CTION A BIAS FOR A CTION How Effective Managers Harness Their Willpower, Achieve Results, and Stop Wasting Time HEIKE BRUCH and SUMANTRA GHOSHAL
HEIKE BRUCH is a hum human an res resour ources ces pro profes fessor sor at the Uni Univer versit sity y of St St.. Gal Gallen len (Sw (Switz itzerl erland and). ). She ear earned ned her Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Hanover (Germany) and earlier degrees at the Free University of Berlin. Dr. Bruch’s research focuses on leadership and she has written six books as well as publishing more than forty articles in journals and books. SUMANTRAGHOSHAL is a fel fellowof lowof theAdvan theAdvancedInsti cedInstitut tute e of Man Manage agemen mentt Res Resear earch ch as wel welll as a pro profes fessor sor of strategy and international management at London Business School. A graduate of MIT and Harvard Business Busin ess Schoo School, l, Dr. Ghoshal is also a memb member er of the Comm Committee ittee of Overseers Overseers of Harva Harvard rd Business Schoo Schooll and founding dean of the Indian School of Business. Dr. Ghoshal has written several books and more than seventy articles which have been published in academic journals.
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A Bias For Action - Page 1
MAIN IDEA Great managers and effective business leaders have an inbuilt bias for action. They don’t dissipate their time and energy on peripheral issues – like complaining about overwhelming workloads or trying to work despite tight budgets, barriers, setbacks, distractions and unsupportivebosses. Instead, good managers get to work purposefullyon the organization’s most important work – cutting costs, improving efficiency and encouraging innovative thinking – and get things done. Good managers harness willpowerto improve both their individual performance and that of the organizations they manage. In essence, great managers stop trying to do more things and instead focus on getting the right things done. The process of becoming a purposeful action taker actually has an organizational and a personal dimension:
Becoming a purposeful action-taker Personal Become a purposeful action taker yourself
Organizational Cultivate action-taking in the people you manage
Great managers succeed not because they are good at motivating others or giving public addresses, but because they can and do harness personal willpowerto achieve their personal goals, and then find ways to help others do the same. The effective application of willpower is what differentiates the achievers from the also-rans.
1. The personal dimension of purposeful action-taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 2 - 5 To act purposefully means to take consistent, conscious and energetic actions which work towards achieving a goal. This is not a superficial effort to do busywork but a deliberate attempt to eliminate distractions and produce results. People who achieve this in practice do four things better than others: 1. They possess energy and focus. They make a deliberate attempt to act towards clear goals. 2. They harness their willpower. They aspire to execute disciplined, well-directed actions. 3. They have clear mental pictures of theirintentions. Purposefulaction-takers make deliberatechoices. 4. They overcome themost commontrapsand snares. They ignitetheir owndreams first andforemost. Overall, purposeful action takers lead from the front. They influence others by being a good role model to emulate. Personal Becoming a Purposeful Action Taker
1
Develop your energy and focus
2
Build your reserves of willpower
3
Align your emotions with your goals
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Overcome the traps of inaction
2. The organizational dimension of purposeful action-taking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 6 - 8 To build an organization that supports and encourages purposeful action-taking, managers and leaders must do three things: 1. Create space for autonomous actions to occur, so people have enough freedom to act. 2. Build processes which support action taking into the culture of the organization itself. 3. Develop a culture which celebrates and encourages purposeful action-taking. In all, creating an organizationthat acts purposefullyisn’t something that can be achieved with quick fixes. Rather, it will require a long journey where the values and benefits of acting purposefully are extolled and then enshrined as worthy of emulation. Embedding a bias for action within an organization is difficult and challenging, but it can and should be done. Organizational Cultivating Purposeful Action Taking in Others
1
Overcome the internal challenges
2
Weave action-taking into the culture
3
Free your people to act accordingly
A Bias For Action - Page 2
1.
The personal dimension of purposeful action-taking
To act purposefully means to take consistent, conscious and energetic actions which work towards achieving a goal. This is not a superficial effort to do busywork but a deliberate attempt to eliminate distractions and produce results. People who achieve this in practice do four things better than others: 1. They possess energy and focus. Purposeful action-takers make a deliberate attempt to act towards clear goals. 2. They harness their willpower. Purposeful action-takers aspire to execute disciplined, well-directed actions.
So what’s involved in becoming a purposeful manager? The natural conclusion is to assumethis is a matter of motivation. But the research actually identified four key steps which are required at a personal level for a manager or business leader to become more purposeful: Becoming Purposeful
Overall, purposeful action takers lead from the front. They influenceothers by first andforemostbeinga good role model for to emulate.
