A Quantum Voyage

ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

A few weeks ago in this space we discussed Organizational Culture. This time, we'll take a look at Organizational Climate. The academic literature on the topics of organizational culture and climate makes a distinction between the two as follows:

Culture is comprised of components such as values, myths, beliefs and norms - very soft, amorphous stuff; while climate is made up of workplace dimensions that can be fairly easily measured. Over our 30 plus years of working with small and mid-size organizations, we have assessed, or surveyed the peoples' views of the climates of many of our client organizations.

Seven dimensions of climate have been shown to have the most direct impact on the behaviors and performance of the people surveyed.

1. CONFORMITY:  The organization has clear rules, procedures, policies, practices, and guidelines which people follow.
2. RESPONSIBILITY:  People are given personal responsibility to achieve their part of the organization's goals; people can make decisions and solve problems without checking with managers each step of the way.
3. RECOGNITION/REWARD:  The organization recognizes and rewards people for doing a good job rather than ignoring, criticizing or punishing people when something goes wrong.
4. STANDARDS:  The organization emphasizes quality performance/production; the organization sets challenging organization goals.
5. ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY:  The organization is well organized and has clearly defined goals rather than being disorganized, confused or chaotic.
6. WARMTH & SUPPORT:  The organization values friendliness; people trust and support each other.  Good work relationships exist in the workplace.
7. LEADERSHIP: The organization encourages leadership based on expertise; people accept and follow direction from other qualified people, not just those with formal leadership titles, rather than being dominated by one or two people in the organization.

For an idea of the state of climate of your organization, take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire below. Then, create a line graph showing the disparity between actual and optimum. We call this the development gap. We'd be glad to create the graph for you. Just fax or email your completed questionnaire to us with organization name, your name, email or fax number.

QUESTIONNAIRE
For each of the seven organization climate dimensions described below, circle the number in the ACTUAL row that describes your organization, now.  Next, circle the number in the OPTIMUM row that describes your view of the where your organization should be to be at its best.

CONFORMITY
Actual/Now
Few rules/policies/procedures                                 Many rules/policies/procedures
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Few rules/policies/procedures                                 Many rules/policies/procedures
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

RESPONSIBILITY
Actual/Now
Little/No responsibility is given                                 A lot of responsibility is given
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Little/No responsibility is given                                 A lot of responsibility is given
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

RECOGNITION/REWARD
Actual/Now
People are criticized/ignored/punished                  People are recognized/rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
People are criticized/ignored/punished                  People are recognized/rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

STANDARDS
Actual/Now
Low/No performance standards                              High, challenging performance
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Low/No performance standards                              High, challenging performance
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY
Actual/Now
Disorganized/confused/chaotic                         Well organized/clearly defined goals
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Disorganized/confused/chaotic                         Well organized/clearly defined goals
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

WARMTH & SUPPORT
Actual/Now
Little/No warmth, support, trust                           Lots of warmth, support, trust
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Little/No warmth, support, trust                           Lots of warmth, support, trust
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

LEADERSHIP
Actual/Now
Few leaders/leadership not rewarded                  Many leaders/leadership rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Few leaders/leadership not rewarded                  Many leaders/leadership rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

If you are completely honest in your responses, you will see a marked gap between actual and optimum. If you are a senior executive and you ask others in your organization to complete this questionnaire, you will probably find that their gap between the way things are and the way they would like them to be is greater than yours. For information on how to reduce these gaps, give us a call or drop us an email. We'd be happy to chat with you.

The Fear of Change

Back in the 90's there was a study done by the University of Michigan (I believe) on Fear...specifically, what we in the United States fear the most as individuals. To give you an idea of how this study went, Death, which I think many of us will admit is a rather scary thing in of itself, ranked seventh (7th) on the list. A couple other entries that made the list were going to a cocktail party where we do not know anyone and taking our car to a garage or mechanic for repairs...both of these actually ranked in the top five on the list. Interestingly enough however, the number one fear in the United States at that time was Public Speaking.

Now I understand that has changed somewhat over the last decade or so towards a more materialistic response from people, but Public Speaking has remained consistently in the top 10 over the course of time. Why do you think this is? We can clearly rationalize that the other items mentioned from the list were based upon the fear of the unknown. Death, attending the party, or even taking your automobile in to be repaired, all center around unknown elements, but speaking in front of a group does not seem to immediately offer any similar conditions...or does it?

