Executive guide to improved business success and team fulfillment
1. EXECUTIVE POCKETEXECUTIVE POCKETEXECUTIVE POCKETEXECUTIVE POCKET
GUIDEBOOKGUIDEBOOKGUIDEBOOKGUIDEBOOK
Executive guide to improved business success and
team member work-life fulfilment
Graham Little PhD
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Better science enables better technology that builds better bridges
(or washing machines or computers). Similarly, better social science
enables better social technology, and builds better organizations.
The Executive Pocket Guidebook is an easily read introduction to
the application of improved social science to building higher
performing and more satisfying organizations.
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Contents
Seeking new thinking ...................................................................... 7
How to double profits .................................................................... 10
Goal—action.................................................................................. 14
Linking staff behavior to strategy.................................................. 18
Human performance driving results .............................................. 21
HR as rollout of strategy................................................................ 24
Behavioral structure of the organization........................................ 27
Understanding human psychology ................................................ 30
Linking people to the behavioral structure.................................... 33
Perfect human performance........................................................... 37
Performance management ............................................................. 40
Built in flexibility .......................................................................... 44
A scientifically proven balanced solution...................................... 47
Redefining engagement ................................................................. 51
Culture ........................................................................................... 55
All proactive HR policy is changed............................................... 58
Lifting expectations ....................................................................... 62
Redefining leadership.................................................................... 65
Redefining management ................................................................ 70
Why has it not been done before?.................................................. 74
Stop. Reflect. Chose and improve ................................................. 77
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Why can’t we do it ourselves?....................................................... 80
Mind of the CEO............................................................................ 84
HR as the ‘right hand’ of the CEO................................................. 88
Building a ‘verbal ready’ executive............................................... 92
Understanding human motivation.................................................. 96
Building an implementing an integrated motivation policy ........ 100
Human capital .............................................................................. 104
Finding and developing talent...................................................... 108
Choosing better ideas................................................................... 112
Last word ..................................................................................... 116
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Seeking new thinking
If you do what you have always done you will get what you
always got
The earliest reference I found to this quote was Henry Ford. There is
the story of Alexandra the Great, when faced with the Gordian Knot,
he decided to make his own rules at untying knots ...applying
original ideas is implied in the quote ...so took his sword and severed
the knot.
The quote is a common, popular thought. Even a cliché. A cliché is
phrase so familiar we yawn. Our mind slips off the idea because of
familiarity, and we lose sight of the fact it is true. We become
complacent at the ideas to which we attend.
The only solution is to be conscious of how we think, and shake
ourselves by the scruff of the neck and PAY ATTENTION to the
ideas we need attend, when we need attend, regardless of how many
times we may have heard them.
People and organizations
People in organizations has been studied for over 100 years. There
is no coherent theory. Independent theories abound, engagement,
culture, training, coaching, leadership, organization development,
management, etc. Performance management for example, is now in
slow decline, with major global companies stopping the practice
because it does not work.
Human nature
In The Origin of Consciousness, I offer a general theory of
psychology with integrated general theories of knowledge and
causality. The general theory of psychology states people acts on the
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ideas they have in mind, the intensity of the action directly related to
the intensity of the emotions associated with the ideas. It is currently
the only general theory of psychology with this sort of intellectual
depth. You will wonder why on earth this intellectual stuff is
important. It is beyond important, it is crucial.
Good ideas are good ideas! Our job is to apply them to enhance
our success
Do people produce knowledge? Yes, of course. Should a general
theory of psychology account for all outputs from people? Yes, since
if not it is not a general theory of psychology. It follows that a general
theory of psychology must account for how people produce
knowledge. In short, any general theory of psychology must account
fully for its own existence. Similar argument applies to the
relationship of social causality and psychology. Further, what is an
organization? We create it. Therefore, a general theory of
psychology must account for how we create it, and indicate the
nature of our relationships with that which we created... etc.
Management and leadership are part of social science
Understanding people in organizations is NOT about management,
it is fully theoretical social science. But that in itself raises questions
of what exactly is theoretical social science...? The practical,
relevant questions crowd: What is the exact nature of the link
between people and organizations? How are organizations
constructed? How can we systematize construction of the
organization and its link to people so we better manage the
relationship and get better results? What does a team leader need to
do, exactly, to apply the improved understanding? What does the
CEO need do? And what is role of HR Department within this
theory?
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Questions for reflection
1. What people do in organizations is part of overall what
people do. Therefore, organizational behavior can
only be understood as an aspect of the overall behavior
of people?
2. Think of the last HR initiative in your business. Was
it really based on new ideas, or was it just trying harder
with a new mix of old ideas?
3. If you had access to a scientifically solid, empirically
proven framework of ideas that would add profits and
develop staff satisfaction, would you and your
Executive team be interested?
4. Could staff performance in your business be improved
10% and what gain in profits would result?
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How to double profits
Imagine a business with sales 100, costs 90, EBIT 10. Multiply the
numbers by any scaling factor the ratios do not change. Imagine sales
improved 5%, costs reduced 5%. Sales 105, costs 89.8 (on increased
sales). EBIT is 15.2, 52% increase.
Now, imagine a business with sales 100, costs 96, EBIT 4. Then
improve sales 5%, reduce costs 5%, so sales 105, costs 95.8, EBIT
9.2, 130% increase.
Chances are your business falls in the range of EBIT between 4%
and 10%. Which means with 5% changes in sales and costs you
could improve your profit by between 52% and 130%.
The large profit gains arising from small changes in sales and costs
is due the multiplier effect that is profit is the small difference
between two much larger numbers. Quite small changes in the large
numbers can dramatically improve profits.
We can do the numbers on more modest targets. Imagine sales
increased 2%, cost reduced 2%. With opening EBIT of 10, then it is
increased to 12.04, 20% increase. With opening EBIT of 4, then it is
increased to 6.04, 50% increase.
People ARE your greatest resource
We all know how hard it is to generate these extra gains, what I call
gains at the edge. By that I mean they are at the edge of what people
usually willingly do. To get beyond sort of ‘normal’ result, typically
requires intense effort by the team leaders to ‘stay on top of it’. But
once that effort released, as it must be, results slide back to the
’normal’ result, or worse, depending on how hard the leaders pushed
and the extent they managed to upset the team.
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We now have the crucial question: Could human performance be
improved to increase sales and reduce costs by 2% without
disturbing the operational balance of your business and without the
need for team leaders to ‘push’?
Better science produces better technology enabling better
results
Unless you are deeply familiar with OPD theory you will not have a
clear and definite theory of how human behavior on the job is
directly linked to the profit and loss.
As a species, we can only act in accordance with what we know and
understand. The general theory of psychology states we choose and
apply ideas to manage circumstances we face. If the ideas are not
deliberately selected, then we are acting from habit based on ideas
we have learned and have used in the past. The intensity of action
depending on the emotions associated with the ideas.
You may well think you are clear on how to link staff daily actions
with the goals. But the clarity can only be based on current global
best practice thinking of how people are linked to the P&L. Global
best practice is just a popular set of ideas. Being popular does not
make ideas correct. At one time it was popular the earth was flat, and
the center of the universe.
We always have two choices. First, we accept our ideas as the tools
we apply to manage circumstances we face and get the result we
seek. This leaves the option of exploring new ideas that deliver a
better result. Second, we adopt ideas the same as everyone adopts.
We embrace the ideas accepted and applied by the group and we are
committed to those ideas. This means we are not likely to change our
ideas unless everyone is changing.
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Investing in OPD-HCD™ is investing in the only scientific link
between people and the organization
Science is the activity of refining the ideas we use, proving they work
in practice, and then guiding distribution so everyone can enjoy the
improved theory and improved results.
The set of ideas people adopt to orientate themselves to the
circumstances of their life I call their ‘personal theory’. The nature
of those ideas sets the direction of any action, and the passion and
enthusiasm with which they are enacted determines the intensity of
the action and momentum. I describe a person’s current ideas as the
‘set of the sail’, and the associated emotions as putting the ‘wind in
the sail’. Change the set, change direction, change the passion,
change the momentum.
OPD theory is a detailed theory of the exact nature of the link
between a staff members mind and the goals in the job linked to
strategy; it is built from a general theory of psychology, itself derived
from a redesigned methodology of social science. It is theory, but
from the above you can see we all act on theory, that is on the ideas
we apply to circumstance. Therefore, the more apt, more accurate
and more appropriate the ideas (the theory), the more effective our
actions.
Investing in your people is the most significant project available
to your business
OPD-HCD™ is the technology derived from OPD theory. It offers
new thinking on linking people to the strategy and to the current
business plan.
Regardless of all other HR global best practice you may apply, OPD-
HCD™ is proven to lift human performance 10-15%. From our
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experience with clients we know that a lift in human performance of
10% will increase sales by 3-5%, reduce direct costs 2-4%, and
reduce overhead costs 1-3%. You can do the numbers to assess the
gain in EBIT by applying it in your business.
In addition, the theory enables these gains with the full support of
people, who find the theory useful and enabling greater work
fulfilment.
Questions for reflection
1. Could staff performance be improved 10%?
2. What is the gain in EBIT of your business if sales
increased 4% and costs reduced 4%?
3. Is the increase in EBIT sufficient for you to consider
going after it?
4. What would your business ‘feel like’ with 40%
increase in EBIT, more satisfied and fulfilled staff,
and more content and relaxed leadership and
governance?