“From 1993 to 2003, we carried out research into the behavior of busy managers at nearly a dozen large companies. At the end of ourstudy, we reached this disturbing conclusion:Despite alltheir activity, only a small fraction of managers actually get something done that really matters or moves their organization forward in a meaningful way. In other words, most managers do not take purposeful action.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal Based on this research, four kinds of common managerial behavior were identified: 1. The frenzied – 40-percent of managers are so distracted by themyriad of tasks they aretrying to juggleeach daythat they never get to what really matters. Frenzied managers are highly motivated, well intentioned and enthusiastic, but they dilute their effectiveness by attempting to focus on a flurry of activities rather than acting thoughtfully and intelligently. Frenzied managers typically underestimate the time and resources required to implement a business strategy and tend to launchnew projects without thinking about therisksor long-term implications. They live by the creed that doing something, anything is better than doing nothing. The hallmark of a frenzied manager is someone who is so busy ticking items off his or her to-do list that there is no time to stop and reflect how whether those are actually the right things to be doing. 2. The procrastinators – 30-percent of managers put off doing important things because they lack the energy and focus to set and act on their priorities. Many managers who end up becoming chronic procrastinators started their managerial careers as frenzied managers. 3. The detached – 20-percent of managers are so disengaged or detached from their work that they are too aloof, too tense or too apathetic to get anything much done. 4. The purposeful – only 10-percent of managers actually get the job done.
Develop your energy and focus
Managers who take effective actions – those who actually make the seemingly impossible happen – rely on a combination of energy and focus rather than mere motivation. In this regard:
3. They have clear mental pictures of their intentions. Purposeful action-takers make a deliberate choice to align their emotions with their goals and develop strategies for protecting their intentions from distractions. 4. They overcome the most common traps and snares. Purposeful action-takers ignite their dreams rather than try and motivate others.
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Energy is vigor fueled by intense personal commitment and hands-on involvement with the details. In a business context, energy allows quick and effective actions to be taken in high pressure situations. People with energy are proactive and innovative in their approach to what needs to get done. Focus is essentially energychanneledtowards a desired goal or a specific outcome. Focused people can concentrate even in an atmosphere of multiple distractions. Focus is the fine balance between discipline and stubbornness.
Frenzied managers have high energy but low focus. Procrastinators typicallyhave lowlevels of energyand littleor no focus. Detached managers have high focus but low levels of overall energy. Purposeful managers, notably, have high levels of energy and focus. To enhance your own personal action-taking ability, energize yourselfand your work.To jump start your personal energylevel: 1. Setsome clear and well defined goals – which are ambitious yet challenging. Challenging goals not only provide a sense of meaning but also motivate people to put in the effort required to achieve them. Worthwhile goals: • Will have a concrete feel about them. • Will encourage you to stretch and get going. • Are believable but at the same time challenging. • Are not overwhelming. 2. Suppress your feelings of negativity – by developing sufficient positive feelings and emotions. Detached managers in particular are overwhelmed by negative thoughts and ideas. Action takers dwell more on deepening their personal wells of self-confidence. This may be done by networking with supporters and mentors, or by engaging in sports and hobbies that consistently create good feelings. 3. Strengthen your confidence in your ability to actually achieve your goals – by dwelling on past occasions when you’ve achieved comparable things. Or you may find a role model who can act as a mentor, someone who will be able to provide you with meaningful feedback. Alternatively, you may be able to find some situations where you can experiment and rehearse to build the skills which will be required to achieve your goals. “Energy implies a level of personal involvement that is more than just doing something. Rather, it is subjectingly meaningful action; it genuinely matters to the action-taker. Energy also implies effort. The action involves a certain amount of exertion, fueled not only by external pressures but also by an individual’s inner resources. Purposeful action, then, is self-generated, engaged and self-driven behavior.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal
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Focus is your ability to visualize a positive result and having the courage to committo work towards that goal. Themore vivid your mental image, the stronger your focus will become and the greater your personal attachment to that objective. To build your level of focus:
Most managers will never have experienced genuine willpower in the course of their careers. Research shows only about 10-percent of managers ever feel fully engaged towards a goal for which success is the only option. Typically, to harness your willpower, you’ll need to pass through four stages or phases:
1. Look for the most vivid way possible to visualize your intentions – by placing firmly at the front of your mind a clear mental image of what your intention looks like in the flesh. It might also be useful to mentally see yourself doing the specific steps which are needed to reach your goal. Embody your goal into a compelling and attractive mental model.