Experience can be considered a very valuable asset when approaching a task or endeavor. The rookie baseball player who steps up to the plate is bound to have a bit more anxiety facing his first pitch then the seasoned veteran who has been up to bat numerous times. This is directly impacted by their inexperience (among other things) at swinging the bat in the big leagues and not being familiar with big league pitching speeds and ball movement. As their careers progress they develop experience or habits that enable them to hit more successfully and reach base more consistently. This logic would then apply to Public Speaking or most fears for that matter as well as they are probably the result of inexperience. So if experience can be compared to a habit in this example, and good habits as we all know produce consistent and positive results time and time again, it would seem that an individual could conquer fears by facing them over and over again and removing the unknown factor.

Conquering our fears in business are the same and one of the most feared aspects of business right now is CHANGE. Hans Finzel states in Change is like a Slinky that "in today's organizations change is not a response to a challenge, it IS the challenge". Company's have been doing things the same way for years and continue to do so even if they are reducing profits, raising fixed spending, or even flat out losing money because they FEAR change. They continue to pride themselves on the belief that if it worked before it will work again all the while driving their people and the business into the ground.

My message to you today is simple...learn how to develop better habits in your everyday personal production by not accepting the status quo and you will find your goals and accomplishments grow measurably. Do not fear change, embrace it and use it to better yourselves and your business. Broaden your education, cross train your employees, share company goals and visions with your subordinates, or just increase your exposure to what is going on around you. Learn to develop the potential in yourself by overcoming your fears and you will soon find yourself LOOKING FORWARD TO standing in front of a group of people with a smile on your face!

E. Lewine

7 Principles of Organizational Longevity and Integrity

RSL Consulting Group, LLC & Quantum Voyage, Inc.,  introduce the 7 Principles of Organizational Longevity and Integrity, a proven process for ensuring the viability of your enterprise.

 

A client of ours attended a workshop at an industry meeting recently, in which the presenter asked all those who had a written system of goals for their organization to stand up. Of the 400+ attendees, 37% stood. Of that 37%, about half took their seats when the presenter further asked, “How many of you have shared those goals with your people?”

 

By my rough calculation, about 150 organization leaders out of 400 had written goals, and 75 shared those goals with those in their organizations that “make it happen” every day.  And then the remiss leaders want to know why they're not making the progress that they would like to make. Sad commentary on the state of organizational planning and communication.

 

7 Principles of Organizational Longevity and Integrity.

 

Our formula is simple because its based on a set of generalized principles with universal application:

1. Articulate a Vision that is a “paint by the numbers” picture of what you want your organization to look like at some reasonable future point in time. (3 to 5 years works well).
2. Formulate a multi-dimensional strategy that can effectively support realization of that Vision. (Strategic commitments can be made regarding products, markets, technology, financial returns, etc.)
3. Create an organizationally pervasive system of clearly defined, executable goals which are aligned so that the achievement of each leads to or contributes to the achievement of its parent, or higher level goal.
4. Build an organizational structure that removes organizational performance roadblocks, facilitates goal directed communication, managerial support for those most closely connected to the customer/client, and allows for rapid modification of job responsibilities that takes into account the impact of actual results.
5. Exhaustively clarify performance expectations for each position within the organization; and implement an objective system of appraising this performance so that people always know how they are doing in comparison to their agreed to outcomes.
6. Fill each position in your organizational structure with the most qualified performers, replacing incumbents with candidates from the outside, where appropriate.
7. Initiate a program of continuous professional and personal development for your people at all levels in the organization.

The details of implementation within each of these seven principles address the varying needs of disparate organizations across industry lines. This is the beauty of generalized principles with universal application.

-RSL

Do you know?

Here we are, knee deep in a recession which is leading many to depression. Many of us don't know for sure how we got to this place. We're unsure which of our many decisions contributed to where we are right now. Maybe it doesn't matter, except as lessons learned. Our possible futures are really more important, as we can use our past to help us create a different kind of future. What we do with our possibilities depends on how much we believe in ourselves; how high our self-image is; and how willing we are to embrace some change.

“Without a system of goals, our only motivation is survival”. When I coined this phrase back in 1977, I didn't realize just how powerful is was. It was just something that came to me, a realization based on the transition that I was going through at the time. Its impact was brought home to me a few years later when a job candidate told me that the only reason she walked in the door of our somewhat tacky office was because she saw that phrase on a sign in our storefront window. That candidate went on to become a partner and very successful in her own right.

Several of our clients were able to exit their businesses by selling them to outsiders. They tell us that having a system of goals, both personal and business made this possible. Our clients who continue using our goal setting technology long after we've finished our consulting gig tell us that it is the difference between just accepting what they think will happen, and getting what they want. “A goal is what you want, not what you think you'll get”. Another of my epiphany type realizations. Instead of being a victim of your results, you become the beneficiary of your efforts to achieve your desired results.