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Goal—action
For every goal there are ideal actions that must be acted out if
the goal is to be achieved
I have yet to meet a manager who does not think team performance
could be improved 10%. But, and a crucial BUT, ensuring the
improved team effort drives increased team results depends entirely
on the exact link between staff effort and results. A 10% gain in
performance can drive a 4% change in sales and costs which due the
multiplier effect will lift profits 30-50%. With greater staff
satisfaction from the success. Who would not want that?
Doing ideal actions does not guarantee success but not doing
them guarantees failure
Think of a goal, any goal. Can you imagine it being achieved without
doing those actions needed to achieve it? The idea is silly. So we
have a general proposition, for every goal there are actions, called
ideal actions, necessary for the goal to be achieved. Ideal actions
offer the greatest chance of greatest goal success. They belong to the
goal and are of the quality that doing them does not guarantee
success but not doing them guarantees failure.
Organizations are collections of goals
Strategy is the foundation of the organization, its purpose, the reason
it exists. Derived from strategy are divisions, business units, teams
and roles in teams. Each unit has goals derived from the unit above.
The goal structure from strategy to every role in every team is called
the goal cascade. If each goal in each of the lowest units is achieved,
then the overall strategy is achieved.
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Jobs defined by the role specifications
The lowest unit is a role. That is the actions of a person allocated
unique goals, for example, a job may be sales and marketing
manager, with role of sales manager and marketing manager. Or
production supervisor with responsibility for quality, so roles of
production planning, production supervision of shop floor, and role
of quality assurance. So roles can be in conflict, for example, the
conflict to get good out of the door without compromising ever on
quality.
Role specifications define the goals and the ideal actions arising
from those goals in every role. The ideal actions must also integrate
the processes that operate through the role and integrate it into the
rest of the organization.
The behavioral structure
Imagine the sum of all role specifications relative to a strategy. If the
goals that define those role specifications are achieved, then the
strategy is achieved. Further, if the ideal actions relative to every
goal are acted out to standard, then the goal is achieved. It follows
that the roll out of strategy is the apt identification and delivery of
the ideal actions in every role.
The sum of all role specifications is called the behavioral structure.
Therefore, rollout of strategy is the apt identification and delivery to
standard of the behavioral structure.
The role specification is adopted in mind by the person assigned the
role. In mind it is called the game plan of the person relative to the
role. This then leads to the OPD-HCD™ aim of Perfect game plans
perfectly delivered and the cultural aim of people striving for perfect
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game plans perfectly delivered. This will be discussed in detail in
later chapters.
Success for people is delivery of ideal actions to standard while
organization success is achievement of the goals
Selection of ideal actions in a role was only partly the choice of the
person to deliver the role. The ideal actions are signed off by the
team leader, and manager of the team leader and ultimately by the
CEO.
Identification and delivery of ideal actions to standard is the rollout
of strategy. The CEO is responsible for strategy achievement, hence
is responsible for roll out of strategy. They can delegate the effort of
identifying goal and ideal actions in each role, but they cannot
delegate the responsibility for it. If the CEO is not committed to the
process of ensuring clarity of goal-action in every role, and
committed to the delivery of the ideal actions to standard in every
role, then organization results will be less than they could be.
People have the choice to do it or not
People have the choice of doing the ideal actions or not and so
choose success or failure. This choice is exactly the same as that of
any sports person intent on winning the game. Business is not a
game, but our relationship between the ideal actions necessary for
success in sport is exactly the same as our relationship with the ideal
actions for success in business. If people choose not to do the ideal
actions, then the organization has the choice of asking them to leave.
Building in flexibility and innovation
To be flexible in sport means having skills with different types of
play, and having the judgement of when each type of play is
appropriate and when not. The same applies in business. Flexibility
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is crucial, but it must be ‘built in’ to the skills, understanding and
mind set of the person. The structure of ideal actions must take
account of flexibility, and guide creativity on identifying what has
been learned, what has changed, and what needs to be developed.
Each person working ‘on’ the business by creatively adjusting and
adapting their agreed ideal actions, and working ‘in’ the business by
delivering agreed ideal actions to standard.
Questions for reflection
1. Could the goal cascade be clearer? Could the ideal actions
be clearer? If ideal actions and KPIs 10% clearer, would
that enable an 8% gain in staff performance? If staff
performance improves 8%, could this improve sales and
cost 2%? What is the impact on profits of a 2% increase in
sales and a 2% decrease in costs? (If EBITDA is 10% at
start, it improves to 11.8%).
2. Who is responsible for driving the focus as outlined in 1?
The CEO...? What is role of HR, Executive team, and team
leadership...?
3. If goal-action principle fully applied, what is the effect on
performance management, training and coaching,
engagement, talent identification and management,
promotion, manager and leadership development,
recruitment, culture and cultural development ... etc.?
4. Is innovation and flexibility important? How does a tennis
player or golfer build it into their play? How could it be
built into ideal actions?
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Linking staff behavior to strategy
The current business plan are the goals, derived from strategy,
to be achieved in the coming period. It follows that underlying
every business plan are ideal actions that must be delivered if
the plan is to be achieved.
Have you ever thought ‘I know that’... but when required to do it you
found you did not know as well as you thought? Is it helpful to write
it down first, to take the time to think it out step by step?
First step is to get it clear on paper
If we pause and get it clear on paper first, does this enable us to be
clearer in mind? If we are clearer in mind does this enable us to be
more effective?
HR is after the strategic decision and determines the rollout of
strategy
Organization design, and all HR is after the strategic decision. All
people activities are implicit in goal achievement, such as closed
sales in any period, and budgeted for in appropriate lines of the
extended profit profile. HR considerations would be bought to
account in the strategic decision if for example there could be a
shortage of skilled staff or skilled community supporting resources
such as contract engineering firms. If severe then this could be a
‘go/no go’ point in a project otherwise the problem is countered by
allowing extra cost in the appropriate expense line.
KPIs measure strategic success in a period
The current business plan is drawn from strategy and describes the
goal to be achieved in the nominated period. Divisions, departments,
team all then receive their KPIs (key performance indicators) they
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are expected to achieve as their contribution. The KIs are what is
needed by the organization to achieve its strategic movement
forward for the period, and are not very negotiable. The Executive
team will normally set the strategic momentum and hence judge the
KPIs to be achieved and if realistic. KPIs also are the means whereby
the efforts of diverse teams, perhaps in different countries even
continents, are coordinated such the organization operates as an
efficient single mind.
KPIs in a role specify the contribution to strategy
The end result is KPIs in each role in the organizations such the effort
of the person assigned the role is coordinated in the team, the team
in the department, the department in the independent business unit,
the business unit in the group. If each person assigned each role
achieves their KPI to standard and in time, then the strategic
momentum set by the Executive for that period will be achieved.
Understanding the function of this goal cascade is crucially
important, as is understanding the need to ensure it is done with apt
judgement and done accurately. Errors and laxity here will
immediately erode results.
People must be able to look at their KPIs and ‘see’ the strategy and
their contribution to it. The goal cascade acts as a mental pipeline
linking the person to the purpose of the organization.
Perfect game plans perfectly delivered
The set of ideal actions is the end of the analysis of the organization,
specifying what the person accepting their assigned role(s) needs to
do to have greatest chance of greatest success. This is called the
behavioral best practice and must include issues of innovation,
flexibility and creativity.
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Role specifications are the written definition of KPIs and ideal
actions needed by the organizations in the specified period
Role specifications are the behavioral best practice written and
worked through to ensure aptness and clarity. Game plans are the
role specification in the mind of the person assigned the role
Think of mind as a set of power point slides just behind the eyes. On
each slide are the ideas we use to ‘see’ and relate to the situations we
face. If a person is asked ‘when you think of work, what do you see?’
that which pops up we call the ‘game plan’. If the game plan is made
clearer and more apt, then the person has the option of acting more
effectively and with greater precision. The game plan is how the
person ‘sees’ their purpose in the organization, their link to strategy.
Role specifications are the coaching tool to build game plans.
Questions for reflection
1. If you have job descriptions, how effect are they relative to
this model?
2. Would this process clarify and sharpen game plans in mind
of your people?
3. If game plans clearer in mind, and if people striving to
deliver them to perfect standard, would you expect results
to improve?
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Human performance driving results
Greatest result is when people are clear on what to do,
confident they can do it, and having fun doing it.
Ask yourself: If people are not clear on what to do, will they do it
well? And further, if people are required to think it out while doing
it, will they do it well?
Consider the extreme case, if people have no idea of what to do will
they do it? Clearly not, people can only do that which they know,
and they will only do assertively and positively that which they know
they know. If someone is uncertain they can do something, they may
push into it, but such overtly confident people are the exception,
most people are cautious and move into it tentatively. This all adds
up to getting clear first, and agreeing with the person on what to do,
and agreeing with the person they can do it.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
The second case of thinking it out while doing it places quite
enormous demands on people. Imagine playing the piano. Now
imagine having to think about where to place each finger. Would the
person be able to concentrate on the music, the nuance of soft-loud,
fast-slow, etc.? If one need focus on the physical demand of
something one will not be able to concentrate on the subtleties of the
task. For example, in business, it a sales person is preoccupied with
the next step in the sales process they will not be watching the
prospects eyes, nor listening carefully to the nuance of what they are
saying. They will be less ‘in tune’ with the prospect than say a
competitive salesperson, and lose the sale.