1. Form your intention – Find a goal that you feel personally driven to achieve. Ideally, this goal shouldresonate with your emotions. At first, your objective may be fuzzy or vague, but as you dwell on it, a concrete and tangible idea of what you want to make happen should emerge. Visualize what you hope to achieve in as much detail as possible.
2. Make a personal commitment to act – and take full responsibility for getting this done rather than leaving everything up to some amorphous collective like the “management” of your organization. You’ll only be able to make this intensely personal commitment if your goal is aligned with your own values and beliefs, and if you’re motivated by the potential rewards which will flow. Without that essential link, you’ll be tempted to walk away and do something else when the first signs of trouble appear. Your personal commitment provides tenacity and purpose.
2. Commit unconditionally to your intention – that is, accept the challenge and make a deliberate choice to put your entire energy and focus behind doing what you visualize. As you take personal responsibility for bringing your idea into reality, you pass the point-of-no-return. Sometimes this will be a gradual process of eliminating options, and at other times this will be the result of a one-time event. The key moment, however, is when you commit to throwing all your resources and energy into the effort. This means all disputes and other options are then dropped.
“Purposeful action is also focused behavior. It is conscious and intentional, guided by a person’s decision to achieve a particular goal. It requires discipline to resist distraction, overcome problems, and persist in the face of unanticipated setbacks. In other words, purposeful action is different from impulsive behavior; it does not emerge from the moment but involves thought, analysis, and planning.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal
3. Protect and guard your intention – by eliminating distractions and by starting to consciously control your thoughts. High achievers deliberately manipulate their environment to stay the course. They keep their energy levels high by regularly triggering positive emotions, usually by rethinking about their goal in vivid images. If you do the same, you’ll be building your self-confidence and increasing your reserves of mental energy to deal with obstacles. You’ll also have fun and feel great about what you’re doing.
Becoming Purposeful
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Build your reserves of willpower
Willpower is more than being motivated to act. Willpower requires total commitment to make something good happen. It implies that a person effectively “burns their bridges behind them” so the only way to move is to achieve the objective. With willpower, there is no chance to go back to how things were before. The key question then becomes how to realize the goal, not what to do. What are the differences between motivation and willpower? When you’re motivated: • You keep on weighing up all your options. • You work in bursts and then get distracted by other things. • You have just a vague idea of where you want to head. • You’re ready to chuck it in at the emergence of obstacles. • You can easily change from one goal to another. By contrast, when you have willpower: • All debate about your goals has ceased. • You keep your intentions at the forefront of your mind. • You continually seek information about how to implement. • You get enthused by taking action towards your goal. • You stay focused and let nothing distract you. • You have no self-doubts about your goal. • You can describe exactly what achieving your goal will mean. • When you strike obstacles, your resolve is strengthened. • You frequently visualize achieving your objectives. • You ignore any resistance from your peers or colleagues. • Abandoning your task will not be an option. • You won’t feel tempted by alternative opportunities.
4. Establish right at the outset your own personal “stopping rules” – the logical point at which you should disengage from your intention. Unless this is done, youmight persistin taking actions even when a project is obviously doomed. Or, possibly even worse, you might fall in love with a project so much you keep investing more time and effort even whenit is completed rather than moving on to a new challenge. By anticipating this possibilityand planning ahead,you’ll be able to redirect your energies if your goal becomes undesirablefor any reason whatsoever. “Purposeful action-taking depends on engaging the power of the will. Not only does willpower galvanize your mental and emotional energy, it also enables you to make your intention happen against the most powerful odds: distractions, temptations to move in a different direction, self-doubt and negativity. Willpower is the force that strengthens your energy and sharpens your focusthroughoutthe action-taking process.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “While motivation might suffice in helping managers sustain organizational routines, managers are not generally paid just to maintain routines. Rather, their tasks are usually complex and require creativity and innovation. They often must strive for multiple and conflicting goals, many of which are long-term projects that require sustained effort. Ambitious goals, high uncertainty, extreme opposition – these circumstances underscore the limitations of motivation. Managers who make things happen under these conditions – who exhibit consistently purposeful action – rely on a different force: the power of their will. Thegood news is that every manager is capable of engaging willpower.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal
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Becoming Purposeful
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Align your emotions with your goals
