The following will be part of a book that I am currently working on.
The ACTION Organizational Development Tool (ACTION-OD) is the culmination of our involvement in consulting and in designing and delivering corporate development programs for Malaysian and international corporations. Through or dialogues we have identified a myriad of requests, needs, worries, complaints and concerns. Some often give us the impression that they are more inclined towards depending on technology to solve their organizational problems while others point to weaknesses either at the management level or at the employee level. Some blame external factors. The commonality between all these voices is that organizational issues are compartmentalized. Compartmentalization of organizational issues refer to the notion that like a production line, problems and defects can be identified and corrected at one single clearly defined point. This may be true in a manufacturing production line but never in situations where human input, feedback and performance are involved. In other words, organizational performance is a single unit of ‘organism’ whereby defects in one part affect the entire organism. Identifying and curing a symptom will not cure the disease. Developing and implementing disjointed measures and strategies are a surefire way of getting deeper into problems. What organizations and business leaders need is a Management Model cum Managing Tool which will help them to create a road-map for organizational excellence and high performance and sticking to that road map.
Hence, to address any issue in an organizational setting, there must be a willingness to look at a much bigger and wider context. In trying to conceptualize this understanding, we had to face one critical task. We had to identify a model within which a clearly defined paradigm can emerge and with which we can create a tool to understand and consequently address issues related to organizational performance. At another level, we also wanted a framework that can be applied to diverse contexts without simplifying the issues at hand. Thus began our search for a model that can help organizations manage the complexities related to performance which can also be applied to understand and improve individual performance. The final challenge for us in developing the ACTION – OD is creating a model/tool that Malaysian organizations, business leaders, entrepreneurs and managers can empathize with without getting lost in a maze of management fads, buzz-words and ‘same-wine in different bottle’ solutions.
The ACTION – OD tool is made up of a cascading paradigm that takes an organization towards the exact behaviors that it needs to improve performance and productivity. ACTION – OD begins by identifying the 4 Drivers for organizational peak performance (Knowledge Edge, Leadership Orientation, Change Adaptability and Customer Literacy) which produces 4 Characteristics (Innovativeness, Commitment, Fluidity and Passion) which in results in 4 Behaviors ( Utilization of Knowledge, Empowerment of Human Capital, Internalization of Change and Delighting of Customers). This 4-4-4 cascading paradigm is supported by a 6-step methodology that will assist the organization in identifying, developing, instituting and measuring management/business strategies for peak performance.
We began the development of ACTION – OD by understanding the organizations that we worked with and others which we observed. The most outstanding element of successful organizations that we have been involved with whether directly or indirectly is that they are so focused on knowledge. We can say that they are driven by the acquisition, dissemination and utilization of knowledge at every level of their business performance. In some organizations, this has become much like a second nature to them, they don’t even realize it. Individual employees in such an organization seem to reflect a characteristics unique to such organizations, i.e innovativeness. These organizations and their individual employees are bale to innovatively re-focus all their effort and energy to seek knowledge and to use each acquired knowledge to add value to products, services, work and life in general. These knowledge driven organizations are constantly adapting and adopting new and innovative ways to acquire and utilize knowledge. Although most of their knowledge seeking are utilitarirsn in nature, there also seems to be genuine respect of and appreciation for knowledge.
The next element that we have identified in successful and progressive organizations is their orientation towards leadership. Leadership is defined as being more than merely ‘leading’. It also encompasses ‘nurturing’ and ‘developing’. Such organizations are constantly nurturing and developing leaders ate every level of their business process. We were pleasantly surprised to note that leadership in type of organizations is not tied to any position or title. Everyone is a leader. Everyone is leading, nurturing and developing either an idea, a person, a product or a service. Leadership in these organizations is
viewed as a function of an individual/person rather than as a function of a title or position in the organizational hierarchy .