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Clarity first
This sort of analysis leads to the idea of ‘finger memory’, that is
fundamental basics of any task need to become part of one’s physical
habits such as one can just do it, and do not need think about it. Then
and only then is the mind freed to focus on the nuance. For any
moderately complex task top results require top management of the
nuance. All of business involves moderately complex tasks. Hence
all business requires awareness and management of the nuance,
which in turn requires fundamental skills be ‘second nature’. People
can do the fundamental skills and crucially they know they can and
know they know they can.
OPD-SHRM role specifications give clarity of what to do and
identify core skills needed to do it
Goal-action builds clarity on paper. Clarity on paper enables clarity
in mind. Clarity in mind enables realistic skills assessment and
development. The deceptively simple idea of goal-action, building
clarity first, means the CEO must understand the concept, and that if
the KPIs are accurately devolved from strategy into ever role, and if
ideal actions are identified in every role, then the leadership task
from Executive down is to have each person in their job deliver
agreed ideal actions to standard. Delivery of ideal actions to standard
enables greatest chance of greatest goal success. Greatest chance of
greatest goal success enables greatest chance of greatest strategic
success.
Clarity-in-mind + motivation = greatest result
Within OPD-SHRM management is getting the concept right. Team
leadership is about having people accept the ideal actions and act
them out at work. The CEO must understand and commit to the
processes of the system as the driver of their intent to achieve
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strategy. The proactive role of HR is to partner with team leaders in
their wrestle to get the ideal actions clear and agreed by every person
in their team, and then have those people deliver the ideal actions
with verve and commitment.
Human nature in The Origin of Consciousness is defined as the
ability to create ideas and apply them in managing the circumstances
we encounter, and the intensity with which we act depends on the
emotions associated with the ideas. We ‘see’ according to the ideas
we hold in mind and we act according to the emotional intensity we
bring to the ideas. The role specification provides clarity of thinking.
Most people are committed to work to a degree... but the term
‘motivation’ is the act of team leaders to get more than what is in
people. Fear is at times used, but it is not strong long term motivation
at work. Under OPD system the key role of the team leader is to
interact with their team each day and ensure they are having fun
while delivering deal actions to standard.
Questions for reflection
1. Could management be improved in your
organization?
2. Could leadership be improved?
3. Could the Executive be more effective in
developing a culture of high performance?
4. Could HR play a stronger proactive role in
organizational success?
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HR as rollout of strategy
Within OPD theory the role of strategic HR is to partner with
team leaders and support them to identify and achieve delivery
to standard of the ideal action in their team that offer greatest
chance of greatest goal success
Applying goal-action to the organization changes every aspect of
organization design and operation. The logic dictates that underlying
every business plan are a set of ideal actions that must be identified
and acted out if the plan is to be achieved. Research confirms that if
the ideal actions are clarified, and if actual behavior are moved 10%
closer to those ideal actions, then goal achievement in business
improves 3%-5% depending on the industry and company. Hence
current research shows that improving clarity and delivery of the
game plan by 10% can improve sales and reduce costs by say 4%
and deliver 40% profit increase.
OPD Strategic HR as the proactive driver of results
Think of companies that have existed for centuries, Shell Oil for
example was founded about 1907. But much older companies exist.
DuPont 1802, Citigroup 1812, and Remington 1816 (put ‘oldest
companies’ search in Google, then go to the Wikipedia page, some
go back to sixth century). This alone makes the point that
‘something’ exists beyond people.
An organization is an idea which influences human mood and
conduct and ‘exists’ independent of any particular knowing person.
This ontological position is directly derived from the work of Karl
Popper, and again emphasizes how intellectual issues underlie
understanding of people in organizations. It follows that people and
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the organization are ‘linked’. The OPD theory being the analysis of
that link.
HR in the organization is about enabling human effort in regard the
strategy, which in any given period is represented in the business
plan for that period. In short, HR is about guiding human
performance in achieving the business plan.
Now, given goal–action, improving human performance will
enhance goal achievement if and only if the improved human
performance results in increased delivery of those actions (called
ideal actions in OPD theory) that drive results. For example, one
cannot make sales without contacting prospects.
Within OPD theory the focus shifts from people to focus on
identification and delivery of the actions that most drive results, then
linking those to people. Seemingly subtle shift, but it is not, and it
profoundly redefines all aspects of HR.
Get the concept right first
It pays wherever possible to do the thinking before getting stuck in.
In short, effective thinking enables effective action. Get the concept
right first!
The shift in focus of HR in OPD theory is directly derived from the
analysis of organizations and human psychology. The analysis itself
grounded on resolving fundamental intellectual issues. There is no
hesitation in stating OPD theory has got the concept right. OPD
theory is built with better science.
Better science→ better technology→ better results
Current largely accepted global view of strategic HR is as the link
between business strategy and HR items. OPD theory states that is
wrong.
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When formulating strategy, then HR issues are bought to account in
the appropriate line in the business case. For example, recruiting the
skills, or contracting necessary services. If it is likely to be difficult,
then more expense is allowed. If it is judged impossible, then that
may be a no-go to the project.
Once the strategy is settled, then it is fully rolled out by each team
leader identifying the goals (KPIs) then guiding delivery of those
actions to standard. Every team leader is assisted in that process by
the HR department, who are the leading ‘technical experts’ in linking
the mind of people to the ideal actions judged necessary for
organizational strategic success. Strategic HR is the proactive
aspects of HR identifying and delivery of those actions that offer
greatest chance of greatest success. The CEO is responsible for the
rollout of strategy and can delegate the task to team leaders
supported by HR but they cannot delegate final accountability.
Within the OPD theory HR has two aims:
1. Strategic proactive HR, partner with team leaders to:
a. Build apt and clear (perfect) role specifications.
b. Guide people build accurate game plans.
c. Ensure people having fun while striving for perfect
delivery of perfect game plans.
2. Compliance and administration: Ensure all compliance and
administration is completed to standard and on time.
Question for reflection
1. How clear are your Executive on the most effective integration
of HR into the organization such that results improve and
people find greater fulfilment and satisfaction?
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Behavioral structure of the
organization
The aim of OPD-SHRM is to identify and deliver the
behavioral structure enabling greatest business success
Think of a goal you set for yourself. Say that relaxing holiday you
have promised yourself. Did you just jump in and do it, or did you
plan? Decided where to go, booked tickets and accommodation,
packed your clothes, organized your affairs while you were away for
the three weeks, arranged for a neighbor to feed and water the cat,
thought out what you wanted to do, the side trips you wanted...etc.
Goal-action plan, applies to every goal. The action plan we refer to
as the ideal actions relative to the goal. In a complex goal, there may
be several layers of ideal actions, each getting more specific. For
example, you decide to holiday with two other families. Then top
level actions will involve agreeing where to go, and that may involve
some research by each family. Once agreed, then more research on
activities, and not all families may want to do the same things, some
may just want to blob out, so then it begins to get specific and
detailed. Finally, there is a group action plan, and within that detailed
plans for each family.
Goal success depends on the aptness of the ideal actions and the
extent they were acted out
The goal is to have a memorable holiday. Then all the plans are the
ideal actions to achieve that. So, for example we do not want to get
on holiday to find we left important clothes at home, or that the
accommodation we planned but did not book was booked out, or the
car warrant expired while away and it was a full day hassle to have
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it redone, or that we left no contact number and the police turned up
to check we were okay because friends got worried about our silence
when we said we would phone them...etc.
We refer to the plans as the behavioral structure relative to the goal.
Goal success is then determined by, first apt ideal actions are
identified and accounted for, and second we act out those ideal action
to the standard needed.
This DOES NOT preclude spontaneity or innovation when we get
there, it just means that those things for example, that could disturb
goal achievement are identified and accounted for, then we flow with
the circumstance. If we are not concerned with the accommodation
being booked out, since we know other is available, then fine, we
flow with that, etc.
Every organization is a collection of goals beginning with the
strategy
The organization structure maps the strategy on to the currently
defined market. The goal cascade defines the contribution of each
job to the strategy. The ideal actions are then derived from the goals
in each job. Within OPD we refer to roles. A job may consist of
several roles, with a role being a unique set of KPIs and ideal actions.
Each role having a role specification consisting of KPIs and derived
ideal actions.
Engagement: People striving for perfect game plans perfectly
delivered
The mind-set of a person relative to the assigned role, derived from
the role specification is their game plan for the role.
29. 29
If the role specifications are apt, and if people build clear game plans
and act upon them, then there is greatest chance of greatest goal
success.
CEO: Committed to identify and deliver behavioral structure
enabling greatest chance of greatest business success.
HR: Partner with team leaders to identify and deliver ideal actions in
their team.
Executive: Verbal ready to build performance culture.
People: Engaged, striving for perfect game plans perfectly delivered.
Questions for reflection
1. How apt are the role specifications? Are they suited as the
core coaching tool for team leaders?
2. How clear are the game plans? If game plans in people are
made clearer would you expect performance to improve?
3. On a scale of 1-10, 10 high, rate the striving for perfect
game plans perfectly delivered?
4. If the striving for perfect game plans perfectly delivered
was increased would results improve? Would people have
the opportunity to be more satisfied?