Every manager or business leader will face critical moments of decision during their careers. Often, these key moments will be similar to the crossing of the Rubicon river by Julius Caesar and his army in 49 B.C. Caesar knew that once he crossed the Rubicon and moved forward with his armies, he was effectively declaring civil war against Pompey who held power in Rome. In similar fashion, most managers face their ownpersonal Rubicon decisions where they have to commit to a project and cut off all other options. Invariably, at these critical junctions: • Your emotions will be pulling you in a number of directions. • You’ll face great uncertainty and inner conflicts. • You’ll feel overwhelmed by your time constraints. • You’ll be unsure about what you’re genuinely thinking. • There will be conflict between what’s rational andwhat’s right. To actpurposefullyat this point andcreate a bias foraction, you’ll have to align your thoughts with your emotions about your goals. There are three viable strategies to achieve this: 1. Harness the emotions that support your goals – deliberately choose to focus on images of positive outcomes to create energy and vitality. To do this, you might ask yourself: • How will I feel once I’ve succeeded? • What setbacks are likely, and how will I deal with them? • What mental images will prompt me to act constructively? Note that to avoid being too superficial, it’s important to think about positive outcomes and potential setbacks. The tension between the positive and negative aspects will enable you to marshall the enthusiasm and commitment needed to see your project through to completion. 2. Manage the positive and negative emotions that distract you from achieving your goal – primarily by conjuring up images that will make allotheroptions less appealing. In other words, don’t try and ignore your negative feelings and doubts, but turn them around and use them productively. For example: • Inject a little humor into your thinking. • Discuss your fears with some friends you trust. • Use other people’s doubts to spur you on. • Distance yourself from negative environments. The whole objective here is to find the right button to push to activate your pride and get you back into action. In essence, you’re trying to outwityourself so that the reality of your goals will overwhelm and crowd out your fears. In this way, you’re leveraging your emotions to create energy to act. 3. Put yourself into “the Flow ” – the area where your rational goals overlap with your deepest emotional preferences. When you’re in the Flow, you’ll feel completely absorbed by what you do. You’ll reach for higher goals automatically because your actions won’t feel at all strenuous or unnatural. To achieve this state:
Modify your goals if necessary so they overlap and harmonize with your emotions. Identify your deepest desires and your greatest fears. Pinpoint why you feel that way. Analyze your negative emotions. Picture yourself taking individual steps and inadvertently generating those negative reactions. Increase and enhance your tolerance for those intense feelings.
Conceptually, the main objective in this step is to align your thoughts aboutyour goals with your emotions about your goals:
Thoughts about your goals
Emotions about your goals
TheMotivation three Willpower The Flow Where your thoughts and emotions naturally overlap there is a zone called the Flow. Effective managers and leaders get into and stay in that zone to enhance their bias for action. When you get into the Flow, there is no longer any contradiction between whatyou feel is rational and whatyourgut tells you is right. You’ll be able to stand behind your project emotionally and intellectually, which in turn will allow you to act with persistence and purpose. “Clearly, crossing the Rubicon and engaging your willpower requires an investment of time and energy. More than anything else, it requires that your thoughts and emotions about your objectives align. Managers who never create such alignment find that their doubts continually resurface and that the process of achieving their goals ultimately exhausts them. But managers who do can unconditionally engage their will: They act with confidence and persevere against all odds.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “Managers will alwayshave conflicts aboutgoals. Contradictions and the pursuit of multiple projects are inevitable in managerial jobs, and the tensions they create can even stimulate creativity and innovation. But when such conflicts become extreme and last for long periods, they sap energy, lead to halfhearted action and a counterproductive short-term orientation. As with conflicting emotions, a lack of clarity about which goals to strive for becomes a personal burden. The result? Managers become overwhelmed by time constraints, dissipate their energy, and, ultimately, perform poorly. With the crossing of the Rubicon, these conflicts about goals disappear. Confidence and determination regarding priorities replace confusion and inner doubts. Managers who have tuned out the white noise in the background find that their feet no longer drag.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “Willpower – theforcebehind energyand focus – goes a decisive step further than motivation. It enables managers to execute disciplined action, even when they are disinclined to do something, uninspired by the work, or tempted by other opportunities. An insatiableneed to produce results infects willful managers. They overcome barriers, deal with setbacks, and persevere to the end. With willpower, giving up is not an option; there is no way back. Willful managers resolve to achieve their ambition, no matter what. Jack Welch implied this doggedness when he wrote, ‘I learned the most importantprincipleof life from my mother: you just have to want it’.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “Management was, is, and always will be the same thing: the art of getting things done. And to get things done, managers must act themselves and mobilize collective action of others.” – Bob Eccles and Natin Nohria, professors, Harvard Business School
A Bias For Action - Page 5
Becoming Purposeful
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Overcome the traps of inaction
The three traps of inaction which you have to overcome before you can develop a genuine bias for action are: 1. The trap of overwhelming demands – where you get so caught up in webs of expectations that it completely overwhelms you. You might be so busy pondering various attractive alternatives that you never actually get around to doing what will add value. You’re busy and doing so many things that you don’t have the time to pick up on new opportunities that arise to move things forward. Surprisingly, most of these situations are self-generated. It’s easier to be busy than to take the time to think creatively. To become an action-taker, manage your demands by:
Developing a clear and explicit personal agenda – If you have a precise idea of what you want to achieve in your job, you can give perspective to your day-to-day actions.