The characteristic that seems to be most outstanding in these organizations is the commitment towards nurturing and developing leadership. This organizational commitment is reflected by the individual employee’s commitment towards identifying and nurturing self-leadership in every aspect of life and to believe that this critical to personal success.
Being knowledge driven and committed towards leadership inevitably prepares these organizations to manage planned and un-planned internal and external changes. We refer to this element as change adaptability. Change is said to be the only constant and many organizations do believe this. However, they seldom prepare themselves to manage change. In the last few years we have seen the successes enjoyed by organizations which have and are still riding the waves of change and we can also observe the failures endured by those who couldn’t.
The often given reasons for these organizations’ failures are the fast changing technology, the rise of low-cost manufacturing centres and the obsoleteness of previously held competitive edge. What we suspect however is that, although these may indeed be contributing factors that resulted in organizations’gradual decline but the actual cause is their inability to adapt to change. The only element differentiating between successful and failed organizations is the ability to adapt to changes as they are all operating in a fundamentally similar business environment.
The associated characteristic with change adaptability that we have identified is the ability of the organization as a whole and employees at the individual level to identify, institute and welcome change in every aspect of life and to accept this a s continuous process of improvement.
The final but no less important element of successful organizations is their customer literacy. These organizations literally live and die for customers as they know that they can also live and die because of customers. They have tremendous respect and appreciation for their customers. They have extremely high customer care standards and are willing to institute whatever it takes to achieve that standard. These organizations take great pains to understand and involve customers in every stage of their business process. In return they receive and enjoy customer retention and loyalty.
There is only one word to describe these organizations’ intensity of focus on customers : Passion. Hence, we have identified passion as the corresponding characteristic to the element of customer literacy. Customer literacy is reflected in these organizations’ and their employees’ passion to develop others in every aspect of life and to realign life mission and vision to make others (customers) successful.
The core component of the 9 – Box Model for Peak Performance is the ACTION hexagon which will determine whether the four elements of Knowledge Driven, Leadership Orientation, Change Adaptability and Customer Literacy are transformed into results that reflects positively on the performance of the organization and the individual employees. This ACTION hexagon is the actionable component of the 9-box model.
The ACTIOn hexagon comprises of 6 stages in the process of achieving peak performance : Analyze, Create, Transmit, Institute, Orientate and Naturalize. These 6 stages are equally applicable for both and organization and an individual in efforts to achieve peak performance.
To begin the process of achieving peak performance, the organization must first analyze the performance needs. Performance needs refer to the kind of optimum performance enhancing environment that is needed. There is no one single environment that can be applied to all organizations or individuals but there are some general approaches that can be taken to achieve a desirable environment. Most of these approaches are rooted in suitable training and development programs.
Once the need has been analyzed, the next stage involves creating the resources and/or programs needed to begin building that environment. At the same time, a vision and mission of the peak performance desired must also be created. To be effective, this creation of resources, programs, vision and mission must involve all levels of the organization.
In the stage 3, the created resources, programs, vision and mission are then transmitted clearly to the part of the organization that specifically wants to achieve peak performance. At this stage, ample time must be given to receive feedbacks and comments.
Stage 4 involves instituting programs and resources as have been identified in stage 2. The institution of programs and resources must be closely aligned to the vision and mission of peak performance as have already been determined.
In stage 5 orientation takes place. The respective leaders must be ready to orientate the programs, resources and efforts to achieve the desired standard of peak performance. This stage will face challenges in the form of overzealousness or loss of motivation. So, it is vital that the leaders are able to continuously orientate the instituted programs to achieve the desired outcome of peak performance.
Finally, all programs and efforts toward peak performance must be naturalized so as to make it a lasting factor contributing towards organizational success. The naturalization may take a long time as old behaviors need modification and new thought processes must be assimilated.
