Challenging the Norms

SuperLoop
By Susan Leger Ferraro
Advantage Media Group, 272 pp., $24.99

Dissatisfaction can become systemic and spread throughout an organization. In SuperLoop, Ferraro posits that businesses are currently dealing with the consequences of their own ongoing neglect, leading to lower engagement rates, decreased retention, and quiet quitting.

Ferraro challenges not only the established norms for operating a business but also the perceptions that shape reality. She says that allowing a perception of the world to dictate how an individual, team, or organization should function prevents people from leveraging the diversity of thought that can lead to improved solutions. The shift toward a possibility mindset enables humans to adapt and change their perceptions by welcoming the perceptions of others. Companies can work toward a possibility mindset by creating an environment that provides psychological safety for their employees. By broadening organizational perspectives, they can begin to heal their workplace culture.

Ferraro also provides a guide for overcoming homogenization and harmful norms. Readers can use the concept of the "SuperLoop," which helps heal a company's culture by creating operational consciousness. It's about bringing mindfulness and self-awareness into business operations. The book can sometimes feel redundant, but overall, Ferraro does an exemplary job of explaining the need for change, the solution, and the path toward implementation.

As a visual learner, I was grateful for the periodic graphics throughout the book such as those for understanding encoding and decoding with respect to communication. The author leverages research but also weaves in effective storytelling, ensuring readers can visualize the SuperLoop in action.

As an L&D professional, I found SuperLoop to be an engaging and practical guide that companies can leverage to challenge the status quo and the "Artificial Harmony" that often creeps into organizations. A SuperLoop—if a company commits to it and uses it consistently—can improve the business's ability to connect with its employees and create (or heal) organizational culture.