Saturday, September 19, 2009
What Makes a Person Strategy Focussed?
Kaplan and Norton introduced the notion of the Strategy Focussed Organisation with their work on Strategy Maps. They argued that success for organisations only came through a process of getting four perspectives right. Starting with learning and growth (a capability perspective with a focus on human, information and organisation capital), internal (all the processes necessary to run an organisation....operations, customer management, innovation and regulatory), customer (value to the customer through product/service attributes, relationships and image) and finally financial (the shareholder perspective of cost, asset utilisation, revenue growth and enhanced customer value). I have a simplified idea of this as competency, process, customer need and shareholder need. Each level feeds in to the next. My corporate experience showed me that if you try to cut corners on any of these perspectives it comes back and bites you later. I am interested in creating a similar model for a successful individual. I believe there are a number of perspectives for an individual that lead to success. Get them all right and you succeed. I am interested to know what you think the equivalent of each of these perspectives is for the successful individual. What do you think?
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Len, this is soooo cool! Will come back to the topic later:o)
ReplyDeleteJ
Hi Len
ReplyDeleteThis is so exciting, I am sure its going to be the beginning of something wonderful!
Anyway, in answer to your question, I had to go to the dictionary to first define success.
'.... achievement of an endeavour..... or desired end....'
and was left thinking that the perspectives necessary for a leader to 'be successful' depend upon his or her endeavour or desired end.
In a commercial framework, the outcome or desired end is usually an over arching financial goal (shareholder value creation), or derivation of this, but for an individual leader it feels more complex.
Usually, wealth creation in of itself is not usually sufficient for most followers, who seek meaning or purpose to what they do and alignment with their own values.
So those would be my two:
1. meaning or purpose (or legacy)
2. alignment with values
Good morning Len.
ReplyDeleteYou pose a thought-provoking question and this is by no means a complete answer. Still, your categories have resonance with me - and I am also wondering how you might investigate them further.
I notice that for me the question of capability or competency is paramount - isn't our ability to manage ourselves and our relationships with others our key asset (Goleman's book Working With Emotional Intelligence springs to mind)? Often, when leaders reach a ceiling of some sort, it is defined by their personal limitations at a given point in time.
I notice that, this morning at least, I'm less sure about the individual's equivalent of "internal". I look forward to seeing others' responses and your own thoughts on this.
Customer - well yes! What I would say is that, for the individual, this may need a broader definition than any we might habitually use. For the senior (or aspiring senior) leader in the corporation paying attention to a range of relationships, including relationships with one's staff, peers and seniors can make or break a career.
As for financial, I wonder if this word might more usefully be replaced with "wealth" or something similar. For example, in this days of networking and social capital, it strikes me that raw pounds and pence are just one measure of wealth and they depend on one's ability to build and maintain other assets along the way.
I look forward to hearing more as your thoughts develop.
Dorothy
Comments offered in email responses...
ReplyDeleteFrom AL
• Wealth (Resources that enable choice and options).
• External Relationships (friends/community).
• Family/Legacy (What you created that endures after you move on).
• Internal Peace (Mind and Body Health)
From PT
• A code for life (morals, ambitions, boundaries, what you stand for etc) – otherwise you’ll never understand whether you are moving away from or closer to your goals
• Friends (people whose company energises and whose advice and perspective stimulates)
• A purpose (the source of the drive to excel)
• A hobby/leisure interest (what you do to reward yourself for the work you perform)
• Love (people who love you and whom you love)
I buy the concept that to be truly successful you have to have a balanced portfolio of the above assets.