"Just give me the bottom line." Experience suggests that many executives do not want a lot of information; instead they want the “bottom line” or a few options to choose from. Staff are trained to do the analysis and develop a few options for the busy executive to choose from. Unfortunately, all too often this process allows the executive to avoid their own detailed analysis and limits the depth of their own systems thinking and understanding.
Transformational leaders use detailed information to understand the internal and external systems and environments and develop proactive strategies to succeed in today's complex and dynamic global environment. A systems thinking approach requires a comprehensive scorecard to analyze the complex and dynamic relationships in the modern organization and operating environment. In-depth analysis of the system enables the identification of key leverage points that create sustainable organization change.
The transformational CEOs in a recent study were strongly motivated to work with facts and knowledge and seemed to always want to know more. In fact, when compared to other effective leaders, the participating transformational CEOs had more in common with employees with respect to the information they were motivated to work with than the other leaders. As one Transformational CEO noted, “Baldrige organizations are very fact based. They also know that running tests and trials are critical to successful product or service changes that will impact customers and clients. These companies tend to be more measurement based (objective) vs. subjective. There is an old saying about ‘In God We Trust...all others must bring the facts’....”
Art and science of designing, managing and improving the organization system requires many types of information to help illuminate the system as well as systematic methods for improvement. All of the Transformational CEOs in the study used four very fact-based continuous improvement processes including: (a) strategic management system; (b) continuous improvement process (PDSA, Six Sigma, Lean, etc.); (c) benchmarking; and (d) Baldrige-based assessment and improvement. In addition, they used a leadership system with a comprehensive scorecard and results that included the current performance levels, trends over time, and comparisons to other high performing organizations to understand their performance and develop plans for improvement.
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