Structuring your contact time better – perhaps make yourself available to your direct reports only at set times. This allows you to block out chunks of uninterrupted time for some high quality activities. Actively shaping demands and managing expectations – instead of trying to please everybody, concentrate mainly on exceeding the expectations of your key stakeholders and let everything else work itself out.
While these constraints will be real, there are some things you can do to still develop your bias for action:
To better explore your options and become a purposeful action-taker:
Practicing slow management – prioritize, be deliberate about what you choose to do and organize your demands in terms of priority rather than expediency.
2. The trap of unbearable constraints – where you feel so tightly squeezed by rules, regulations andbudgets that youhave no room fordiscretionary actions. In this situation, youmightfeel the corporate constraints are so binding you cannot pursue goals you consider to be significant because of a lack of available resources.
3. The trap of unexplored options – where you get so intensely focused on immediate needs and requirements that you develop tunnel vision and miss other opportunities which present themselves quite regularly. You might assume you have very little discretion about what you do, but purposeful action-takers are more autonomous.
Map your constraints – and see whether there isn’t a little wriggle room that you can exploit. You might find ways to broaden your freedom to act within the boundaries of the system as it stands you weren’t even aware of. Be more flexible and willing to accept trade-offs – separate the must-haves from the nice-to-haves and be willing to accept compromises and other arrangements if that helps you move in the right direction. Be willing to selectively break some of the rules – on the basis that: “Sometimes, it’s better to say sorry afterwards than to waste time asking for permission beforehand.” Question standing rules and regulations. You may be surprised at how often they will be outdated or inappropriate, and people will applaud your initiative rather than insist you toe the line. Get comfortable with and tolerate conflicts and ambiguities – in other words, be able to disagree without becoming disagreeable at a personal level. Analyze your assumed constraints, confront conflicts directly when needed, give yourself freedom to think and act and keep working productively, even when it takes some time to get things sorted. People with a bias for action do all these things.
Become more aware of the other choices you already have – and get into the habit of asking yourself: “Who forbids me from doing this, and what would be the consequences if I went down this path?”. Actively work to expand your choices – by talking to other people, by analyzing the challenge from a different viewpoint or by seeking more clarity about the amount of personal discretion you already have. Stay focused on your objective, and ask: “What would be a genuinely better way to achieve this goal?” Build your own knowledge and deepen your personal competencies – because this combination will help you identify more choices, lend you greater credibility and open windows of opportunity. The more you know, the greater your choices and the easier it will be to move forward. Exercise your freedom to act intelligently – and enjoy the opportunity to make choices and make a difference. The personal satisfaction which comes from doing something innovative on your own initiative is intoxicating. Take full advantage.
“Most managerial jobs tacitly encourage mindless busyness rather than purposeful action. No wonder, then, that managers so often fall into thetrapsof overwhelmingdemands,unbearable constraints, and unexploredchoices. Fortunately, managers can overcome these traps.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “What differentiates the entrepreneur from others? Most people go about their normal, daily business and have sufficient to do thereby. A minority with sharper intelligence and a suppler imagination,see numerous new combinations. It is a still smaller minority that acts. The new combinations will always be there; the truly indispensable and decisive will always be the deed and the energy of the entrepreneur.” – Joseph Schumpeter, Austrian economist “A manager becomes a purposeful action-taker by developing energy and focus, building the resolve of willpower, aligning emotions with goals, and, finally, overcoming the traps of nonaction. Becoming a purposeful action-taker is not only important for the sake of a manager’s individual effectiveness it is also decisive for his capacity to lead others. Without energy, managers cannot motivate or inspire others. Without a clear focus on priorities, managers cannot provide orientation, channel otherpeople’s energytoward critical business issues, or set the right agenda for their company. The first task of managers is to take charge of their own capacity for acting with willpower. A second set of tasks, then involves fostering willpower in others. This is a true leadership task that implies building the structural context, nurturing a volitional culture, and personally encouraging managers to make things happen that go beyond mere routine.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal
A Bias For Action - Page 6
2.