Thus we propose the 9 Box Model of ACTION to achieve peak performance. We have argued our case on the basis that any program intended to achieve peak performance, including motivation programs, need to view the process of achieving peak performance from a wider perspective. Merely focusing on a limited set of micro skills to be delivered (such as sales related skills) will not bring lasting effects on peak performance. We have to look at peak performance from a perspective of knowledge driven, leadership orientation, change adaptability and customer literacy. These must be viewed from the point of view of the organization. An organization that has internalized these qualities will inevitably develop employees that reflect those qualities which will result in peak performance.
Next we have discussed the actionable component of the 9-Box Model which is the ACTION hexagon. Action outlines the stages that an organization need to address before, during and after a program that is intended to bring about peak performance. By following these stages, the planned program will achieve its intended objectives.
Hence, to address any issue in an organizational setting, there must be a willingness to look at a much bigger and wider context. In trying to conceptualize this understanding, we had to face one critical task. We had to identify a model within which a clearly defined paradigm can emerge and with which we can create a tool to understand and consequently address issues related to organizational performance. At another level, we also wanted a framework that can be applied to diverse contexts without simplifying the issues at hand. Thus began our search for a model that can help organizations manage the complexities related to performance which can also be applied to understand and improve individual performance. The final challenge for us in developing the ACTION – OD is creating a model/tool that Malaysian organizations, business leaders, entrepreneurs and managers can empathize with without getting lost in a maze of management fads, buzz-words and ‘same-wine in different bottle’ solutions.
The ACTION – OD tool is made up of a cascading paradigm that takes an organization towards the exact behaviors that it needs to improve performance and productivity. ACTION – OD begins by identifying the 4 Drivers for organizational peak performance (Knowledge Edge, Leadership Orientation, Change Adaptability and Customer Literacy) which produces 4 Characteristics (Innovativeness, Commitment, Fluidity and Passion) which in results in 4 Behaviors ( Utilization of Knowledge, Empowerment of Human Capital, Internalization of Change and Delighting of Customers). This 4-4-4 cascading paradigm is supported by a 6-step methodology that will assist the organization in identifying, developing, instituting and measuring management/business strategies for peak performance.
We began the development of ACTION – OD by understanding the organizations that we worked with and others which we observed. The most outstanding element of successful organizations that we have been involved with whether directly or indirectly is that they are so focused on knowledge. We can say that they are driven by the acquisition, dissemination and utilization of knowledge at every level of their business performance. In some organizations, this has become much like a second nature to them, they don’t even realize it. Individual employees in such an organization seem to reflect a characteristics unique to such organizations, i.e innovativeness. These organizations and their individual employees are bale to innovatively re-focus all their effort and energy to seek knowledge and to use each acquired knowledge to add value to products, services, work and life in general. These knowledge driven organizations are constantly adapting and adopting new and innovative ways to acquire and utilize knowledge. Although most of their knowledge seeking are utilitarirsn in nature, there also seems to be genuine respect of and appreciation for knowledge.
The next element that we have identified in successful and progressive organizations is their orientation towards leadership. Leadership is defined as being more than merely ‘leading’. It also encompasses ‘nurturing’ and ‘developing’. Such organizations are constantly nurturing and developing leaders ate every level of their business process. We were pleasantly surprised to note that leadership in type of organizations is not tied to any position or title. Everyone is a leader. Everyone is leading, nurturing and developing either an idea, a person, a product or a service. Leadership in these organizations is
viewed as a function of an individual/person rather than as a function of a title or position in the organizational hierarchy .
The characteristic that seems to be most outstanding in these organizations is the commitment towards nurturing and developing leadership. This organizational commitment is reflected by the individual employee’s commitment towards identifying and nurturing self-leadership in every aspect of life and to believe that this critical to personal success.
Being knowledge driven and committed towards leadership inevitably prepares these organizations to manage planned and un-planned internal and external changes. We refer to this element as change adaptability. Change is said to be the only constant and many organizations do believe this. However, they seldom prepare themselves to manage change. In the last few years we have seen the successes enjoyed by organizations which have and are still riding the waves of change and we can also observe the failures endured by those who couldn’t.