Creating a system of goals, personal and/or business is no mean feat. It takes commitment, time, effort, thought, risk, and patience. Patience with yourself and with the process.

Now is the time to think about your possible futures. While you're in line at the unemployment office, or waiting for the person who will be interviewing you for a position. While you're watching a sporting event or catching a missed episode of your favorite soap. During your lunch break at your job, or while you're reading a book. Carry pen/pencil and paper with you and when an idea hits you, write it down! More good ideas have been lost on the way from the brain to paper than make the trip. From ideas and dreams come goals. From goals come successes, no matter how they're measured.

I'd be glad to share the entire goal setting process right here, however, you probably wouldn't take the time to read all 50 or so pages. There are many resources available that can help us get the job done and the Internet has made them easily accessible. Effective goal setting isn't taught in our schools and universities. Rather, we're told to set goals, but not how. The how is critically important.

When you experience and understand the value of this goal setting technology and what it can do for you, you “won't leave home without it”!

Richard S. Lewine is President of Quantum Voyage, Inc.; creator of GoalTrak^TM; principal at RSL Consulting Group; and co-founder of Pinnacle Power. He is based in Montgomeryville, PA and may be contacted at rslewine@rslgo.com

The Picture is Crooked

We have just returned from three days in Chicago, attending the “Best of OD Summit”, a learning conference for organization development professionals. There were bout 700 attendees, both external consulting organizations and internal, corporate OD specialists. We were there as exhibitors, demonstrating GoalTrakEV as a tool for these people to use in their efforts to help their clients excel.

From our perspective as vendors the conference was a success. We had a good flow of people coming to our booth who were seriously interested in GoalTrakEV. Many asked us to follow up after the conference. As a learning venue, the attendees we spoke to said that they got what they came for; meeting with colleagues, learning new and enhanced methods of practicing their profession, and of course, eating, drinking and enjoying what the Windy City has to offer.

There was, however, a disturbing undercurrent. A high percentage, (about 50%  by our unscientific count), of these OD professionals told us that even though they are asked by upper management to improve the overall human performance of their clients' organizations, both internal and external consultants said they were stonewalled in their efforts by these same people.

These professionals are educated and trained to facilitate the enhancement of organizational collaboration, communication, recruitment, management development, interdepartmental cooperation, strategy formulation, succession planning and a host of other critical disciplines. They are paid well to implement their skills with the potential outcome of improved overall organizational efficacy, reflected in higher profits and more satisfied customers for their clients. Why then, this top level resistance?

We don't have the answers. Our experience in our OD consulting practice has been similar, though our percentage of success is higher. For the most part, when we've been engaged for an extended period, say, 18 to 24 months, the organizational changes tend to remain intact. Perhaps our somewhat off-center approach of using goal setting as the catalyst for change is the reason we get these results. We'd like to think so.

In our view, goal setting is the most powerful tool for human achievement that is available to us as a species. Everything that we do as people is to either gain a benefit or avoid a loss. We are motivated by a potential satisfying outcome to perform the simplest activity such as brushing our teeth, to the difficult process of looking for a new job. Maybe these management folks have not clarified their goals. Without a system of goals, our only motivation is survival. They apparently are not willing to “pay the price” because they don't see the rewards. If that's the case, maintaining the status quo, staying in their comfort zone, will always prevail.

-RSL

Changing of the Guard

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear about a new CEO taking over the leadership of an organization? Job cuts? Restructuring? Move around the furniture?

Perhaps. Just in the past two months this event occurred with one of our client organizations. The first thing the new CEO did was to gather his leadership group for a day to clearly define the top level corporate goals for 2008. We were fortunate to be asked to facilitate the process. Rather than do the job twice, the CEO decided that as the goals were defined, they would be entered directly into GoalTrakEV, eliminating the error prone process of transferring them from paper or word processor to GoalTrak.

It was a sobering experience for all concerned. While the CEO was familiar with our goal setting process from many years of exposure, his predecessor had shortcut the system. He had to start from square one. We even had to formulate strategy on the fly; no mean feat! At the same time, the CEO and his people were learning how to use GoalTrakEV, as the previous CEO eschewed GoaltrakEV in favor of a home grown spread sheet system which, by the way, no one understood or used.

We still have two more groups of leaders with whom we must work, cascading the corporate level goals to the divisions and departments. They too, will be learning GoalTrakEV, along with the technology of goal setting, as many of them have not been exposed to the process. Our new CEO is paying the price for the short-sighted view of his predecessor.