30. 30
Understanding human psychology
We see with our mind not our eyes. We act according to what
we see. Our actions given momentum by the emotions
associated with the way we see things
In 1978, two researches Anderson and Prichert published a
deceptively simple psychological experiment. They asked 50 people
to look at a house with the view of buying it, then bought them out
and put them in a room. They then took another 50 people and asked
them to look at the same house with the view of burgling it, bought
them out and sat them in a different room. They then asked each
group to write down all they could about the house. The two groups
produced lists that were so different one would not know they had
looked at the same house.
We are a spirit within a mind within a brain
The other two factors that shape our responses are our spirit, and our
attention mechanisms. Full discussion of both is in The Origin of
Consciousness (www.lulu.com/spotlight/grahamlittle) and I will not
go into that detail here. Suffice, our spirit is the core of our being, it
is that encoded in memory prior to thinking, and speech. It touches
all aspect of how we think and feel. Our spirit begins forming as our
center prior to birth, and is then elaborated after birth to take in our
self-esteem, and give ‘feeling’, ‘attitude’ to that which we think,
glass half full or half empty type of attitude, so our spirit is not the
idea itself, but how our personality slants it, then in addition the
emotions associated give the slant the momentum. For example, we
are positive the glass half empty.
We can understand our attention mechanism as those inputs into our
mind that trigger a strong emotional reaction, so we attend to them.
31. 31
We can think of this as sensitized neurons in our brain that when
activated, trigger a cascade of emotions and the energy then brings
forward the ideas we feel so strongly about...our response, and the
background to it in the thinking lying behind it.
It is how we ‘see’ things that sensitizes our brain to the inputs from
our environment. Then on occasions, one part of our brain acts as
input to another part, and so we can trigger strong responses from
within our own mind.
Ideas orientates us to the environment and directs what we do.
The set of our sail.
We can imagine a simple model of our psychology as a set of power
point frames just behind the eyes. Think burgle up pops that frame
and that is how we ‘see’ the world. Think buy, up pops that frame,
and that is how we ‘see’ the world. I put inverted commas about ‘see’
to make the point it is our unique point of view, it is what we see, it
is not merely what is there. It is how we interpret what is there and
orientate ourselves to it via our ideas in mind. In business, getting it
clear on paper is the role specification, then translating that into the
person’s mind is them adopting their game plan derived from the
role specification.
Motivation is emotions associated with ideas. The wind in our
sail.
Think of something about which you feel strongly. What happens in
your mind? Bring up the idea and try to keep it separate from the
emotions. The ability to do that is called emotional intelligence.
Think of top tennis player, for example, steely still all game, then
after hitting the game winning shot drops to their knees with emotion
and relief. Getting the result depends on delivery of the game plan.
It is no different at work.
32. 32
Increased clarity of game plan + positive emotion = improved
performance
Think of power point frames behind the eyes. Think of work. If
someone asked what they did at work, what do you think would ‘pop
up’? The point is to avoid being too clever or too complex about
people at work. What do they see? How clearly do they see? Are
there positive emotions associated with what they see?
Clarity. Clarity. Clarity.
At OPD we have the rule of CLARITY FIRST. When a person gets
clearer on the actions that enable greatest chance of greatest success,
the ideal actions, and then does those actions more often and more
effectively, results improve. As results improve, the person feels
more pleased with themselves, the boss is usually pleased, emotions
lift, which gives greater energy to the ideas, so effort lifts, which gets
further gains in results....
Questions for reflection
1. Could clarity of KPIs and ideal actions be improved in
your organization?
2. The game plan is the frame in mind carrying KPIs-ideal
actions for the job. Could game plans be improved?
3. Motivation is the emotions associated with the game plan.
Positive emotion gives zest and momentum to the action
arising from the game plan. Could positive emotion be
increased in your tem, and would that lift performance.
33. 33
Linking people to the behavioral
structure
Get it clear on paper. Encourage people to choose work success
and choose to build clear game plans in mind. Then ensure
people enjoy the day doing what they need do to be successful
The key idea is goal→ action. It is general for every goal. The rule
is very simple, doing the ideal actions does not guarantee success but
not doing them guarantees failure.
Imagine a group of several goals. There will be ideal actions
underlying each goal. We can now group the goals into a ‘goal set’
underneath which is the set of all ideal actions called the behavioral
structure. We can now picture this applied across an organization.
The strategy is a complex goal pointing the direction. The business
plan for the period is the extent the strategy is to be achieved in that
period, hence the business plan for the period is the goal set for that
period. The tightly defined set of goals for the period. Underlying
the collection of goals that is the business plan will be a set of ideal
actions which are the behavioral structure relative to the strategy and
the business plan.
We can picture the organization structure as follows.
34. 34
↓
↓
Get the role specifications clear on paper first
Think of your favorite sport. Now think of the key actions that make
for success at that sport... in golf, say sand saves, or closeness to the
pin from the fairway. Now ask: If you do those actions that determine
success more effectively, would you expect your result to improve?
Of course you would. It would not guarantee it, but you would give
yourself a much, much better chance of being successful. It is exactly
the same in business.
Strategy: The organization purpose, raison d’etre, the ‘direction’,
market purpose... etc.
Business plan: That aspect of the strategy to be achieved in the
period.
Organization structure: The manner the organization maps the
strategy onto the target market.
Business plan
Goal cascade (KPIs
in roles)
Behavioral structure: The set
of ideal actions in each role
35. 35
Goal cascade: The KPIs in each role in the organization derived
from strategy that are the framework of achievement planned in the
period.
Role specification: The core performance document describing the
ideal actions for the role.
Behavioral structure: The sum of all role specifications underlying
the business plan.
Getting behavioral structure clear demands KPIs are apt and
accurate, and that the ideal actions derived from the KPIs are apt and
accurate. These are more difficult intellectual skills than they
appear, and are core skills that must be developed in HR Department.
Executive focus: Identify the behavioral structure and have
people act out the agreed ideal actions
For purposes of organization, human psychology consists of three
key elements.
Choice and engagement: People are asked to choose their own
work success to engage with themselves to make their work life
enjoyable, and fulfilling.
Ideas in mind: The set of the sail. Team leaders work with people
and review the deal actions in the roles they accept until they willing
say ‘yes, if someone does those ideal actions they have greatest
chance of greatest success with the KPIs’. People agree to translate
the role specification and build in mind their game plan as how they
will implement the agreed ideal actions and build their personal
success at work.
Motivation: The wind in the sail. Team leaders enable/support
positive emotions associated with the ideal actions so people are
36. 36
enjoying that which they agree needs done for them to be successful
in their job.
There are several sources of positive emotion associated with the
game plan for the role.
1. From their choice to engage with their success at work.
2. By team leader having enabling team to have fun and
enjoy doing the work that needs done.
3. From the increased confidence and self-esteem, since
as game plans delivered, the team is more successful,
each individual is able to feel proud of their
contribution.
4. Team success means the boss is pleased, and if
expressed can further add to motivation.
Question for reflection
Is the thinking in your organization as clear and sharp as it could be
such that the concept itself makes people the most valuable resource
in the business?
37. 37
Perfect human performance
Perfection is the standard we set for ourselves in our mind
Think of your favorite sport. It does not matter what it is, only that
you can ‘see’ in mind how to play. Now imagine some particular
aspects of the game that is important to being good at the game. I
imagine golf, although I was never very good, I enjoyed the round,
so an important aspect was being able to get close to the pin from
say 100 meters. Now think of someone very, very good playing that
aspect. For golf, ‘seeing’ a top golfer on TV play the shot, for
different lies and fairway situations. Be sure and ‘see’ it in detail. I
continue the golf example so I can be explicit. In mind, ‘see’ how
they approach the ball, the routine they use in the setup, any practice
swings, and depth of back swing to deliver the precise distance, etc.
In this first instance, our insight into perfect play depends on
watching in detail people very good at the play. Now visualize what
we do. It will be less than the expert play. The gap I call the
performance gap. If we now rate the expert at 10 out of 10, then we
can judge how good we are, and then begin the process of improving
our play making it closer to 10. If we make it closer to 10 our results
will improve.
Perfection is the performance level we can imagine in mind
beyond expert play
If we understand the process of using our imagination to ‘see’ what
to do, we can remove the ‘expert’ as our example, and we can now
set the standard as the ‘perfect play’, one even the expert can strive
for. We can then use our mind to ‘see’ ourselves delivering the
perfect play and by so doing we can develop our play so that our
38. 38
actual play moves closer to the perfection in mind and our actual
results improve.
The idea of doing it perfectly depends on the standard we set
for ourselves
Ideal actions in business are the agreed actions that offer greatest
chance of greatest success at achieving the KPIs assigned and
accepted in the role. They sit in the exact same psychological
relationship to self as do the detailed play in our favorite sport. In
fact, we understand the relationship between actual and perfect
delivery of the agreed ideal actions in sport better than we do in
business. It is likely you will ‘sense’ the relationship and in particular
the emotional aspects of the relationship between the play in sport
better than you sense it with ideal actions in your job.
Your relationship with perfect play in sport is exactly the same
as your relationship with delivery of ideal actions in your job
Building a focused, non-emotional, performance relationship with
ideal actions in sport or business, where the intent is to deliver the
actions to the best of your ability I call professionalism. Top sports
people only release themselves from the ‘professional’ focus when
the actions delivered as best they can on the day, and they are joyous
or depressed with their performance. Under OPD theory, as in sport
so in business.
Our striving ensures we can say: I did my best
The difference between sport and business is typically the time in
which we need act. In sport, the action is simple, the forehand shot,
or the pitch to the green. The action is done in fractions of a second.
