie's story, we are lucky to be accompanied by Sofie Henriksen, who is a leader within strategy in a digital innovation agency.
Sofie brings her insightful perspectives to the table as we intersect how personalities, actions, and behaviors are understood and worked with in the context of Zebra Apps.

As the end of the story is approaching, all things are escalating and new challenges are coming up. Marie is scrambling to fix the issues, both the visible and invisible ones. And suddenly, the co-founder Richard makes an appearance to provide his input to the future of Zebra Apps. How will his cultural weight and founding myth in the organization impact the tough decisions to be made? And who is even allowed to have intentions for a company?

During the episode, we discuss the importance of guarding your internal brand as a senior leader, how to be a role model (and how not be!), and we touch upon the difficult topic of employee mental health and to what degree the employer is responsible for people's well being. We talk about how involved leaders should be in a self-organized team set-up, and how a clear organizational strategy as a company level is critical to succeed if the teams are given full autonomy.

And finally, Sofie shares her perspectives on how she hopes Marie's story will end.

Find Sofie on LinkedIn, where she often shares her inspiring thoughts and opinions on leadership topics. For example, you can check out this article (in Danish) about rethinking traditional organizational structures for the future generations. Or listen to this podcast episode (in English) of Karriereklubben, where Sofie and two other panelists are debating work dilemmas.

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Marie and the engineers talk to an advisory board of parents and teachers to get feedback on ASLO, and share the concerning results with Natalie and the leadership team, who finally seem to listen. Natalie, who used to be a teacher herself, decides to take things into her own hands.
The engineers start setting shared objectives for each sprint based on a company value. Marie meets her HR contact Todd from competitor ConvoSystems, who shares a surprising truth about life with Richard as CTO. And finally, Shaine has a suggestion for what to do with the data centre, but is it enough to save Zebra Apps?

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In the final commentary episode of chapter 5, we are happy to welcome Katja Schipperheijn, internationally awarded author, learning influencer, futurist and keynote speaker on learning, innovation and being human in a digital world. With years of experience from the EdTech company, Katja is the perfect match to guide Zebra Apps at this chaotic point in the story.

Katja sums up this story episode as "a mess". Zebra Apps is struggling to survive as a company, and Marie is managing everyone in separate groups, not seeming to understand the power of bringing people together.

We discuss corporate rebels and how they are wonderful, but sometimes lack people skills. We talk about how an external moderator (and Marie does not count as one!) would be helpful to navigate the stakeholder landscape and facilitate the needed discussions. How shall the people of the Zebra Apps organization overcome imposter syndrome? And what does it mean - and what do you do -when your CFO *literally* takes a bite of your bun without asking?

We learn about Katja's "future readiness approach", which is facilitated in two parts:

1. Invite a diverse group of people from all across the organization to individually write down their biggest obstacle, then discuss
2. Forget the problems around us and make the top management reflect over the purpose and values of the company and where they want to go. Then, have the people of the company work together to align on opportunities.

Another practical trick from Katja is to implement three standard practices in Zebra Apps. The first one is to make "why" a standard question at the end of all meetings. Secondly, create an environment where people feel secure enough to say "I don't know". And finally, celebrate your fuck-ups!

Towards the end of the episode, we learn from Katja about the status and trends in the EdTech industry (and yes, one of them is AI, and no, not many know what this means).

If you want to learn much more about learning, innovation, and technology, check out Katja's website, where you can find a lot of great resources (like examples of keynotes, workshop formats and an inspirational blog). Katja recently launched another book - The Learning Mindset - which is about the people of organizations and how to combine human competencies with technologies to thrive.

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Anne Katrine & Ivanna

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In the final part of chapter 5, things start to get real when Marie learns from Willie that Natalie purchased spare parts from Russia for Zebra Apps' physical data center, and that she likely traveled there together with Frank and Andrea. She also learns that every time the engineers create new features for ASLO, they increase their physical footprint in the data center.

Jenni and Marie explains to Jaque why Zebra Apps is bleeding money, and suggest him to create a better way to charge their customers for the products. They collect feedback from the engineering department, and agree to investigate the options to either migrate away from the data center or keep it and provide hosting services to other companies. But could their product quality challenges be solved by simply talking more to each other? Could it be more about culture - and taking responsibility for the whole product as a team?

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Anne Katrine & Ivanna