The often given reasons for these organizations’ failures are the fast changing technology, the rise of low-cost manufacturing centres and the obsoleteness of previously held competitive edge. What we suspect however is that, although these may indeed be contributing factors that resulted in organizations’gradual decline but the actual cause is their inability to adapt to change. The only element differentiating between successful and failed organizations is the ability to adapt to changes as they are all operating in a fundamentally similar business environment.
The associated characteristic with change adaptability that we have identified is the ability of the organization as a whole and employees at the individual level to identify, institute and welcome change in every aspect of life and to accept this a s continuous process of improvement.
The final but no less important element of successful organizations is their customer literacy. These organizations literally live and die for customers as they know that they can also live and die because of customers. They have tremendous respect and appreciation for their customers. They have extremely high customer care standards and are willing to institute whatever it takes to achieve that standard. These organizations take great pains to understand and involve customers in every stage of their business process. In return they receive and enjoy customer retention and loyalty.
There is only one word to describe these organizations’ intensity of focus on customers : Passion. Hence, we have identified passion as the corresponding characteristic to the element of customer literacy. Customer literacy is reflected in these organizations’ and their employees’ passion to develop others in every aspect of life and to realign life mission and vision to make others (customers) successful.
The core component of the 9 – Box Model for Peak Performance is the ACTION hexagon which will determine whether the four elements of Knowledge Driven, Leadership Orientation, Change Adaptability and Customer Literacy are transformed into results that reflects positively on the performance of the organization and the individual employees. This ACTION hexagon is the actionable component of the 9-box model.
The ACTIOn hexagon comprises of 6 stages in the process of achieving peak performance : Analyze, Create, Transmit, Institute, Orientate and Naturalize. These 6 stages are equally applicable for both and organization and an individual in efforts to achieve peak performance.
To begin the process of achieving peak performance, the organization must first analyze the performance needs. Performance needs refer to the kind of optimum performance enhancing environment that is needed. There is no one single environment that can be applied to all organizations or individuals but there are some general approaches that can be taken to achieve a desirable environment. Most of these approaches are rooted in suitable training and development programs.
Once the need has been analyzed, the next stage involves creating the resources and/or programs needed to begin building that environment. At the same time, a vision and mission of the peak performance desired must also be created. To be effective, this creation of resources, programs, vision and mission must involve all levels of the organization.
In the stage 3, the created resources, programs, vision and mission are then transmitted clearly to the part of the organization that specifically wants to achieve peak performance. At this stage, ample time must be given to receive feedbacks and comments.
Stage 4 involves instituting programs and resources as have been identified in stage 2. The institution of programs and resources must be closely aligned to the vision and mission of peak performance as have already been determined.
In stage 5 orientation takes place. The respective leaders must be ready to orientate the programs, resources and efforts to achieve the desired standard of peak performance. This stage will face challenges in the form of overzealousness or loss of motivation. So, it is vital that the leaders are able to continuously orientate the instituted programs to achieve the desired outcome of peak performance.
Finally, all programs and efforts toward peak performance must be naturalized so as to make it a lasting factor contributing towards organizational success. The naturalization may take a long time as old behaviors need modification and new thought processes must be assimilated.
Thus we propose the 9 Box Model of ACTION to achieve peak performance. We have argued our case on the basis that any program intended to achieve peak performance, including motivation programs, need to view the process of achieving peak performance from a wider perspective. Merely focusing on a limited set of micro skills to be delivered (such as sales related skills) will not bring lasting effects on peak performance. We have to look at peak performance from a perspective of knowledge driven, leadership orientation, change adaptability and customer literacy. These must be viewed from the point of view of the organization. An organization that has internalized these qualities will inevitably develop employees that reflect those qualities which will result in peak performance.
Next we have discussed the actionable component of the 9-Box Model which is the ACTION hexagon. Action outlines the stages that an organization need to address before, during and after a program that is intended to bring about peak performance. By following these stages, the planned program will achieve its intended objectives.
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