In business, the action is always over a much longer time. There is
39. 39
almost no situation where we cannot pause, take a moment, collect
ourselves.
In business the ideal actions are almost always more complex than
in sport. Closing that big deal, ensuring production on time and to
quality standard, etc. The complexity in business is almost always
balancing the actions, which is where it is very important to have an
agreed set of ideal actions guiding effort.
Perfection in business is first identifying the ideal actions on
paper
The role specification links the job to the business plan, such that it
is agreed that if the ideal actions delivered to standard then the
person in the role will have fully delivered the expected contribution
to the business plan.
Perfect game plans perfectly delivered
The role specification(s) defines current insight and understanding
of the contribution to the current business plan from the job. Ideal
actions negotiated and agreed, the person agrees they seek work life
success and satisfaction, and willingly engage with their own success
which begins by them building their game plan. The team leader then
enables delivery of the game plan by supporting the person with
positive emotions doing each day at work.
Question for reflection
If ideal actions clearer on paper, clearer in mind, and people striving
to deliver them to lift their own success/satisfaction at work, would
results improve?
40. 40
Performance management
Moving actual toward perfect performance
Within OPD theory performance management is the essential
team leader activity of working with the team member
supporting and encouraging them to realize the level of success
they choose and enjoy the daily task of doing it
I recall several years ago a TV program on a young lady gymnast
training for the Olympics. In one sequence she was practicing the
dismount from the beam. The coach demanded she repeat it and
repeat it. She became very upset, yelled at the coach and stormed off.
She sat and cried alone for a few minutes, then the coach went to her
and spoke quietly to her and she then returned to the beam and
repeated the practice until she got it to standard. It took a further 2
hours of work.
The program then cut to the Olympics, competing on the beam,
doing the exact dismount she had practiced. She won the gold medal.
She hugged her coach and was ecstatic.
The young athlete accepted the vision of her coach as having in mind
the standard needed to win. She accepted he could see perfect
performance, and was guiding her to that standard. She wanted to be
the very best she could, and was willing to work hard, but at times it
got on top of her and she reacted. Did she do it for the coach, for her
country, her team, or for herself? A little of each, with the balance
being toward her own striving to be good as what she had chosen to
do.
41. 41
Within OPD theory: As in sport so in business
They say there is no ‘i’ in team ... however there is in win. In business
winning is not about the other person, the competitor, it is about
doing the things that need done to the standard they need done.
Winning is about whether or not we got it right, and that means each
person in the team got it right. Teams are collections of individual’s
assigned aspects of a task such that if each person delivers that
expected of them the team achieves it overall goal. A good team also
‘get on’, support each other, and generally enjoy the effort. The
fundamental is each individual is to their assigned task in the team
is as the athlete to the dismount. If the individual is not committed
to delivering the task to standard, then the team could fail.
Engagement as embracing our own success
A person who does not want to succeed wont. At work we are not
talking gold medals, just doing agreed ideal actions to a reasonable,
transparent standard. If ideal actions done to standard, KPIs
achieved, if KPIs achieved then team KPIs achieved, and if team
KPIs achieved, divisional KPIs achieved...etc. You should by now
be familiar with the organizational structure.
The psychological core is each person committing to strive for
personal satisfaction and success at work in exactly the same way
the young athlete was committed to their personal success. The
ONLY difference is the level and the intensity.
Imagine a team member at work: There is extensive discussion on
ideal actions and KPIs and the person agrees the ideal actions that
offer greatest chance of greatest success. The person agrees they
wish to be successful and work, and therefore agree that in the
assigned job success is delivery of ideal actions to standard. It is open
and transparent, the standard is realistic and achievable, the person
42. 42
asked to do their bit in such a way they first serve their own self-
esteem and satisfaction, and second serve the team.
Clarity + skill + motivation = performance
Clarity: Clear in mind the ideal actions needed to ensure greatest
chance of greatest goal success.
Skill: Having the skills to do the ideal actions.
Motivation: The emotions associated with the ideal actions, with
self-at-work, with the team and company, and above all commitment
not to let oneself down. Positive emotions associated with work arise
from the desire to find satisfaction in life, to get up each morning
and look in the mirror and be proud of the person looking back, to
feel supported by the team leader and team making the work day
enjoyable, and the positive feedback from the team, and company
and senior team leaders congratulating the team’s performance and
success.
The team leader does the task of performance management each day,
part of the routine management by walking around. Guiding the
team have fun, enjoy the day while doing the tasks, refining skills at
delivery of ideal actions, reminding people of the ideal actions,
keeping them top of mind.
Once each month the team leader meets with each person as a formal
performance management review: Did we get the numbers? If yes,
what ideal actions really work for us and how will we build on them?
If no, which ideal actions were not done to standard, and what will
we do about that? It is not recorded formally, it is not for the
‘organization’, it is a working discussion on how the team leader and
the team member can work together on enabling greater work life
success for the team member. The team member ‘feels’ the team
43. 43
leader’s commitment to support them to be successful and to build
work life satisfaction.
Questions for discussion
If each person in your organization was committed to their success
as above, and guided as above by the team leader, would results
improve?
44. 44
Built in flexibility
Practical creativity is an emotional act to build rational ideas
better than one has now and apply them to get a better result
than one has got in past
Human nature, the central capacity that has got us to this point, is the
capacity to conceptualize the situation we face, project our model or
theory or understanding forward so we ‘see’ what is going to happen,
identify the factors we can influence now, so that we change what is
going to happen, all this mental effort backed and supported by the
skills to carry out the idea once created. Today, we take all of this
for granted, we call it planning.
As ideas in mind planning consists of two components. First the
plan, that is what we will do so that the outcome going forward is
more in our favor. The second, and crucially important are the ideas
that are the foundation of our plan. For instance, we need to cross a
river, imagine going to build a bridge but do not know the material
we have available is too weak and we go ahead and use it. The bridge
collapses but we are lucky and no one drowns.
Making it closer to home. We are building an organization, our plan
is set, but what if the foundation ideas we used to build the plan are
inferior to other thinking now available? Exactly with the bridge, if
we build inferior ideas into our plan then the plan will be much less
effective than it could be.
To seek and apply better ideas requires letting go of existing
ideas
How do we determine better ideas? What if we are attached to our
ideas, studied at university and got our degree in them, read about
them and discuss them are conferences and with colleagues...? What
45. 45
if these less than effective ideas are the social and cultural norm...?
How do we decide if the fundamental ideas we apply in our planning
have reached the point of needing changed? How do we know when
to let go, search for better thinking?
We must not commit to ideas but hold them always as tentative,
and be willing to embrace better thinking
Humankind was behavioral as it is today 50,000 years ago. Farming
was developed 12,000 years ago. Illustrates the time scale of creating
and applying really good ideas. I suggest that the number of ideas
developed in the last 200 years is more than the ideas developed in
the previous 49,800 years. Think about it! I also suggest the rate of
idea development will increase.
So what does this mean?
When using ideas to plan our way past situation be aware of the ideas
one uses, do not allow ideas to slip into your plan that are implicitly
assumed. Question, question and question...is there any better
thinking.
Do not assume that what is popular is correct. There is a huge
difference between being popular and being an effective thinker.
Frequently the most effective thinking is dismissed at the time.
Einstein was ridiculed when he published the photoelectric effect for
which he later got the Nobel Prize! Accept all new ideas, give them
the benefit of the doubt, do not dismiss new thinking... ask is this
thinking an advance on what I use now? Do not rush to adopt, but
do not dismiss, interact with the thinker, reflect on the ideas, ask
question, then more questions. Reflect.
46. 46
Applying sound reasoning. Even when it does not initially feel
right... reason it out, and wait to see what then emerges in your
instincts.
Systems give structure the philosophy and attitude are the
living flesh of the structure
The real enemy is fixity of mind, rigid thinking. If humanity had
been like that we would still be in small villages of hunter-gathers.
Hence the core of human nature is to get ideas, apply them, but
keeping them tentative and adopting better ideas when they come
along. That is the core of your nature if you allow it!
Questions for reflection
OPD system offers quite clear and definite processes enabling better
team performance. Systems form the core of the living organizations
that is made flesh through philosophy and attitude.
1. If the system were fully supported by the philosophy and
attitude of seeking and applying ideas to lift performance was
implemented in support of the system, would that assist lift
results?
2. If people understood and performance is applying ideas to a
situation, and we can change those ideas, would this ease the
problem of enabling change?
3. If the leadership exhibits rigid thinking, sticking tightly to
structure and policy, what would you expect of the staff?
4. Do you think fixed structure and flexibility of thought are both
essential? Why?
47. 47
Scientifically proven balanced
solution
...to human performance as a driver of results
People create organizations. The link between the organization and
a person is psychological.
The world’s longest bridge is Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, part
of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. The bridge, which
opened in June 2011, spans 165 kilometers.
Imagine building that bridge. Imagine the engineering behind the
plans. Imagine the science behind the engineering.
Do you think the bridge could have been built at all without the
science? From the science emerged the engineering, from the
engineering was developed the blueprints. The depth of
understanding gave confidence that the bridge would be safe.
Why are organizations different? The usual response is they deal
with people and people are unpredictable. What exactly makes
people unpredictable? Is human nature unpredictable? Is the
structure of human psychology unpredictable?
