A JOURNEY TO HIGH PERFORMANCE

Presented by:Dr. Wm. (Chip) Valutis

WHY IS THERE SUCH A DISCONTINUITY BETWEEN

THE PROMISE OF “IMPROVEMENT” PROGRAMSAND ACTUAL RESULTS?

The recipe is unlikely to be any better than the cooks -- that is the managers in place

There is no sure way to change the culture of an organization in fundamental ways except by changing the people in power -- if the same people remain in power and they do not change in perceivably significant ways, not much else is going to change

Transforming an organization requires (in most cases) Transforming its leaders -- what isn’t right there will inevitably

spoil the broth

A HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION

Is an organization that is better at everything it does than its competitors, and is diligently and incessantly at work improving everything it does at a rate that significantly outpaces its competitors

Has a purpose that is used to focus the energies and consciences of all of its members

Is one that simultaneously and continuously maximizes the best self interests of all of its stakeholders

HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION (CONT’D)

Is an organization that out performs all others (by any measure) not “because of ” what propels it, but “in spite of” any and all obstacles that impede its path

Is one that makes it possible -- and necessary -- for ordinary people to perform in extraordinary fashion

Is one that has transformed its people into “owners” of the life and destiny of the organization

Is a healthy organization that is irrevocably committed to being great -- whatever it takes

STATED DIFFERENTLY,A HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION IS...

Ordinary people producing extraordinary results,

With more fun and less drama,

Using evolutionary learning frameworks,

To create a future inconsistent with mediocrity

CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATIONS

• Participative leadership -- empowering and serving others

• Aligned purpose

• Shared fate -- all are accountable

• High communication -- trust, openness, honesty

• Future focused -- seek (r)evolutionary improvements

www.impactbnd.com

CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATIONS (CONT’D)

• Results focused

• Creative -- fully using individual talents

• Rapid response -- sense of urgency for opportunity

• Use high performance teams as the implementation tool of choice

www.imperativesolves.com

WHAT IT TAKES - A MACRO VIEW

A fanatical commitment by every manager at every level at all times (you can predict shortfall by how much less than total commitment there is throughout the managerial cadre of the organization)

A deep understanding of the fact that high performance is not a goal or achievement, but a way of life (the concept of virtuosity)

An unbounded willingness to “pay the price”

WHAT IT TAKES - A MACRO VIEW (CONT’D)

A realization that what drives performance is necessity

A realistic appreciation of the fact that the way a high performance organization works is so different from the way a conventional organization works as to constitute a different paradigm

A recognition that it is only when people manage themselves and their own work, and have some control over the work systems in which they perform, that high performance even becomes possible

THE CONCEPT OF VIRTUOSITY

“The lifelong work process of striving to be the best you can be”

blog.djarumbeasiswaplus.org

THE CONCEPT OF NECESSITY

It is not based on rewards and punishment - it derives from one’s certainty about consequences (if a person knows what the consequences of his or her performance will be, even though they have never been seen, there is necessity)

Most people will only instrument themselves to make difficult change if they need to

The most powerful, potent necessity is habit

WHAT HAS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

Making it necessary for each of your subordinates to be forever on the path of becoming virtuosos at what they do in the organization

Making it necessary for each of your subordinates to think and act as leaders whenever it is advantageous to the organization to do so

http://www.thechangeblog.com/life-path/

WHAT HAS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED (CONT’D)

Making it necessary for each of your subordinates to perform as the Chief Steward of the organization’s mission

Making it necessary for all of your subordinates to be ready, willing and able to take over your role and to perform it better than you do

www.activegarage.com

THE CONSEQUENCES ARE...

That, these accomplished, the organization will turn upside-down (so that it can function “bottom-up”) as a result of the fact that its center of gravity has now shifted from the top down

www.orientplanet.com

WHAT IT TAKES - THE LEADER’S ROLE

A different, sometimes unconventional, way of thinking about the same old things (to lead people from where they are to where they ought to be requires a mind set that sees and interprets everything from there, not from here)

A level of perversity of thought and action, where required, that is at least as perverse as the world is

A great and worthy purpose that captures the hearts and the imaginations of those who would follow

WHAT IT TAKES - THE LEADER’S ROLE (CONT’D)

A strategy perceived as adequate to the purpose and the perceived ability of having what it takes, against all obstacles, to lead the way through to that purpose

Disciples who are as committed to the cause of the organization as the leaders are

An ability and willingness to tell a compelling story, not of what is, but of what will be

A willingness to re-launch the mission, every day if necessary, in order to dislodge the inertial forces of the old culture

CORE STRATEGIES FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE

The strategic distribution of the ownership of problems

Making possible what’s necessary and making necessary what’s possible

Accomplishments, not activities

Choice

The learning mode

Bringing life back into work

MAKING NECESSARY WHAT’S POSSIBLE

Passionate belief in a organization comes from:

