StrategyDriven contributors are pleased to announce the release of our sixth model: Information Development Model. This model illustrates the evolution of raw statistical data collected from business operations and the marketplace into highly refined information that provides executives and managers with the insights necessary to set strategic direction and establish day-to-day priorities.
While it might sound cliche, there exists a significant truth to the phrase, actions speak louder than words. As individuals, we all hold certain values, beliefs, and biases which guide our decisions and subsequently our actions. So strong and yet so unperceivable are these convictions that on a day-to-day basis our reactions and responses to hundreds of seemingly benign situations are defined by them. Therefore, an individual’s values, the beliefs, and biases can be interpreted and understood by observing the individual’s actions.[wcm_restrict plans=”53515, 25542, 25653″]
In the organizational case, we refer to the shared values, beliefs, and biases, as the organization’s culture. Just as we can come to understand an individual’s convictions by observing his/her behavior, we can understand an organization’s culture by observing its behavior. Organizational behaviors are represented by the typical, observable actions and results or sought after results produced by its activities. Over time, the organization’s values tend to become codified in the organization’s processes practices, and traditions; providing yet another window through which cultural traits can be observed and identified.
As is sometimes the case with individuals, organizations may claim to believe or value a particular behavior or outcome that differs from its true culture. In these instances, an organization’s written or spoken communications will exalt a position typically deemed socially acceptable or correct. However, the actual decisions and behaviors of executives, managers, and employees will reflect a different value set. (see StrategyDriven Corporate Cultures article, Why Policies Don’t Match Actions) When this condition is observed, it is important to remember that individuals and their organizations find it exceedingly difficult to act in a manner counter to their culture. Therefore, one must assume it is the organization’s behavior that truly reflects its values instead of its written or spoken words.
Realizing the organization’s culture is revealed by the collective behaviors of its employees and reflected in its many processes, practices, and traditions, certain telltale signs can be used to identify what an organization values. Some telltale signs include:
Organizational culture represents a highly complex and integrated belief system. As such, no single observation should be used to draw a direct conclusion regarding an organization’s true values. In order to reach a valid conclusion, it is intended that information regarding the several telltale signs above be combined with employee, client, and supplier interview and survey data and direct behavioral and results observations followed by an in-depth evaluation. Only then can a valid conclusion capable of withstanding close scrutiny be reached.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”53515, 25542, 25653″]
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Additional Information
Additional information regarding organizational roles, responsibilities, and the propagation of values through performance measures, processes, procedures, and behavioral reinforcement can be found in the StrategyDriven model Strategic Organizational Alignment.
About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
An individual’s perception of circumstances and events is largely shaped by his/her knowledge and experience, beliefs, values, and biases. In the organizational setting, this perception is influenced by the organization’s shared history, its culture, and the individual’s relationships with seniors, peers, and subordinates. Additionally, event perception is often limited by the individual’s finite, relevant knowledge and experience, as well as his/her employment impact concerns and desire for self-promotion. To be effective, a strategic analysis must be free of the impairments and limitations individuals within the organization have when assessing internal events and impactful external circumstances.[wcm_restrict plans=”40707, 25542, 25653″]
Independent assessors are often engaged by an organization in order to evaluate internal performance and external environmental conditions in a significantly more unbiased manner. Because these outsiders are free from the organization’s vestiges, they tend to be able to provide executives and managers with a more accurate picture of performance, including hard-hitting and insightful opportunities for improvement. The independent assessor’s perception of conditions, occurrences, and organizational factors gives him/her several advantages over internal evaluators including:
These factors also serve to in enhance the independent assessor’s credibility with executives and managers; increasing the likelihood that action will be taken based on the recommendations presented.
While independent assessors are often thought of as outside consultants hired by the organization to perform a particular evaluation, they may come from a variety of different sources including:
Regardless of the source of the independent assessor, it is important that these individuals be sufficiently removed from the organization so that they are not subject to the biases common to those within the group being evaluated.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”40707, 25542, 25653″]
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About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
StrategyDriven contributors are proud to announce the release of our fifth model: Stakeholder Commitment Evaluation. This model provides decision-makers with a tool to assess and re-assess the relative importance and contribution of each decision stakeholder as circumstances evolve.
As stated before, effective decision-making provides the organization with a unified direction aimed at achieving a primary objective and possibly one or more secondary goals. Regardless of the decision’s complexity or its immediacy, the probability of realizing a desired outcome is directly related to the organization’s ability to execute the decision in a deliberate and focused manner. Broad organizational commitment to the decision and its execution is essential to achieving the unified action needed for a successful outcome.[wcm_restrict plans=”49229, 25542, 25653″]
It is important to remember that while broad consensus is always preferable, broad commitment is absolutely necessary. Through the appropriate use of positional, personal, and intellectual power, the decision-maker must be able to secure the commitment of the organization to the decision’s execution. Only when individuals are committed to a course of action will they apply the full measure of their knowledge, skill, experience, and controlled resources to its prescribed actions. It is then that the decision-maker will be able to leverage and focus the organization’s resources to optimally execute the decision’s identified actions.
Commitment can be difficult to obtain and maintain. Additionally, not all stakeholders will be equally important to the decision’s successful execution. Therefore, it is important for the decision-maker to recognize the level and source of a decision’s support. As circumstances and the decision itself evolve, support for the decision may change, necessitating continued reevaluation of each stakeholder’s level of commitment.
The StrategyDriven model, Stakeholder Commitment Evaluation, is an easy-to-use tool that helps a decision-maker assess, reassess, and track a stakeholder’s support and his/her relative importance to a decision’s success. The Stakeholder Commitment Evaluation model can be accessed and downloaded by clicking on the links provided within this post and from the StrategyDriven Models webpage.
Final Thought…
The Broad Commitment and There Can Be Only One decision-making best practices highlight a critical quality every decision-maker must possess, power. Each individual within an organization derives his/her power from their position, relationships, and recognized expertise. Without sufficient power, the decision-maker will have difficulty securing the commitment of key organizational stakeholders; diminishing execution effectiveness and increasing the risk of failure.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”49229, 25542, 25653″]
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About the Author
Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.