In 1927, at the Solvay Physics conference in Copenhagen, the
world’s leading physicists of the day determined that the
fundamental equation of quantum physics was a probability
equation. A disgruntled Einstein disagreed and quipped ‘God does
not play dice’, to which Bohr reputably replied ‘Albert, stop telling
God what to do.’ For the following ten years, Einstein and Bohr, who
were friends, argued in the literature over the nature and
interpretation of quantum equations. Then came the WWII, and the
48. 48
atom bomb. By say, 1950, the debate was all but settled, the view
was that if a science equation gets the right answer then the equation
had to be right and reflect what was happening. Quantum equations
were probabilistic; hence the universe was probabilistic. What has
this to do with management? Well, just about everything.
Considerations of psychology, society and the like extend deep into
Western history. However, it is agreed that the modern term social
science emerges in the first half of the 20th
century. Further that the
primary tool of for study of social science was statistics, again settled
upon early-mid 20th
century (for extended discussions put history of
social science in Google).
Imagine yourself a social scientist say around 1980. You pondered
if there was any definite structure underlying human mood and
conduct. However, to argue there was in psychology left hanging the
question of the interpretation of quantum physics. How can there be
definite causal structure in social science and not in physics? Today,
We come to today, statistics dominate social science. The
explanation of why organizations are different then follows... people
are unpredictable. Hence the in-depth scientific understanding that
underlies the bridge and gives confidence it is safe, does not apply.
However, the reason is NOT that the inherent intellectual structure
underlying is probabilistic, but that it one is to argue it is not then
one faces the issues of causality in physical science.
A second argument is that even though core physics is probabilistic,
the foundation science of engineering still manages to give answers
and detailed structure ensuring confidence in what the bridge
builders are doing.
There may be different styles of bridge, and different ways to build
it. But the underlying intellectual structures will be definite and
49. 49
clear. Once the style is set, there will be no choice on how to do it,
the style will require definite technology with underlying science.
Then, and only then will the builders be confident the bridge will be
safe. My point is that such an intellectual structure always applies if
one seeks confidence and consistency of operation.
The intellectual questions
What is causality? Is what we know of cause knowledge? Yes, it
must be, therefore what exactly the relationship between cause and
knowledge? People create knowledge. Therefore, what exactly is the
relationship between human psychology and knowledge?
Knowledge and cause and psychology are linked, and to solve one
is to solve them all, therefore what exactly is the structure of a
general theory of psychology and how is it linked to general theories
of cause, and knowledge? Given existing conundrums in the
intellectual structure of social science, what are the intellectual tools
and methodological platform that would enable coherent and
consistent theory creation in social systems? There is only one actor,
people. Therefore, how do we aggregate a general theory of
psychology to groups and larger social systems, such as
organizations and societies?
None of these questions is resolved within current global best
practice social science. All the questions are resolved in posts at
www.linkedin.com/in/grahamrlittle. Also in the book The Origin of
Consciousness, currently sixth edition being prepared, but earlier
edition at www.lulu.com/spotlight/grahamlittle. I will not go further
into the intellectual background, other than to say it is resolved in
full and gives rise to the technology below, OPD-SHRM that has the
potential to make people your greatest resource and improve EBIT
30-50% (refer posts at the LinkedIn profile and the earlier Chapters
in the background section?)
50. 50
The practical technology and how it is managed
On the left is the scientific variable, in the middle are the practical
factors team leaders use to improve staff performance, and on the
right are the cultural audit factors measured quarterly. The audit
report is used to identify which of the factors the team leader needs
to work on to develop the team performance. The intellectual issues
are as to this leadership technology as the science is to the bridge.
Organization.
Business plan for
period.
1. Goal cascade,
KPIs in every
role.
2. Ideal actions
derived from
KPIs.
3. Role
specifications.
Psychology
4. Choice.
5. Engagement
6. Acceptance.
7. Agreement.
8. Clarity.
9. Motivation.
Fundamental is ideas
in mind with action
arising from those
ideas given
momentum by
associated emotions.
Management factor.
1. Improve the goal cascade.
2. Sharpen ideal actions.
3. Clarify role specification, integrate
business processes, operations policy.
4. Review choice of each person to be
successful at work.
5. Review commitment of person to
actively seek work life success.
6. Review with person their acceptance
of the role specification.
7. Review with person they agree that
doing the ideal actions offers greatest
chance of greatest success.
8. Review with person they are clear on
the role specification, and have a
clear game plan in mind.
9. Review with person they have no
negative feelings about doing ideal
actions. And that they feel supported
by their team leader in the striving to
deliver the game plan each day.
Practical actions the team leader can take
that will improve one or more of the factors
that underpin high quality performance.
Cultural audits.
• Focus. Audits
1, 6, 7.
• Accuracy.
Audits 2, 3, 8.
• Commitment.
Audits 4, 5, 7.
• Leadership.
Audits 9, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8.
• Business
processes.
Audits 3, 7, 8.
From the audit
result, the team
leader decides
action on the
factors judged to
improve the audit
result for next time.
All people striving for perfect game plan perfectly delivered
51. 51
Redefining engagement
Engagement is attaching positive emotions to those ideas and
actions we choose to include in our life
We choose to include ideas and their actions in our life if and only if
they are important enough to us. What is it that will make ideas and
their actions important enough?
Imagine working for a company. It is well managed; the people are
fun to be around the work is enjoyable. Business ethics are strong,
you, like all the team, feel respected and valued. You would go out
of your way to get the result, since you know the directors and
governance of the company would go out of their way for you.
Is this enough to ‘engage’ with this company? Yes, it is. Could you
be more ‘engaged’?
Now imagine the dark side. Things get difficult, the company asks
for help, and everybody agrees a pay cut so no one gets laid off. The
company gets sold. You disagree with some marketing decisions as
the company fights to build sales. Now, your personal finances are
not as solid, you have some concerns about what is going on and
while it is still a good place of work, you are facing a different
reality.
Engagement with the company remains solid, but with reservations.
Aiming to build own success is something that will always serve
you
The most important thing in your life is your health and welfare. If
that goes, then all those whom one loves and whom supports will
lose the quality of that support.
52. 52
In other writing I show how our daily activities are linked to the
national economy by doing our bit at work (posts at LinkedIn, and
the book Why Work). Your success at work is precisely doing the
ideal actions agreed in your role to the fullest extent and standard
you are able. But, one acts out the actions not for the company, but
for ourselves. Each morning, when one looks in the mirror, the pride
swells knowing the person looking back did a solid day yesterday,
delivered the ideal actions agreed to a good standard, and in so doing
served oneself, served the company, served the team, served the
team leader, whom one likes, and served society.
Engagement is our commitment to our life
We engage with ourselves and in doing so we engage with life. Our
engagement with doing the ideal actions at work to serve our own
success is exactly the same as engagement with our grandchild, or
with the darts team at the club, or the energy in the reading group, or
rebuilding the bathroom. We do things to the level we set and agree
first with ourselves so that we feel good about our involvement.
Work is part of our life, not something separate from it, but
something central to it, and from which one can draw life
satisfaction. We engage with life, part of which is engaging with our
own success at work.
Review again the table below from Chapter 13. Three key variables
define the structure of the organizations, the goal cascade within
includes the organization structure and mapping the strategy onto the
market, the ideal actions agreed to offer the greatest chance of
greatest KPI success, and the clarity of the role specifications.
The organization design is then integrated with the psychology.
People make the choice to be successful in their work life, they
accept the role specifications as defining success in their job, they
53. 53
agree the ideal actions offer greatest chance of greatest success,
engage by actively adopting the role specifications in mind, building
game plans with associated positive emotions that drive behavior at
work and actively visualize themselves acting out the ideal actions,
they build clarity in game plans, making their efforts more effective.
By choosing to be successful, accepting and agreeing the role
specifications as the means of personal success, and actively
engaging in mind with game plans, people build significant
‘intrinsic motivation’, exactly as exhibited by any sports person
seeking to win the game. They are willing to go the extra, to fight,
not for anything outside themselves, but for their own pride, and
personal success... they want to feel good about themselves. The
intrinsic motivation is then actively supported by the team leader
who ensure people are enjoying the day, do what they need do and
have fun while doing it.
54. 54
The immediate practical act of engagement is visualization of
ideal actions with no negative emotions
Organization.
Business plan for
period.
1. Goal cascade,
KPIs in every
role.
2. Ideal actions
derived from
KPIs.
3. Role
specifications.
Psychology
4. Choice.
5. Engagement
6. Acceptance.
7. Agreement.
8. Clarity.
9. Motivation.
Fundamental is ideas
in mind with action
arising from those
ideas given
momentum by
associated emotions.
Management factor.
1. Improve the goal cascade.
2. Sharpen ideal actions.
3. Clarify role specification, integrate
business processes, operations policy.
4. Review choice of each person to be
successful at work.
5. Review commitment of person to
actively seek work life success.
6. Review with person their acceptance
of the role specification.
7. Review with person they agree that
doing the ideal actions offers greatest
chance of greatest success.
8. Review with person they are clear on
the role specification, and have a clear
game plan in mind.
9. Review with person they have no
negative feelings about doing ideal
actions. And that they feel supported
by their team leader in the striving to
deliver the game plan each day.
Practical actions the team leader can take
that will improve one or more of the factors
that underpin high quality performance.
Cultural audits.
• Focus. Audits
1, 6, 7.
• Accuracy.
Audits 2, 3, 8.
• Commitment.
Audits 4, 5, 7.
• Leadership.
Audits 9, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8.
• Business
processes.