The vision of the CEO and the management team (a compelling purpose/an ideal that people have passion for)

Commitment of the CEO and the management team (you cannot lead from the rear)

A willingness to endure the pain and struggles of pursuing the vision (actions must be consistent with words/real passion and loyalty are built over time)

Visible culture and values (there can be no belief without trust)

MAKING NECESSARY WHAT’S

POSSIBLE (CONT’D)

Most organizations attempt to drive change through information (memos, slogans, posters, banners, speeches, presentations, etc)

While information is seductive (easy to produce/easy to handle), it is largely ineffective at driving significant change because...

www.mynotetakingnerd.com brillianttraining.org

MAKING NECESSARY WHAT’S

POSSIBLE (CONT’D)...Results come from behavior, not information

Therefore… to significantly change results, you must change behavior

Since people behave according to what they believe in, high performance requires that you align their beliefs with the purpose of the organization -- People that are passionate in their beliefs are capable of extraordinary performance

The linkage is in creating belief in what is possible

MAKING POSSIBLE WHAT’S NECESSARY

Effective communication and information (clear and compelling purpose/clear roles and responsibilities /specific performance goals/ clear success measures)

Effective resource allocation and prioritization (time, money, facilities, equipment, people, etc.)

Effective operating systems (human resource, data processing, financial, tracking, etc.)

A learning organization (training & development)

The elimination of management driven organizational “politics”

OBSTACLES AND BARRIERS

The conventional “managerial” mindset (it’s paradoxical that most of the key ingredients of a “successful” manager’s mindset will work against the making of a high performance organization)

Habits, which, in organizations, become “routines” or the “way we do things around here”

Under-empowerment

Dumb systems

The larger, “pop” culture

MOVING TOWARD HIGH PERFORMANCE ENTAILS...

Employee pain

Manager painwww.picstopin.com

EMPLOYEE PAIN

Leaps for all to take. Can they make it?

They’re responsible We’re responsible

Not my fault I am accountable

Not my job Just do it

We always did it that way Do the right thing

Their problem We sink together

EMPLOYEE PAIN (CONT’D)

Procedures Self-initiative

Status quo Continuous improvement

Risk avoidance Risk taking

React Pro-act

Certainty Ambiguity

MANAGER PAIN

The toughest leap of all

Boss Coach

Manager Leader

Power Make powerful

Control Commitment

Alone Shared fate

MANAGER PAIN (CONT’D)

Positional worth Results contribution

Chain of command Get the job done

Demand hours Demand results

Decision maker Facilitator

Maintain system Destroy mediocrity

BELIEFS ABOUT PERFORMANCE

People can, will and desire to improve their performance

Managers have a greater impact on employees than they think they do

Long term performance improvement requires management of the consequences of performance

www.keison.co.uk

ABC’S OF WHY PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY DO

A B C

Antecedents Behavior Consequences

what happens before specific performance what happens after

gets performance started observable maintains performance

measurable

examples: examples:

education recognition

training feedback

equipment promotions

raises

positive/negative/neutral

THE POWER OF MANAGING CONSEQUENCES --THE STORY OF SISTER MARY AND NATHAN

Sister Mary stood before her very young parochial-school

class. She held up a shiny silver dollar and said, “ I’ll give this

dollar to the first boy or girl who can name the greatest man

who ever lived.”

“Was it Michelangelo?” asked a little Italian boy.

“No,” replied Sister Mary. “Michelangelo was a brilliant artist

but he wasn’t the greatest man who ever lived.”

“Was it Aristotle?” asked a little Greek girl.

“No,” Sister Mary answered. “Aristotle was a great thinker

and the father of logic, but he wasn’t the greatest man who

ever lived.”

THE STORY OF SISTER MARY AND NATHAN (CONT’D)

Finally, after several more incorrect answers, a little Jewish

boy raised his hand and said, “I know who it was, Sister. It

was Jesus Christ.”

“That’s right,” she replied and promptly gave him the dollar.

Being somewhat surprised at the Jewish boy’s answer, she

approached him on the playground at recess and asked,

“Nathan, do you really believe Jesus Christ was the greatest

man who ever lived?”

“Of course not Sister,” Nathan replied. “Everyone knows Moses was the greatest. But business is business.”

