Center for Excellence Website PA. Child Welfare Training Program

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Reminder: Organizational Effectiveness Training Presenter: Phil Basso, APHSA Date: October 13, 2004 Time: 9 a.m. until 12 noon Location: PCYA Quarterly Meeting Seven Springs Somerset, Pa.

In his recent book, Good to Great, Jim Collins describes the findings of his five year research effort. He and his research team studied organizations that moved from good to great. As the book jacket says, “Collins and his crew discovered the key determinates of greatness—why some companies make the leap and others don’t.”

Further, Collins suggests that his findings are not simply a business solution, they are solutions for any type of organization. “If we have cracked the code on the question of good to great, we should have something of value to any type of organization. “Good schools might become great schools.” “Good churches might become great churches.” And, “good government agencies might become great government agencies.”

Collins summarizes his key points at the end of each chapter. Below are a few for your consideration.

 Good-to-great leaders began the transformation by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off, and then deciding where to drive it. The key point being: “Who” questions come before “what” decisions . . . . Before vision, strategy, structure, or tactics comes “WHO?” This approach is applied as a rigorous discipline.  Good-to-great leaders were rigorous in people decisions. These leaders demonstrated three disciplines: 1. When in doubt, don’t hire—keep looking. 2. When you know you need to make a people change, act. 3. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.  Good-to-great management teams debate vigorously in search of the best answers, but who unify behind decisions regardless of parochial interests.  The old adage, “People are your most important asset” is wrong. The right people are your most important asset . . .  The right person is defined more by character traits and innate abilities than specific knowledge, background, or skills.

Source: Good to Great, Jim Collins, Harper Collins Publishing Co., 2001 ESLSEC, gps Center for Excellence Website PA. Child Welfare Training Program

 Good-to-great organizations begin the process by confronting the brutal facts of their current reality. Leadership does not begin just with vision . . . it begins with getting people to confront their current reality and act on the implications.  Honest and diligent efforts to determine the truth of your situation results in the right decisions becoming self-evident It is impossible to make good decisions without infusing the entire process with an honest confrontation of the brutal facts.  A primary task is to create a culture where people have a tremendous opportunity to be heard and, ultimately, for the truth to be heard.  Creating a climate for truth to be heard involves: 1. Leading with questions, not answers 2. engaging in dialogue and debate, not coercion 3. conducting autopsies without blame 4. building red flag mechanisms that turn information into information that can’t be ignored.  Good-to-great organizations respond differently to adversity. They meet the realities of their situation “head on”, and therefore emerge stronger.  A key psychology for leading from good to great—what Collins terms the Stockdale Paradox (Admiral Jim Stockdale; Vietnam POW)—Retain absolute faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time confront the most brutal facts of your current reality . . .  The good-to-great leaders spent very little energy attempting to “create alignment”, “motivate the troops”, or “manage change”. Under the right conditions, the problems of commitment, alignment, motivation and change largely take care of themselves. Alignment follows results and momentum, not the other way around.

Questions to ponder:

1. What key points conflict with your current thinking? Do your results justify continuing with your approach? 2. To begin your transformation, how might you get people to face their current reality and act on the implications? 3. If you were to envision “creating tremendous opportunity to be heard and for the truth to be heard”, what steps would you put in place? Who would be responsible for what step(s)? What would your timeline be?

Source: Good to Great, Jim Collins, Harper Collins Publishing Co., 2001 ESLSEC, gps