Audits 3, 7, 8.
From the audit
result, the team
leader decides
action on the factors
judged to improve
the audit result for
next time.
55. 55
Culture
The primary drivers of human mood and conduct are ideas
with the intensity of emotion giving thrust to the actions
derived from the ideas
Carefully read the table below.
Organization.
Business plan for
period.
1. Goal cascade,
KPIs in every
role.
2. Ideal actions
derived from
KPIs.
3. Role
specifications.
Psychology
4. Choice.
5. Engagement
6. Acceptance.
7. Agreement.
8. Clarity.
9. Motivation.
Fundamental is ideas
in mind with action
arising from those
ideas given
momentum by
associated emotions.
Management factor.
1. Improve the goal cascade.
2. Sharpen ideal actions.
3. Clarify role specification, integrate
business processes, operations policy.
4. Review choice of each person to be
successful at work.
5. Review commitment of person to
actively seek work life success.
6. Review with person their acceptance
of the role specification.
7. Review with person they agree that
doing the ideal actions offers greatest
chance of greatest success.
8. Review with person they are clear on
the role specification, and have a clear
game plan in mind.
9. Review with person they have no
negative feelings about doing ideal
actions. And that they feel supported
by their team leader in the striving to
deliver the game plan each day.
Practical actions the team leader can take
that will improve one or more of the factors
that underpin high quality performance.
Cultural audits.
• Focus. Audits
1, 6, 7.
• Accuracy.
Audits 2, 3, 8.
• Commitment.
Audits 4, 5, 7.
• Leadership.
Audits 9, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8.
• Business
processes.
Audits 3, 7, 8.
From the audit
result, the team
leader decides
action on the factors
judged to improve
the audit result for
next time.
Variables 1, 2, and 3 on left define the behavioral structure, namely
those actions which if delivered enable the greatest chance of
greatest goal success. Variables 4, 5, 6, and 7 build intrinsic
56. 56
motivation, the internal commitment by the person to lift the quality
of their life committing to their own standards of success, pride, and
self-esteem. Variable 8 build clarity of action. Finally, variable 9 is
the team leader, supporting the intrinsic motivation by ensuring each
person enjoying their day while doing that which they agreed needs
to be done to enable the greatest chance of greatest success.
Read the table again. Now, imagine a team living out the principles
as embodied in the able.
People make the choice to be successful in their work life, they
accept the role specifications as defining success in their job, they
agree the ideal actions offer greatest chance of greatest success,
engage by actively adopting the role specifications in mind, building
game plans with associated positive emotions that drive behavior at
work and actively visualize themselves acting out the ideal actions,
they build clarity in game plans, making their efforts more effective.
By choosing to be successful, accepting and agreeing the role
specifications as the means of personal success, and actively
engaging in mind with game plans, people build significant
‘intrinsic motivation’, exactly as exhibited by any sports person
seeking to win the game. They are willing to go the extra, to fight,
not for anything outside themselves, but for their own pride, and
personal success... they want to feel good about themselves. The
intrinsic motivation is then actively supported by the team leader
who ensure people are enjoying the day, do what they need do and
have fun while doing it.
Do not try to manage culture. Support team leaders to manage
people as per the table. The culture will emerge
Innovation and creativity are teams taking time out, working ‘on’ the
business by reviewing the role specification and ideal actions,
57. 57
making changes on paper, then adopting those change in game plans
in mind and then the disciplined, self-satisfying task of acting out the
agreed game plans.
In business ‘culture’ expresses how the people populating the
organization go about doing that which they need do to make
the organization successful
58. 58
All proactive HR policy is changed
An organization is an idea influencing people. The organization
becomes ‘real’ through people and only through people.
Therefore, all aspects of what people do in organizations is
determined in their mind. It follows that if we better understand how
the mind works, we will better understand the link between people
and the organization. But understanding how the mind works
demands a depth of science not appropriate to practical management,
for example, the link between ideas and action (body-mind
problem), and theory creation in social science. It is important a
practical manager can have confidence the intellectual work has
been done, then and only then is the technology derived from the
science reliable, consistent and reproducible.
OPD-HCD™ team leadership technology is derived from a
scientific theory of psychology itself derived from a tightly
defined social science methodological platform.
OPD-HCD™ divides the link between people and the organization
into two.
1. Current compliance, and administration of people in the
organization, largely unchanged.
2. Strategic human capital development, or strategic HR, the
pro-active aspect of HR, is completely changed from
current global approach.
The strategic management of all human performance in the
organization is the identification of the ideal actions derived
from strategy in every role (the behavioral structure) and
59. 59
delivery of those actions to standard (perfect game plans
perfectly delivered).
Identification and delivery of the behavioral structure to standard is
the priority of the CEO determined to roll out strategy so it has the
greatest chance of greatest market success. Responsibility for this
task is delegated to the HR Function who become the ‘right hand’ of
the CEO overseeing skills and application of all team leaders across
the organization. The ‘team leader’ is accountable for team output.
The HR Business Partner supports, coaches and guides the team
leader in the OPD-HCD™ technology enabling the team greatest
chance of greatest success. Therefore, enabling each person greatest
chance of greatest work life success.
The key difference in OPD-HCD™ technology is in the detail.
The following definitions illustrate. These details are overall quite
different from current global best practice and are a well-defined
team performance technology offering clear tools to all team leaders
that will achieve consistent, reliable results.
• OPD-HCD™ the technology each team leader is to apply
in refining and full implementation of the behavioral
structure of the team to standard.
• HR Business partner: The HR person assigned to coach,
support and guide team leaders in applying OPD-HCD™
technology enabling the team greatest chance of greatest
success.
• Organization development: Defining the organization on
paper, down to the ideal actions in each role. Identifying
and refining clarity and definition of the behavioral
structure from the agreed budget for the accounting period.
60. 60
Specifying each job via its role specifications. Each role
being a unique set of KPIs and ideal actions within the job.
• Game plan: The psychological frame within the mind of
each person that is their understanding of ideal actions in
the roles in their job, and is applied by the person in
forming their own daily behavior on the job.
• Engagement: The commitment by the person to their own
work life success.
• Commitment: The agreement with the person they will act
such as to positively build their own work life success.
• Agreement: That delivery of the ideal actions to standard
offers greatest chance of greatest success in the role.
• Positive acceptance: The person has no negative or adverse
emotions when they think of themselves delivering the
agreed ideal actions to standard.
• Intrinsic motivation: The ‘internal’ motivation of the
person. Engagement plus commitment.
• Team motivation: The ‘external’ motivation being applied
to the person. The team leader ensuring every person is
having fun each day at work striving to deliver the
behavior structure to standard.
• Training: Focused on the person skills at delivery of the
agreed ideal actions in the role. It follows, that training
should immediately lift results.
• Change management: Agree new goals and identify the
ideal actions derived from those goals. In the jobs
involved, refine the role specification→ agree the new role
61. 61
specification with the person assigned the role → coach,
practice/role play the new ideal actions → support person
refine their game plan→ performance review with person
to consolidate ideal actions as habit. Within OPD-HCD™
change management is clear and non-threatening.
• OPD cultural audit: The regular (quarterly at least)
monitoring of the implementation in the team of OPD-
HCD™ technology. The team leader with support of the
HR Business Partner selects the audit factors to be
improved for next audit.
• Performance review: The regular (monthly at least)
meeting between the team leader and team member on the
effectiveness of the team member in acting out the agreed
ideal actions to standard.
• Talent identification and management: Identifying those
people with greatest skill at contributing to the refinement
of the role specifications in their job and with the greatest
willingness to apply themselves in pursuit of their work
life success. Giving opportunity to those judged with most
talent.
When implemented these details carry the organization to a focused,
helpful, organized, friendly, and enjoyable working environment
with which customers pleased to interact.
Building culture where every person striving for perfect game
plans perfectly delivered.
62. 62
Lifting expectations
People are expected to strive for their own work life success
and satisfaction.
Under OPD-HCD™ people are not asked to achieve goals. In the
sense of performance results there are no expectations.
Goals (KPIs) are the tool to link the daily actions of the person with
the strategy. The ideal actions in the role are derived from goals and
agreed by the person, the team leader of the person, the manager of
the team leader and finally signed off by the CEO.
People are asked to commit to their own work life success and
satisfaction. In agreeing the role specifications, they agree the ideal
actions represent the greatest opportunity for greatest success.
Therefore, delivery of ideal actions to standard is the agreed way a
person needs to seek success in the job.
Accepting the job is acceptance of the ideal actions inherent in
the job.
If a person is uncomfortable with acting out the ideal actions, yet
intellectually they agree that is what is needed, then they have no
other ethical choice but to resign. This is exactly equivalent to the
CEO resigning if they are uncomfortable and cannot live with the
strategy directed by the board.
If a person does not think the level of results will be achieved by the
ideal actions adopted, they should table their opinion and then
commit 100% to deliver of ideal actions as specified so that if the
result is not achieved, then it is not due their underperformance.
63. 63
The CEO is responsible for roll out of strategy.
Apt and accurate ideal actions, via the goal cascade is the only
scientific and most effective way of rolling out strategy. Therefore,
a priority of the CEO is ensuring role specifications apt accurate
relative to strategy. The second internal priority of the CEO is
ensuring all team leaders are guiding committed delivery of the role
specifications to standard.
A person is expected to manage their own conduct at work.
