Leading transformation requires leaders at all levels to reflect on the past and use experience to make decisions and develop strategies for achieving competitive advantage. According to a recent study transformational CEOs have a higher than average “Past” orientation to time. This indicates the importance of experience, may well motivate them to learn from experience and provides the experience base with which they can use to make decisions about the present or future. In addition, transformational CEOs have a focus on the future score that is significantly higher than the standard comparison group. The combination of using the past and future perspectives means that these leaders are motivated to learn from the past and use that knowledge to inform the development of strategies for the future.
Transformational CEOs in our study all used four systematic methods to facilitate continuous learning and improvement: (a) strategic management; (b) organization assessment using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence; (c) benchmarking and comparisons; and (d) continuous improvement methods. All four approaches involved assessment of processes and performance and the results associated with organization changes. In other words, they all learned from performance "trends" which provided feedback on the effectiveness of previous changes. These learning methods combined with a systems thinking approach enabled leaders to develop sustainable business strategies.
Results may not always reflect the performance that we had hoped for but they always provide an opportunity for learning. Later in his life, Dr. W. Edwards Deming changed Plan Do "Check" Act to Plan Do "Study" Act to better reflect the intent of the process improvement step of examining the results and learning from them to inform future actions. Unfortunately many organizations and leaders are very good to Plan Do, Plan Do, Plan Do...and they often do not take the time to study the results, learn from them and adjust future actions based on those learnings. Creating and sustaining high performance requires a disciplined approach of learning from the past and creating the desired future based on reflection and learning.
While the transformation CEO may be proud of what the team has accomplished, at the same time, they are never satisfied with the status quo - no matter how good that may be. They are constantly seeking to improve corporate performance as part of a continual evolution.
While all the participants in a recent study desired improvement to occur quickly, as one CEO put it, “While you may have to put the ‘rudder over hard,’ the ship doesn't turn quickly. It takes time for culture change and you have to take the group along with you.”
In addition, “Baldrige companies expect continuous improvement in all areas but definitely must have specific breakthrough improvements to achieve World Class performance. I think of continuous as 3-5% improvement in performance and breakthrough as 20% plus improvement. I can't think of any Baldrige recipients as not having both.”
The CEOs in the study “pushed” for both continuous improvement and breakthrough improvement but they realized that creating and sustaining high performance is a long-term evolutionary process.
All of the Baldrige recipient organizations in a recent study used four systematic approaches for continuous improvement or organizational learning including: a strategic management system; continuous improvement processes (e.g., PDSA); benchmarking; and Baldrige-based assessment and improvement.
Leading organizational change toward achieving competitive advantage requires both incremental continuous improvement as well as breakthrough improvements that dramatically shift performance higher.
A colleague told me a great story about an employee engagement strategy. She had been hired by a well-known pharmaceutical company to take part in a major initiative to improve corporate performance. Like many pharmas, the challenge is getting new products thru the development pipeline in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Upper management had given a group of senior scientists an ultimatum to figure out how they could do a better job leading product innovation. My colleague--an organization development (OD) professional--was given the task of meeting with researchers from the R&D group to address the ultimatum.
She walked into a hornet's nest...the room was filled with angry and demoralized people...to a person they were hard working, highly educated and very experienced. After 30 minutes of venting...she had very serious doubts that any attempt to brainstorm sustainable product innovation strategies could happen.
In a moment of inspiration that often comes in times of stress, she asked them to forget about product innovation and simply think back to a time in their careers when they "found their bliss." What followed as nothing short of miraculous...yet predictable from what we are learning about overcoming resistance to change.
Many of the scientists in the room recalled their experience in post-doctoral fellowships. In those peak experiences, they were allowed to follow their instincts and explore new ground with minimal risk. There was no one hanging over their head demanding a tangible benefit or marketable product.
In discussing their experience as "post docs" the group came to realize that an overarching driver in the experience was to extend the time in the fellowship...to keep the bliss alive. They further realized that they had carried this practice forward into their work in the pharma labs. Questions began to emerge in their dialog. "Are we allowing a learned behavior during our 'post doc' experience to hinder a successful culture of innovation?" In keeping the research going for as long as funding could be obtained..."Are we reducing the chance of achieving competitive advantage?"
By the end of the afternoon, the group has come to a breakthrough idea. They realized that research projects that were not paying off in a reasonable time should be terminated. They began to develop a set of criteria that would allow them to identify "failures" earlier in the process and in so doing give more new ideas a chance to see the light.
Remembering peak experiences is a useful way to get people into a positive and creative frame of mind. It is at the heart of new tools in the field of OD such as appreciative inquiry and appreciative intelligence that are helping to create successful organizational change.
Daniel Pink, author of Free Agent Nation and A Whole New Mind, is coming out with a new book in December entitled, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Pink concludes that there is a mismatch between what research tells us about motivation and what businesses actually practice.
Social scientists have long known that extrinsic motivators (e.g. money) are far less powerful than intrinsic motivators (e.g. pride in work) with respect to complex tasks. Moreover, there has been a well-documented difference between perceptions of managers vs employees on what motivates. Managers have traditionally ranked financial rewards, for example, much higher on the list of effective motivators than their employees
Pink's new book is very timely...as high performing organizations are increasingly consumed with developing the perfect employee engagement strategy to improve corporate performance. At the heart of the powerful intrinsic motivators are mastery, autonomy and purpose. Helping employees become the best at what they do; giving them the freedom to create and learn; and fostering pride in the purpose of the organization are three of the most powerful internal motivators identified in the research.
Together the trio of motivators creates a virtuous cycle--when a leader spends time coaching an employee to master their trade it becomes easier for the leader to let go which in turn fosters confidence and initiative. Mastery and autonomy contribute to an employees ability to make a difference in service of the corporation's core purpose. Greater connection to the core purpose then reinforces the desire to attain mastery and take initiative...and the cycle continues...
Leveraging the three core intrinsic motivators (i.e. mastery, autonomy and purpose) requires some vital behaviors from leaders. For mastery, leaders must create a safe environment for learning and provide regular and actionable feedback; for autonomy to work, leaders must let go and then hold people accountable; for purpose, leaders must clarify an organization's core mission and recognize achievement--constantly emphasizing an employee's connection to the end product or service.
Achieving competitive advantage and sustaining high performance have never been more challenging for global companies. Revelations about the devastating economic impact of short-term financial incentives further underscores the need for corporations to use greater sophistication in developing strategic leadership skills. Teaching leaders how to improve performance using intrinsic motivators must rise to the top of the leadership development agenda.
Search This Blog
Subscribe to this blog
That's an RSS feed. Just click on it to receive content updates.
