Organizational

Performance
Meeting the Challenges
Of the New
Business Environment

Dr. Karl Albrecht

Chairman
Karl Albrecht International
2011

The pursuit of
mediocrity is
always
successful.
Karl Albrecht

The Current Business Environment

Severe recession / survival thinking
Business is not fun any more
The Internet is creating and destroying opportunities
The electronic culture is invading business culture
Short attention spans and cycles
Relentless atomization and acceleration
Depersonalized: customer moat
Depersonalized: management by email
Executives in quandary
Fad fatigue death of excellence

IBM Global CEO Study, 2010

1500+ CEOs, 60 countries, 33 industries
CEOs concerned about massive, rapid change
Global economic shifts
Disruptive impacts of technology
80% expect it to get worse
> 50% say their organizations not prepared to cope
Biggest needs they identified:
creativity
closeness to customers
organizational dexterity

The usual stuffs not working

Leadership and Organizational Performance

Organizational performance cannot
be divorced from executive leadership.
The executives must learn, grow, and
co-develop with the organization.
- Dr. Karl Albrecht
Author of:
Service America: Doing Business
in the New Economy
The Power of Minds at Work:
Organizational Intelligence in Action
Social Intelligence: the New Science of Success
Practical Intelligence: the Art & Science of
Common Sense

Are Executives Equipped for the Challenges?

We found that adaptive capacity was
the single most important attribute for
success, whatever the field.
We discovered that all of the leaders
had undergone a crucible, a
transformative experience that had
prepared them to lead.
Prof. Warren Bennis, USC

a leaders life is the summation of the leaders judgment calls.

Making judgment calls, we concluded, is the primary job of a leader,
the DNA of leadership. With good judgment, little else matters.
Without it, nothing else matters.
From Still Surprised: a Memoir of a Life in Leadership

Adaptive Capacity = Intelligence

Re-thinking Organizational Performance

Performance:
the extent to which an organization
achieves a set of pre-defined targets
that are unique to its mission. These
targets will include both objective
(numerical) and subjective (judgmental)
indicators.
Performance Drivers:
key dimensions of an organizations
functioning that are critical to its
capacity to perform. Also called
domains of excellence (DOE).

Domains of Excellence
Domains of Excellence are key performance drivers - dimensions of
organizational capacity that enable the enterprise to succeed. They are the
universal management dashboard.

Seven Domains of Excellence:

1. Strategic Focus
2. Customer Value
3. Leadership & Team Performance
4. Culture, Values, & Ethics
5. Process Excellence
6. Talent Management
7. Knowledge Management
Take care of the means,
and the end will take care
of itself. - Gandhi

Performance: Means and Ends

Executive
Leadership

Performance
Drivers (DOE)

Performance
Outcomes

DOE 1: Strategic Focus

An ongoing strategic conversation
Continuous environmental scanning
Clear purpose: the story
Clear driving values, priorities
Linked to financial / economic results

DOE 2: Customer Value

Key cultural & operational focus
Continuing research & feedback
Value proposition clearly understood
Synergy between tech & touch
Masterful delivery

DOE 3: Leadership & Team Performance

High standards for leader-managers
Executives who lead and model
Effective leader selection
Effective leader training / dev.
Regular assessment / feedback

DOE 4: Culture, Values, & Ethics

A strong sense of community
Executives who model core values
High quality of work life (QWL)
Morale, esprit de corps, shared fate
Social / ecological responsibility

DOE 5: Process Excellence

Appropriate organization structure
Processes are aligned w/ mission
Processes are friendly to customers
Processes empower performance
Processes are always improving

DOE 6: Talent Management

A culture w/ attracts talented people
Competitive compensation
Management of fit and fitness
Developmental opportunities
Systems w/ support career success

DOE 7: Knowledge Management

A culture w/ values knowledge
A culture of collaboration & creativity
Effective use of IT capability
Infrastructure for social networking
Development of thought leaders

We Need a New View of the

The Wall Street Model Business The Emerging Model

A business is just a collection of assets.

A business is a living enterprise.

It can be bought, sold, subdivided.

Its more than the sum of its parts.

Theres one real bottom line.

There are multiple bottom lines (3 Ps).

Success is defined financially.

Success is multi-dimensional.

Customers are sources of revenue.

Customers are solution seekers.

Employees are interchangeable resources.

Employees are agents / performers.

Orgn is an apparatus; a set of processes.

Orgn is a complex, adaptive system.

Its owned by management.

It has multiple stakeholders.

Performance is caused by management.

Performance is caused by synergy.

We Need a New View of Customers

Wall Street Model

Emerging Model

Customers as standard economic units

Customers as unique, solution seekers

Mostly disposable / interchangeable

Can be appreciating assets

We push products / services to them

We focus on delivering value

They adapt to our system

Our systems reflect their worlds

We Need a New View of Employees

Wall Street Model

Emerging Model

Interchangeable Work Units

Unique Performers

Human resources

Complex motivations

Transient, disposable

High expectations

We Need a New View of the Executive

Executive as Leader of the Band

Leadership as unique and contextual
Leader as learner: growing to meet the challenge
Leader as serial problem solver

The Effective Executive

Bland Leader?

Or Band Leader?

Occupies a pre-defined role

Deploys his / her unique intelligences

Captive of the organization

Owns the organization

Presides / manages

Has a theory / story

Sorts problems into bins

Engages, inspires, and energizes others

The Leader is the Main Brain

The thinking style (preferred information processing pattern)
of the leader shapes everything he or she thinks, says, and does.
The leaders thinking style
(a.k.a. cognitive style) also influences
the collective thinking processes
of everyone in the organization
under his or her leadership.
Thinking styles have been mostly
ignored in leadership models.

The Polyintelligent Leader

Multiple Intelligence Concept:
Robert Sternberg (Yale): the IQ concept is obsolete
Howard Gardner (Harvard): 7 8 intelligences
Adapted Model: Karl Albrecht (in his book Social Intelligence)
A = Abstract Intelligence
S = Social Intelligence
P = Practical Intelligence
E = Emotional Intelligence
A = Aesthetic Intelligence
K = Kinesthetic Intelligence
The Triune Intelligence model for business

What are the Steps

in an Organizational Performance Initiative?
1. Evaluation / Assessment: a rigorous, evidence-based process
of determining what aspects of the organization deserve to be
improved; owned and led by management; may be supported by
specialized experts or external practitioners.

2. Planning: a carefully considered process of defining the

outcomes desired, deciding what methods and resources to
employ, and assigning responsibilities for project leadership (e.g.
project team or task force).

3. Implementation: a disciplined process of executing the

development plan, with support, participation, and guidance by the
appropriate levels of management.

4. Continuity: evaluating the success of the project; celebrating

success; formalizing the new way of doing things.

The E. P. I. C. Cycle

What are the Critical Success Factors

for an Organizational Performance Initiative?
Seven Critical Success Factors:
1. Management Ownership
2. Employee Engagement
3. Solutions Unique to the Enterprise
4. Access to Appropriate Expertise
5. Disciplined Analysis & Planning
6. Creative Solutions & Best Practices
7. Flexible Management of the Process

Do We Need Outside Consultants?

specialists?

big firm?
guru?

Consultants can sometimes:

Consultants vary in their focus:

Educate you about concepts / models

Generalists assessment / strategy

Advise & guide your efforts

Domain specialists methodology

Provide specialized expertise / tools

Subject matter experts

Carry out specific outsourced tasks

Others

For More Information

http://www.KarlAlbrecht.com