A STEP BY STEP APPROACH TO IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY

Identify the desired results

Identify the behavior needed

Establish performance measures

Establish the reward structure

Measure and record

Feedback, recognition and celebration

www.businessplan123.de

IDENTIFY THE DESIRED RESULTS

“50% of an organization’s activities produce less than 5% of its value added” - Kepner Trego study

“Too much attention has been focused on eliminating unnecessary jobs and too little on cutting unnecessary work” - Robert Tomasko

“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all” - Peter Drucker

-- Eliminate work that doesn’t add to the bottom line

-- Focus people and resources on areas that do

IDENTIFY THE BEHAVIOR NEEDED

• Solid solutions rather than quick fixes

• Measured risk taking rather than risk avoidance

• Applied creativity rather than mindless conformity

• Decisive action rather than paralysis by analysis

• Smart work rather than busy work

• Simplification rather than needless complication

• Quality work rather than fast work

• Team player rather than confrontational individualism

• Quiet effectiveness rather than “squeaking wheels”

• Loyalty

SMART RISK TAKING

Teach people that intelligent errors are part of the cost of progress

Celebrate both successes and failures

Don’t take risks for others or bail them out if things go sour

Encourage smart risks, not foolish chances

- Have a goal; a risk without a clear purpose is dumb

- Consider the worst possible outcome and be sure you can live with it

- Weigh the potential problems and losses against the potential gains; a smart risk is worth it

- Once you decide to take a risk, do your best and don’t look back

- Limit your losses; if things don’t go well, get out before you lose too much

DECISIVE ACTIONMake decision making a habit

Don’t tolerate reverse decision making

Create a detailed vision of the results needed

Set a deadline for making a decision

Obtain the best information you can within the time limits

Brainstorm as many different alternatives as you can

Think though the options

Make prudent use of intuition

Take action

PINPOINT SUCCESS ACTIVITIES

•What do the best performers do that makes them successful? (look at our organization, our competitors, our industry, and the outside world)

•Most people are not conscious of what makes them successful

ESTABLISH PERFORMANCE MEASURES

You’ve heard the acronym “SMART” objectives

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Real importance

Time bounded www.shellypalmer.com

CHOOSING PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Also consider:

The linkage of the measure to vision and strategy

The ability of the individual to understand the measure (both what it is and why it is important)

The ability of the individual to influence the measure

The organization’s and the individual’s ability to track the measure (timely availability of data)

The input of the individual in establishing the measure

ESTABLISH THE REWARD STRUCTURE

Reward the behavior you want

Decide on the proper rewards

www.lingholic.com

REWARD THE BEHAVIOR YOU WANT

The story of the fisherman and the snake:

A weekend fisherman looked over the side of his boat and saw a snake with a frog in its mouth. Feeling sorry for the frog, he reached down, gently removed the frog from the snake’s mouth and let the frog go free. But now he felt sorry for the the hungry snake. Having no food, he took out a flask of bourbon and poured a few drops into the snake’s mouth. The snake swam away happy, the frog was happy and the man was happy for having performed such good deeds. He thought all was well until a few minutes passed and he heard something knock against the side of his boat. He looked down and with stunned disbelief he saw that the snake was back -- with two frogs!

DECIDE ON PROPER REWARDS

✤Recognition

✤Favorite work

✤Personal growthand development

✤Advancement

Key: vary rewards; use events; do lots of things; money spent does not equal value received

✤Freedom

✤Money

✤Time Off

✤Prizes

✤Fun

THE INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y

Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

People continually seek the satisfaction of certain needs:Physiological needs (basic survival needs - food, water, shelter, sleep, etc.)

Safety needs

Need for belongingness (desire for social interaction)

Need for esteem (self-worth, competence and mastery) (appreciation, recognition and respect)

Need for self-actualization (fulfillment of their inner selves, full potential)

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Until lower level needs are satisfied, higher level needs cannot be activated

Once a lower level need has been basically satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate

Ultimate productivity improvement flows from enabling employees to achieve self-esteem and self-actualization

www.exec-comms.com

MCGREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y

Managers’ styles of leading and directing people are very closely related to their belief systems

Most managers subscribe to one or two diametrically opposed theoretical constructs

betacodex.org

MCGREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y (CONT’D)

Theory X Assumptions

Employees basically inherently dislike work

Employees prefer to be directed by supervisors

Employees wish to avoid responsibility

Employees are relatively unambitious

Employees are primarily motivated by the need for security

MCGREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y (CONT’D)

Theory Y assumptions

The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. Depending upon a variety of conditions, work can either be a source of satisfaction and will accordingly be willingly performed, or it can be a source of punishment and will, if possible, be avoided.

External control and the threat of punishment are not management’s only means of stimulating employee effort toward achieving organizational objectives. Employees will exercise self-direction and self-control to reach objectives to which they are personally committed.

MCGREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y (CONT’D)

Commitment to objectives can be achieved through the satisfaction of employee’s ego and self-actualization needs.

The average person can learn to not only accept but to actively seek responsibility.

The capacity to demonstrate imagination, ingenuity and creativity and apply them to solving organizational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the work population.

Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potential of the average employee is only partially used.