The organizational dimension of purposeful action-taking
To build an organization that supports and encourages purposeful action-taking, managers and leaders must do three things: 1. Create space for autonomous actions to occur, so people have enough freedom to act.
It may be helpful to try and build some good support networks within your organization to strengthen the organization’s bias for action. Support networks may include peers, mentors, experts, c o n s ul t a nt s , a s s o ci a t es i n o t h er i n d u st r i es a n d t h e organization’s leaders. These support networks can function on a formal or informal basis with equal effectiveness. Cultivating Action
2. Build processes which support action taking into the culture of the organization itself. 3. Develop a culture which celebrates and encourages purposeful action-taking. In all, creating an organization that acts purposefully isn’t something that can be achieved with quick fixes. Rather, it will require a long journey where the values and benefits of acting purposefully are extolled and then enshrined as worthy of emulation. Embedding a bias for action within an organization is difficult and challenging, but it can and should be done.
Weave action-taking into the culture
In simple terms, the challenge is to move your organization into the productive zone:
High
The Corrosion Zone
The Productive Zone
The Resignation Zone
The Comfort Zone
Negative
Positive
Intensity
How can leaders create an organization that consistently demonstrates a bias for action? In addition to setting a good example, there arethreekey thingsleaders canand shoulddo: 1
2
To generate a strong bias for action, your organization’s energy must be mobilized and focused effectively. Processes must be built which will encourage and expand the organizational will to get things done. Whenever an organization becomes fully energized aroundits business goals, peoplebecome exhilarated and energized.
While it is true managers must be doers, they cannot achieve their goals in a vacuum. This is why companies and even markets exist. The true challenge for leaders is not to motivate others to act productively but to facilitate purposeful action-taking by the people within their own organization.
Cultivating Action
Integrate values with daily behaviors – so that willpower is always relevant and always at the front of everyone’s mind.
Low
Overcome the internal challenges
Quality Simply put, this requires that leaders craft a context within the organization that will support and encourage purposeful action-taking. To put this idea into action:
Give people space – their own domain which belongs to them and which they have full control over. Unless people feel like they have this space, they won’t self-initiate any purposeful action. The organization’s values, vision and beliefs will set logical boundaries but within those areas, people should be able to determine their own actions and standards. Support individual actions professionally and personally – professional support requires that you ensure each person has a network of experienced people to help them. Personal support means that you do whatever is required to help them cope with stress, overcome any negative feelings and build pride and enthusiasm. Embed purposeful management practices into the organization’s culture – in other words, have managers and leaders who encourage action-taking rather than feeling a need to try and micro manage everything the organization does. If people feel trusted, they will feel confident enough to take the initiative and do more things. Conversely, if everything the organization does suggests that it’s more important to comply with regulations and rules than to think creatively, that’s precisely what everyone will do. Managers set the tone by providing freedom for individuals to act and by shaping the culture. Top management can have a profound impact on the degree to which other managers perceive and exercise their choices.
Corporations that have succeeded for long periods sometimes settle into a comfort zone where they lack the vitality andalertness to initiate anything bold andnew. As long as the marketplace is stable, they do just fine, but if the marketplace changes – as it alwaysdoes– then organizations in the comfort zone struggle to adapt. Organizations can fall into the resignation zone when they’ve been subjected to a number of change initiatives which have failed. Once here, mediocrity becomes accepted as normal and people lose their confidence to deal with new problems. Companies in the corrosion zone have energy, activity and emotional commitment, but that intensity is drawnfrom anger, fear or hate. The organization gets so caught up with internal politics and turf wars there is little vitality or stamina left for productive work. The corrosion zone arises when organizations face an external threat or opportunity that activates energy but there are no internal systems in place to channel that energy in the right direction. Organizations in the productive zone have high emotional tension, alertness and activity. Their people are driven by enthusiasm and pride. They have systems in place which allow and encourage people to strive for larger-than-life achievements. These companies live to meet challenges head on and use surprises or the excitement of the unknown to spur people on to exploit novel opportunities and new niches within the marketplace.