The person succeeds if and only if they deliver to standard the agreed
ideal actions in the role. The person is NOT responsible for the
result, that is the responsibility of the leadership team up to and
including the CEO. If a person delivers ideal actions fully to standard
and the goal is NOT achieved, then the person is NOT responsible
for that failure.
The link between ideal actions and goals is determined by the
leadership, by the HR Function and discussed and agreed with the
person accepting the role. Identifying ideal actions relative to a goal
is a crucial intellectual task that must not left to just the team leader
and person, it is too important. In combination with the goal cascade
it is the task defining the behaviors necessary from staff to achieve
the strategy.
Deriving ideal actions from a goal is a task that must be done with
the skill that ensures the ideal actions adopted offer the greatest
chance of greatest success. Doing ideal actions does not guarantee
success, there are always factors beyond the control of the person
doing the job. Not doing ideal actions guarantees failure.
Once settled, the person accepts the ideal actions as offering them
greatest chance of greatest personal work life success, and commits
64. 64
to manage their daily behavior at work to deliver the agreed ideal
actions to standard.
The start point of every person’s work life success is adopting in
mind a game plan for the job derived from the formal role
specification of the job.
Organization and personal learning.
Over time s team will learn which ideal actions work best. This is
‘organizational learning’ and needs to be captured, and the role
specifications amended to reflect the learning.
As people manage their behavior to match the ideal actions, they will
develop more skill, so they personally learn what they need do, their
personal style of delivery of ideal actions, to do it to get best results
for them.
Non-threatening change management.
As the market or strategy changes so the goals may change. If the
goals change the ideal actions change. These changes must be
recorded first in the role specifications, then discussed with the
people. When agreed and signed off by all concerned, then the team
leader works with the person to adopt the role specification to build
a revised game plan in the mind of the person they then use to guide
and manage their behavior at work.
The process of change management is clear, direct and non-
threatening to the person.
People striving for perfect game plans perfectly delivered.
65. 65
Redefining leadership
People act upon the ideas they apply to ‘see’ any situation the
intensity of that action determined by their emotions associated
with those ideas.
Ideas we use to ‘look’ and ‘see’ situations are on a frame that
represents the structure of our psychology. The ideas on the frame
are our unique point of view. The emotions associated with the ideas
are the intensity with which we feel and act out the ideas.
The ideas we apply are called the game plan. The emotions
associated with the ideas are our engagement with the game plan.
The psychological equation is Game plan (focus + clarity) +
Engagement = Result. This says we can lift results by improving the
game plan, that is improving our ideas (focus) and clarity of that
focus, or by increasing our engagement (emotions associated with
our ideas), or both. (For a full discussion on our psychology see Chapter 8.)
Psychological principle 1: The clearer in mind the more
effective our action.
1. Current effort and current game plan delivers the current
result.
2. If we build a better game plan apply current effort, we get
an improved result.
3. If we build a perfect game plan and apply current effort, we
get a much improved result. (For a discussion on perfect human
performance see Chapter 10.)
66. 66
Psychological principle 2: If we increase the effort with a better
game plan we get a much improved result.
4. If we apply improved effort to a better game plan, we get a
much improved result.
5. If we apply improved effort to a perfect game plan, we
greatly improved result.
The diagram illustrates these relationships between clarity and focus
in mind versus effort.
67. 67
There are now two major tasks. Management, thinking our what
has to be done to have greatest chance of success, and leadership,
Strategy
Organization structure, roles defined by KPIs
Current effort Current game plan Current result
Improved
effort
Better game plan Improved result
Much improved
results
Greatly
improved
result
Satisfaction in
success.
Engaged.
Finding flow and
having fun.
Perfect
game plan
68. 68
interacting with people guiding them do what is needed with
commitment and energy.
Management is getting it clear on paper first.
Management is a crucial step done at one’s desk, applying the goal-
action principle to every role, drafting the role specification on
paper, sharpening it, refining the business processes so the role is
tightly and smoothly integrated into the whole organization. It is
thinking out what the team needs to do to enable the greatest chance
of greatest success. (For a full discussion applying the goal-action principle in
organizations see Chapters 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 15.)
Leadership is guiding people to act out that which they agree to
on paper.
There is an important step between ‘definitely’ management and
‘definitely’ leadership, namely having people agree that the role
specification, represents the greatest chance of greatest success in
the role. I prefer to see it as the last step on management, where
people asked to apply the intellect, their experience and answer the
question: If a person acts out with commitment the ideal actions in
the role specification, would they achieve the results stated? There
is no commitment, no emotion, merely judgement. Hence
management.
Leadership task 1: Keeping the game plan top of mind.
The role specification is agreed, the person memorizes it and adapts
it to their personal skills and style. It must be located on a frame
which is how the person ‘see’ their delivery of role, then and only
then will it act as the game plan orientating the person to what they
need to do each day at work. A key leadership task to ensure the
game plan is kept top of mind.
69. 69
Leadership task 2: Build intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is the energy the person brings to their personal
work success. This is managed by exploring with people their
engagement and commitment to their own work life success. (For a full
discussion on motivation see Chapters 5, 8, 10, 11, 14.)
Leadership task 3: Build external motivation.
External motivation is the influence of the team leader and the team
on the energy the person applies to their work.
The first and crucial way to add positive emotional energy to the
game plan is to ensure the person is having fun while acting out the
game plan.
Having fun then supported by ensuring the person is aware of the
importance of their contribution, that they are doing a good job, and
are an important part of team success.
Every person striving for perfect game plans perfectly
delivered.
70. 70
Redefining management
Game plan (focus + clarity) + Engagement = Result.
People act according to the ideas they apply to ‘see’ and ‘understand’
and ‘relate to’ the situation. These ideas exist on what I describe as
a ‘frame’, like a power point frame. Technically it is a mental set, as
discussed in full in the book The Origin of Consciousness, frame is
a simpler term carrying better visual image of how it works in us.
The intensity of any set of ideas is due the emotions associated with
those ideas. So the more positive energy, the more ‘motivated’ we
are, the more negative energy, the more resistant we are. There are
two further key issues.
First, every frame is linked to our spirit, specifically draws
substantial emotional connection from our spirit. I define our spirit
as the core emotional structures we developed prior to language, in
particular emotions about ourselves, and our link to the external
world. So we could be tentative, or confident, enquiring or
withdrawn.
Finally, any particular frame is linked to associated or related frame,
that is ideas that are not directly the idea in question but bear to the
overall topic. In a job for example, a person may be directly
motivated by the work, but be demotivated by view of making
profits, or views on conservation, or on the ethics of the directors of
the business, etc. No thoughts exist in isolation.
The simplest way is to understand the role specification of the job
on a frame and as the way the person ‘sees’ the job. I describe this
as the person ‘orientating’ themselves to the job via their game plan.
71. 71
Greatest team performance requires management plus
leadership.
There are now two major tasks. Management, thinking our what has
to be done to have greatest chance of success, and leadership,
interacting with people guiding them do what is needed with
commitment and energy.
1. Management: Getting the role specification clear on paper.
2. Leadership: Guiding people adopt the role specification,
hold it on a frame in their mind and adapt it to their skills
so form their unique game plan for the job and live out that
game plan to enable the greatest work life satisfaction.
Management is first getting it clear on paper.
Management is a crucial step done at one’s desk, applying the goal-
action principle to every role, drafting the role specification on
paper, sharpening it, refining the business processes so the role is
tightly and smoothly integrated into the whole organization. It is
thinking out what the team needs to do to enable the greatest chance
of greatest success. (For a full discussion applying the goal-action principle in
organizations see Newsletters 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14 and 15.)
Leadership is guiding people to act out that which they agree to
on paper.
There is an important step between ‘definitely’ management and
‘definitely’ leadership, namely having people agree that the role
specification represents the greatest chance of greatest success in the
role. I prefer to see it as the last step of management, where people
asked to apply the intellect, their experience and answer the
question: If a person acts out with commitment the ideal actions in
the role specification, would they achieve the results stated? There
72. 72
is no commitment, no emotion, merely judgement. Hence
‘management’.
To get it really clear in mind it needs to be first clear on paper.
Have you ever had the experience ‘yes, I know what I am doing’
then when asked to write it down you only knew it 8 out of 10, and
improving your clarity to 9 out of 10 enabled a better result.
Reread the following key principles.
1. Current effort and current game plan delivers the current
result.
2. If we build a better game plan apply current effort, we get
an improved result.
3. If we build a perfect game plan and apply current effort, we
get a much improved result. (For a discussion on perfect human
performance see Chapter 10.)
Management is more important than leadership.
It is easier to get it clear, to think it out than it is to inspire people to
work harder. Second no matter how hard people work if they are
doing the wrong things they will fail.
By being good managers, by getting it clear and gaining agreement
it is clear, we lay the base of success and enable better performance
than would be achieved otherwise.
Motivation follow success.
Imagine guiding the team to get it much clear. Then imagine the team
acting out the clearer ideal actions resulting in greater success. How
will they feel?
73. 73
Exactly. Even when the success is not acknowledged by senior
manager, people know in their heart, they feel better about
themselves as they look in the mirror in the morning.
Knowing it clearly enables doing it to standard. The success from
yesterday plus knowing it clearly enables going in next day and
doing it again. Work life gets more fulfilling.
Keeping leadership simple.
With strong effective management, then leadership can be as simple
as saying ‘thank you’ when things done right, and ‘oops, what are
we doing about that’ when things done not right.