HERZBERG’S MOTIVATION - HYGIENE THEORY

Two sets of factors are operative in any job situation - satisfiers and dissatisfiers (these are completely different factors and distinguish non-satisfaction from dissatisfaction)

Satisfiers are motivators and generally relate to job content

Dissatisfiers are hygiene factors and generally relate to the job environment

True motivation comes from job enrichment which, in turn, comes from vertical (not horizontal) job loading

PRINCIPLES OF VERTICAL JOB LOADING

Principle

Removing some controls while retaining accountability

Increasing the accountability of individuals for own work

Giving a person a complete natural unit of work (module, division, area, etc.)

Motivators Involved

Responsibility and personal achievement

Responsibility and recognition

Responsibility , recognition and achievement

PRINCIPLES OF VERTICAL JOB LOADING (CONT’D)

Principle

Granting additional authority to an employee in his or her activity; job freedom

Making periodic reports directly available to the employee rather than to the supervisor

Introducing new and more difficult tasks not previously handled

Assigning individuals specific or specialized tasks, enabling them to become experts

Motivators InvolvedResponsibility , recognition

and achievement

Internal recognition

Growth and learning

Responsibility, growth and advancement

MEASURE AND RECORD Set up a tracking system

Establish baseline where possible

Frequently is important

Make it visible -- use graphs

Why graphs? Easy to read

Easy to understand

Highly visible

Shows trends clearly

Results in less defensiveness

EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK

Immediate

Specific

Descriptive rather than judgmental (be a video camera not an interpreter or evaluator)

Avoid giving too much at one time

Avoid giving positive and negative feedback at the same time (4 to 1 rule/“emotional checkbook” concept)

Consider location for giving feedback

Provide feedback that is within the influence of the individual

OTHER THOUGHTS ON FEEDBACK

❖In the absence of positive feedback, the assumption is predominantly negative

❖Before giving negative feedback, a good question to ask is “Would this happen again if I say or do nothing?” If it is not likely to happen again, don’t bring focus to it.

❖Withholding feedback is “cruel and unusual punishment”

“I” MESSAGE FEEDBACK FORMAT

When you…

…I feel…

…and the results or consequences are…

What would be more helpful to me is…

(specific, descriptive behavior)

(real feelings, not thoughts)

(what actually happens due to the behavior)

(specific behavioral example)

Name:___________________

PERFORMANCE REVIEW ANALYSIS

• Specifically, what was accomplished?

• Were the real problems/issues brought out? What were they?

• Was there a good manager - employee relationship?

Was there openness, leveling and mutual respect?

How well did we communicate?

Was I perceived as a helper, or as a punitive judge?

PERFORMANCE REVIEW ANALYSIS (CONT’D)

Was there a mutual job understanding?

Was there a joint setting of performance objectives?

Was there a definite joint commitment for performance improvement?

Was there a meaningful discussion of employee career interests and possible opportunities (current and future)?

Were personal development goals and required training discussed and agreed to?

How did each of us feel about the meeting? Did we discuss it?

WHO DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME WITH?

High performance companies focus resources (both time and money) on high performers

Do you spend it effectively?Consider use of formal 1 on 1 coaching sessions

Spend 80% of your time listening

Consider use of advise/consult/agree format to foster responsibility while maintaining control

EFFECTIVE ONE TO ONE COACHING SESSIONS

Planned in advance to mutually convenient schedules

No interruptions

Openness and trust is essential

Both parties participate with enthusiasm and energy

Subordinate comes prepared with specific (and important) business issues to discuss

EFFECTIVE ONE TO ONE

COACHING SESSIONS (CONT’D)

Manager primarily listens, but asks good, open-ended questions; probes for critical opportunities and problems; and provides feedback

Action plans (or revisions) are developed by the subordinate and are mutually agreed to (use written forms)

Close with a review of the discussion and how it can (will) be improved

EFFECTIVE RECOGNITION

Make it planned and spontaneous

Planning is essential or it won’t happen regularly

Spontaneity enhances effect and value (people like surprises)

nextiva.com

EFFECTIVE RECOGNITION (CONT’D)

Vary forms of recognition

Money spent does not equal value received

For most people, monetary recognition has short-term value and establishes future expectations which, when not fulfilled, are counter-productive to the recognition intent

Symbolic recognition satisfies the higher human need for “mental wages” and for most people has longer lasting value

CELEBRATE

Often

Small victories or achievements as well as major successes

Creativity involved is more important than money spent

Encourage broad involvement

www.examiner.com

Valutis Consulting is a full service management consultant firm. Our approach is to investigate and understand

organizational issues, customize realistic solutions, and design practical strategies to move clients toward their specific

business and personal goals. Our mission is to help our clients unlock the potential of their organization and its people.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or to schedule an appointment to discuss your organization’s needs and how

we can help.

(716)634-2553 chip@valutisconsulting.com

www.valutisconsulting.com - websitewww.the4thquarterman.com - blog