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To move your organization into the productive zone, there are three strategies available, depending on where you’re currently starting from:
The Corrosion Zone
The Productive Zone
3
2 The Resignation Zone
1 The Comfort Zone
3. Your company history – whether your organization naturally leans towards slaying-the-dragon, winning-the-princess or the hybrid approach.
Clearly define the imminent threat – bankruptcy, the arrival of a ruthless competitor, the development of a disruptive technology which will obsolete existing products and services, etc. Direct the resulting burst of energy towards crafting a collective response to that threat – so peoplereplace their fear or anger with actions which are integrated, cohesive and aligned.
2. To move an organization from the resignation zone to the productive zone, use a “winning-the-princess” strategy – in which thevision of thefuture is so alluring andenergizing that people sign on to the effort. Organizational energy will increase because of the excitement and enthusiasm that arises from people committing to a dream. To make winning-the-princess work:
1. The style of your organization’s top management – whether they ar e c omman d- an d- co ntr ol o ri ente d (slaying-the-dragon) or encouraging and empathetic (winning-the-princess). You stand a better chance of succeeding if your strategy matches your leader’s preferred style. 2. The existing energy state of the organization – whether you are currently in the comfort zone, the resignation zone or the corrosion zone.
1. To move an organization from its comfort zone to the productive zone, use a “slaying-the-dragon” strategy – where you get people to focus their emotions, attention and action on overcoming an immediate threat. Organizational energy always increases when everyone faces an external threat. To make slaying-the-dragon work:
So howdo youdecide which strategy to use? Make your decision in light of three factors:
Define, delineate and communicate a specific opportunity thecompany canand shouldseize– andmake certainthe object of desire is intensely beneficial. Give people freedom to develop their own ideas about how to achieve the objective – and go with the best ideas that come out.
3. To move an organization from the corrosion zone to the productive zone, use a hybrid strategy which combines the o th er t wo s tr at eg ie s i nt el li ge nt ly , s or t o f a “dragon-at-the-gates-of-the-princess” strategy – whereby the organization has to create its own path to an attractive long-term vision by first dealing with some short-term threats and problems. In theory, this hybrid strategy will deliver the best of both worlds– a boost in organizationalenergywiththe immediacy and pride that comes from overcoming an imminent threat. In practice, however, making this hybrid strategy work is challenging because there are inherent contradictions and ambiguities involved. Companies which have followed this hybrid strategy have found there needs to be direct linkages and ongoing feedback between the two different and ongoing initiatives if this strategy is to work well and provide genuine benefits.
“Both management theory and practice have, for nearly fifty years, adopted a very technical, analytical approach to success that has largely denied the role of energy. Yet, such ‘soft’ factors as energy, emotions, and moods greatly affect companies’ performance. Without high levels of energy, in particular, a company cannot grow, improve or innovate. What keeps an organizationfrom generating and focusing the energy needed to succeed? A lack of shared purpose among its people – either a vision to attain, or a threat against which to fight. Purposeful leaders, therefore, must begin by understanding their organization’s particular energy state. Then they must make deliberate use of strategies for marshaling the energy of their companies.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal Cultivating Action
3
Free your people to act accordingly
“Most corporate leaders recognize that people drive organizational action and, therefore, the performance of their companies. For routine jobs – when the tasks are simple, short term, and involve relatively habitual activities – motivation usually leads to accomplishing them. For most managerial jobs, however – when the tasks are complex and far reaching – mere motivation is not enough. Strategies that leaders use to motivate managers usually lead to superficial acquiescence to goals, rather than to conscious and deep commitment. Indeed, many leaders act as coconspirators with their people in developing a work ethic of superficiality. The result? Inauthentic consensus, smart talk and poor action.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal To create true commitment to a goal rather than the superficial buy-in generated by motivational talk, leaders and managers need to free their people to engage their willpowertoward a bias for action. There are six strategies leaders can use to do this: 1. Help managers visualize their intentions – as a way to transform ideas into concrete intentions. The more clear and vivid the mental picture a manager has, the greater the likelihood they will succeed in achieving their goal. It also helps if managers visualize the processes involved. This act of positive visualization creates a strong emotionallink which is good. Garnering willpower and encouraging a bias for actionis a very personal process which will tapinto theforces of human behavior.Visualization is very usefulin makingthat link and those emotional connections.