The salient points here are, the new CEOs understanding of the value of real world goal setting; the advantages of using GoalTrakEV for creation and easy tracking of their system of goals; and the benefits of having each leader set up their Performance Appraisal criteria directly in the system. The CEO actually negotiated expectations with his people in this same session. Senior Leaders are off and running!

-RSL

Organizational Evolution

So, what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Nothing! “What does that have to do with Organization Development consulting and GoalTrakTM,” you might ask. Everything!

After 30 years of working with CEOs of small and mid-size organizations, I liken our experiences to the above old adage. Our initial involvement focuses on helping the people of the client organization to understand that just because they change what they do, or how they do it, doesn't mean that everything they've done till then was wrong.

Apparently, the human condition is such that allowing oneself to change is perceived as a sign of weakness, of ignorance, or perhaps, foolishness; so there is resistance to change. Unfortunately, this situation seems to be the rule, rather than the exception. The people in the organization are “comfortable”. The CEO, however, senses, or knows, that things need to change. Frequently, he/she is unsure as to the specific change needed, but absolutely sure that it must occur. It's an evolutionary process. That's why we were called in.

Organizational Evolution: The process of individual Awareness on the part of the leader, organizational Planning and leadership Development at all levels, yielding the trackable, manageable Results that you want.  Evolving from what the organization is at the moment (current state), to what it can be (desired state), at some predetermined time in the future. Transformation is the label frequently applied to this outcome.

Transformation calls for a process that looks something like this:

                  1- Leader's Personal acknowledgement that he/she must make some changes (prerequisite for success!).

This leads to → 2- Vision building which then requires →

                            3- Strategy Formulation supported by →

                                4- executable Goal Systems requiring →

                                    5- Leader/Manager Development that produces →

                                        6- Overall organizational effectiveness enhancement.

Slow and steady. The only way to ensure a successful transformation is to take evolutionary steps. Helping people to assimilate new information, systems, methods, and concepts takes time and persistence. Knowing how you're doing each step of the way and what progress you are making, is a necessity. Otherwise, how will you know what to continue or what to modify? Not knowing how you're doing is tantamount to suicide. Don't even start if you're not going to track your progress in tangible metrics. That's where GoalTrakTM comes in. It's a tool to let you know how you're doing at every moment.

-RSL

The Beige Paper on Organizational Goals in Three Acts 12/19/07

Act III

There are a gazillion (that's a very high number with lots of zeros) web sites that purport to be the “be all end all” of goals and goal setting. From a consumer perspective, we believe that anything that gets someone to begin setting goals is helpful. The mere act of writing something down will change the possible outcomes.

When it comes to organizational goals and goal setting, there are many fewer sites that promise the world. A handful are well done and, if implemented according to the provided guidelines, will probably contribute to improved results, that is, of course, if the issues we talked about earlier in this article are addressed.

Our assessment, however, based on a non-scientific research project, is that these professionally developed sites don't really do the job as it needs to be done.

1. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV and GoalTrakTM CV include the complete 9 step goal setting process.
2. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV requires the absolute linking of goals to organizational Strategy and/or top level organizational executable goals.
3. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV provides a complete discussion of the technology and art of goal setting; and provides context sensitive links to the appropriate information as a guide during the goal setting process.
4. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV seamlessly integrates the specific measurable criteria of an individual's goals with his/her performance appraisal without additional data entry.
5. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV requires individual performers to create their own goals, rather than have someone else decide what the person should achieve and how, and push it down without collaboration.
6. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV has GoalMail^TM as the collaborative communication conduit between and among all goal setters and their direct reports, up and down and across the organization.
7. ONLY GoalTrakTMEV was conceived and designed by a practicing organizational development consultant. It is based on 30 years of working with and listening to real clients.

The expected bells and whistles are also present in GoalTrakTMEV: Dashboards, drill downs, goal relationships, privacy, etc.

If you are serious about supporting the continuing evolution and transformation of your organization, then take a test drive of GoalTrakTMEV. Or if you are a mentor, consultant or coach, GoalTrakTM CV.

If you want to Manage Results instead of reacting to them, visit goaltrak.com and learn about the GoalTrakTM family.

If you want to conduct objective, effective performance appraisals, and be able to review actual, real time performance against targets with 3 mouse clicks, then the GoalTrakTM family of Goal and Performance Management SaaS applications is for you!

GoalTrak.com

Because a goal is what you want, not what you think you'll get!!

