Reorganization to me is shuffling boxes, moving boxes around. Transformation means that you're really fundamentally changing the way the organization thinks, the way it responds, the way it leads. It's a lot more than just playing with boxes. - Louis Gerstner
There are two type of managers. The first recognizes the results are not being achieved and states that changes need to be made starting with the people. The second also recognizes the results are not being achieved and asks what he or she should be doing differently as the leader. They may both reach the right decisions, however, the difference in approach is fundamental to the organizational health of a company.
Simplicity, speed and confidence are critical. It all starts with the foundation of a Revolution that aligns people, values and beliefs that break walls down both figuratively and literally. To push people to their ultimate potential means giving them the opportunity to live it and holding the organization accountable for it.
There are two type of managers. The first recognizes the results are not being achieved and states that changes need to be made starting with the people. The second also recognizes the results are not being achieved and asks what he or she should be doing differently as the leader. They may both reach the right decisions, however, the difference in approach is fundamental to the organizational health of a company.
Simplicity, speed and confidence are critical. It all starts with the foundation of a Revolution that aligns people, values and beliefs that break walls down both figuratively and literally. To push people to their ultimate potential means giving them the opportunity to live it and holding the organization accountable for it.
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Corporate
Rules Policies Tactics Techniques Money |
A Revolution
Principles Guidelines Purpose Intent Fulfillment and Destiny |
- Define core principles and you need fewer rules. Rules that do exist are to protect these core principles and as a result are understood by everyone. Rules without underlying principles become a form of learned helplessness.
- Guidelines encourage people to bring their ingenuity to work every day and scale judgment for an organization. It presents learning moments for finding better ways, reinforces trust within the organization and signifies the importance of the big "Why". Only when there is a need to protect employees or customers should there be hard polices. I cannot think of a good policy that does not align with protecting an employee or customer. Many polices are a poor substitute for management and bring the wrong objectivity and lack of judgment to an organization. Guidelines done properly are stronger than policies when measured by contribution of employee and customer engagement and are being lived versus written.
Rules and polices not properly defined and understood literally lock-down the teams and employees most responsible for execution.
A company without any rules or policies is chaos with no moral foundation.
- Tactics without purpose becomes a checklist diminishing both empowerment and personal accountability. In a learning organization the people performing the work become the true subject matter experts for their role - not management. Purpose gives people an opportunity to be vulnerable for the cause and brings emotional attachment to intellectual engagement.
- We all live for the consequences but without an understanding of intent it becomes a gamification of manipulation with techniques. When your intent is pure and not self serving your odds of winning increase exponentially.
Providing people clarity on purpose and intent allows them to better define and design their work, be proud of what they represent and take ownership of outcomes. Teach people how to think, not what to think.
No company will be able to compete in a marketplace without sound tactics and techniques. However, tactics and techniques are not enough to win by themselves.
- When money and individual recognition are the drivers to attain an outcome, never get upset on how it was achieved. This environment was set up by the leaders whether intentional or not and makes it extremely difficult to be agile and adaptable. It results in a culture of tribes with their own self interests. Show me a company who has to give carrots to people to do the right thing and I will show you a company that is over-managed, under-led, with many rules, driven by fear, greed and survival.
- Providing people an ability to learn how to live outside their comfort zone to order to attain self fulfillment, control of one's destiny and the exhilaration by serving something larger than oneself is priceless.
Money, by itself, does not motivate the best in people, however, it does give them a legitimate excuse to behave the way they know to be wrong since management set up this type of reward system. It is similar to a bunch of athletes on a team playing for their own stats and their next contract.
Finding ways to pay people more in a way that scales for the company is a wonderful epiphany for an organization. The challenge is that most companies have a myopic view on roles and an inability to understand each roles performance to the overall contribution to the business.
Introducing principles, guidelines, purpose and intent to an organization brings speed, agility and follow-through to your culture. The culture becomes the enforcer that holds everyone at all levels of an organization accountable. Once people understand the motivation behind the change, it is embraced and provides relentless pursuit of execution. Never let incentives conflict with people's inner values and let fulfillment and destiny triumph over money.
Bob Olson / 8711 Pinnacle Peak Rd Suite F-108 / Scottsdale, AZ 85255 / 602.690.5750 / [email protected]