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2. Prepare managers for the inevitable obstacles which will crop up – that is, instead of downplaying the risks involved, make certain everyone fully understands and appreciates them before asking for a commitment. One of the most effective waysto do this is toget each manager toanswerthe question: “What will be the personal cost to me of undertaking this project? What must I stop doing to createthe time that will be required? What other opportunities will I not be able to pursue if I take on this project?” If people can explain these factors rationally and still want to start the new project, then they have a betterchanceof actually staying the course as roadblocks arise. 3. Encourage managers to confront their emotions – and reflect on whether they canstand behinda project with their heart as well as their head. Sometimes, their heads will be all for a project, but their heart will be elsewhere. Don’t brush this under the carpet. Ask directly: “Does this project feel right to you? Do you really want it?” 4. Develop a climate of choice – where managers are offered a few viable alternatives and then the final decision is left up to them. That way, managers don’t feel like they have been coerced into doing somethingthey didn’twantto do.This isn’t an excuse to lower your goals or performance standards, but make it clear accountability comes with choice. Make people responsible for delivering on what they chose to do. 5. Build a self-regulating system – wherein the managers who initiate a project can also choose to deactivate it at their own discretion. To make this system credible, have each manager specify the stopping rules for each project right at theoutset. That way, if thespecified developmentsarise, that will automatically trigger the project’s termination. If the project is highly creative and visualizingappropriate stopping rules is impossible, define a set of social stopping mechanisms – like where colleagues withdraw their support or if a top-management sponsor backs out. By making this process transparent, internal political game playing is minimized, resulting in less frustration. 6. Create a “desire for the sea” – in other words, give people permission to dream. Don’t try and make everything into a routine. Give managers sufficient space to visualize an exciting future andthe opportunities that await there.Provide them with challenges that will stretch them and then encourage them to act creatively. As long as the goals are meaningful, managers can come up with some great breakthroughs on their own dime. In effect, corporate progress requires the disciplined and relentless executionof the right projects andtasks.For peopleto become more effective action-takers, they need to personally commit at a deep emotional level. Building and stimulating that kind of commitment is the job of the organization’s leaders. “Should leaders build their people’s commitment to the company overall, or to specific projects or goals? We have found broad loyalty to an organization is increasingly difficult to achieve and sustain. Besides, such general commitment, even if achieved, does not necessarily lead to purposeful action on specific tasks. The best way leaders can build effective organizational commitment, therefore, is from the bottom-up, on the foundation of personal ownership of and commitment to specific initiatives.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal
“More than anyone else in the organization, top leaders must possess willpower. Without it, how can they direct or encourage others and provide meaning to their work? The problem is that most leaders actually end up destroying their managers’ willpower by encouragingsuperficial acquiescenceto tasks – but no real commitment to specific goals. Leaders who activate their own willpower can then engage others’ willpower by doing precisely the opposite of what leaders typically do. Rather than simply motivate their people, leaders must create a desire for action without encouraging superficiality. Leaders must ignite people’s dreams while preventing them from making hasty promises. Leaders must make commitment more difficult rather than get quick buy-ins. They must force their people to consider conflicts, doubts, anxieties, and ambivalence, and they must discuss the difficulties, costs, and privations rather than paint rosy pictures of the necessary tasks.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “The good news is that every manager is capable of engaging willpower. From our observations, willpower is neither limited to a certain setof personality traits, norto a person’s particular work situation. So how can managers activate and harness this powerful force in their own lives? We cannot prescribe a magic formula but we can describe an effective process: Willpower flourishes when people develop a clear mental picture of their intention, make a conscious choice to committo and pursue that intention, and develop strategies for protecting their intention against distractions, boredom or frustration.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “To unleash the willpower of their managers, leaders absolutely must embed purposeful behavior as a central element of the company’score values and shared understanding of how it does business.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “Most managers have experienced the rhythms and cycles of energy in large organizations. They know that companies differ in theintensity, speed andendurancewith which they respondto threats, pursue new opportunities, and manage change. Many have seen the symptoms of low energy: apathy, inertia, tiredness, inflexibility and cynicism. These managers know that high-energy organizations can flounder if their energy turns corrosive. By contrast, some leaders have felt the exhilarationof organizations that have fully energized around business goals and can pursue them with vigor and joy. Managers know too that all employees have a reserve of discretionary energy which – when setfree – canlead to enormous effortand achievements.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal “Ultimately, what distinguishes human beings from almost all other species are two things – imagination and willpower. These two wonderful capacities have allowed the enormous progress that human society has forged over time. Corporate leaders have many resources at their disposal – money, technology, manpower – but none is as valuable as their own ability to take purposeful action. Leaders must harness that same willpower in their people and instill a bias for action in their organizations. As we move into thefuture, this is thetask of thepurposeful leader.” – Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal
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