-RSL

The Beige Paper on Organizational Goals in Three Acts 12/17/07

Act II

Consider this: An organization is comprised of groups of disparate individuals with diverse talents and skills (know-how), brought together for the common purpose of generating a coherent outcome which yields excess revenue, (in our capitalist system), called profit. Most of these people didn't know that the others within the organization even existed, let alone understand their motivations, before they came on board. Without a system of goals that leads in a common direction, how in the world could they be expected to perform up to expectations? Yet this is how most of our small to mid-size businesses operate.

Here is one of our un-glitzy graphics, a conceptual representation of an organization's functional structure from a strategic perspective.

This is the way it works, whether or not we intentionally make it this way. If the Vision and Strategy are absent, then the Organization Goals, if they exist, determine the work that needs to be done. If they don't exist, and by that I mean if there isn't a written system of goals addressing important operational Key Result Areas (KRAs) for a specific time frame and cascaded throughout the organization, then everything else “just happens”. That is, people implement their know-how as they perceive it should be done, or as their supervisor/manager told them to do it. Now, without goals, how does the supervisor/manager know what's the right thing to do?

If you've read this far, by this time you've gotten our message. If you haven't, we'll make it abundantly clear; as far as we're concerned, “without a system of goals, our only motivation is survival!” If that's OK with you, then it's fine with us. If you want more than just survival, have we got a product for you! (or, read on. . .)

Here's a goal setting flow chart depicting the nine steps required to create a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Tangible, Realistic and Controllable (SMTRC). 

Notice that we didn't say SMART goal. The reason is simple: SMART goals are not . . . very smart! Some well meaning (we hope) individual came up with an acronym and made goal requirements fit. This is a case of form before function, as far as we're concerned. It is the sum total of the qualities of a goal that make it achievable. To include Achievable (the “A” in SMART) as one of the qualities is an oxymoron. The Controllable element is missing in a SMART goal. It is the final piece of a SMTRC goal. Check back on Wednesday, December 19, 2007 for Act III.

-RSL

The Beige Paper on Organizational Goals in Three Acts

Act I

            

This is not a white paper! “. . . Several versions of Webster's indicate that the term arose within the past few decades in England to distinguish short government reports from longer, more detailed ones that were bound in blue covers and referred to as "blue books" (not to be confused with the blue books used when taking college exams). A shorter government publication providing a report or position about something was bound in the same white paper as the text - hence, "a white paper".

We're not going to dazzle you with glitzy graphics and tons of tough-to-validate statistics. We are going to explain our position, our rationale, in creating GoalTrakTM.  Succinct and concise are our guiding principles. A few facts and our experience make up the bulk of this document. Onward!

Let's start with a basic fact: The education system in the US does not teach students the technology of goal setting, at least as we understand it. Oh sure, there are a few places where lucky students have a teacher/professor who has been exposed to the fundamentals of goal setting and is wise enough to pass it on to those in his/her classes. In general, however, this doesn't happen. So we end up with a general population that is told, (by the uninformed) to set goals; but not how to set goals.

Why then, are we surprised to discover that most people in organizations are poor goal setters? Further, the leaders in most organizations are products of the same educational system and they don't have the required goal setting expertise either. Result: no goals, few goals, or poorly structured goals; and performance that is much less effective than it could be.

Here's another fact:  A study by Robert Rodgers of the University of Kentucky and John E. Hunter of Michigan State University, showed that goal setting, in combination with participation in decision making and objective feedback, yields average productivity gains of 56%.  These gains occur when top-management commitment and participation are high.  (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1991, Vol.76, No.2)

OK, so the study is almost 20 years old. Does that invalidate the findings? We don't think so, because our sister consulting company, Achievement Alliance Corporation, whose founder created GoalTrakTM, has found this to be true in their work with small and mid-size clients for over 30 years! When organizational populations are introduced to the fundamentals of the technology and art of goal setting, outcome expectations are higher and actual performance is enhanced, producing improved results.

In addition to the need for clearly defined goals, overall organizational performance is dependent on leadership that has articulated a Vision and supporting strategy that are disseminated throughout the organization, top to bottom and sideways. Everyone needs to know where they are headed or they can't make a meaningful contribution to the journey.

Making the task of sustaining an effectively functioning organization even more daunting, is the challenge of ensuring that the behavior of leaders and followers is highly functional; a little discussed but critical factor in our society and business environment that has far reaching ramifications. We won't deal with that issue in this paper; however, you'll find some interesting and enlightening information on the subject here.  Check back on Monday, December 17, 2007 for Act II.

-RSL