Management And Guiding Principles
All management is based on guiding principles; and the
effectiveness of management derives from those principles.
This is true whether the principles are appropriate or
inappropriate, reasonable or unreasonable, consistent or
inconsistent. Similarly, the derivative nature of
management holds whether the guiding principles are vague
or well-defined, followed faithfully or haphazardly,
applied day-to-day by managers who are highly skilled or
fundamentally incompetent. Effective management, then, is a
product of:
• Guiding principles that are appropriate, reasonable, and
consistent;
• Managers who clearly understand the guiding principles,
faithfully adhere to them, and who are fundamentally
competent.
It follows from this that the effectiveness of an
organization's management is a product of the
Principle/People equation:
• Principles + People = Outcomes.
The guiding principles for an organization are a composite
of underlying assumptions and values that define and direct
management practice. 'Assumptions' in this context are
beliefs that are held as 'true' without demonstrable proof.
'Values' are those conditions that are held to be
inherently and intrinsically 'right.' From this
perspective, then, guiding principles are true because they
are true and right because they are right.
With the non-empirical, self-justifying nature of guiding
principles in mind, an organization has its unique
'culture.' Here, 'culture' refers to the collective
beliefs, values, and norms of the organization, where
'norms' are the standards for behavior and interaction
within the organization. These standards are, of course,
based on the organization's beliefs and values related to
how the organization's people 'should' behave and interact
both with each other and with people outside the
organization. 'Norms' thus define correct and proper
behavior.
When norms are understood as following from beliefs and
values, the organization's culture can be summarized as its
collective sense of;
• What is true,
• What is right,
• What is proper.
At an abstract level, an organization's guiding principles
exist within its collective memory and current
consciousness; but at a practical, functional level, those
guiding principles reside within its people. Each person is
a carrier and a conveyer of the guiding principles that
direct the organization's day-to-day activities and future
'outcomes.' Those 'outcomes' may be tangible or intangible
but are, nonetheless, a product of the collective efforts
of people who carry and convey the organization's guiding
principles.
PRIDE
(P) Professionalism: An organization's achieving its
desired outcomes is dependent on its people; so what people
bring to the endeavor makes a critical difference. They
must be competent to fill their organizational roles. At a
minimum, they must have knowledge, skills, and judgment
consistent with their positions and responsibilities. In
turn, they must apply their knowledge, skills, and judgment
in the interest of achieving the organization's desired
outcomes. To the extent that the organization's people do
not have the requisite knowledge, skills, and judgment for
their positions, the organization, through its management,
must assure that the needed training and skill development
are provided for its people; and as people leave the
organization, new people must be recruited who either have
or can develop the requisite knowledge, skills, and
judgment. Whatever the mechanism, the organization cannot
achieve its desired outcomes unless and until the requisite
knowledge, skills, and judgment are in place.
(R) Responsibility: Assuming that the requisite knowledge,
skills, and judgment are in place, the organization's
desired outcomes will only be achieved to the extent that
its people do the right things right, the first time, on
time, every time. Simply having competent people in place
is not sufficient in and of itself. Here, doing the 'right'
things is not based on training and experience. Rather it
is based on understanding and adhering to the
organization's guiding principles. It is doing that which
is right from a value perspective. Doing the right things
right, the first time, on time, every time means that the
organization's people are consistently and conscientiously
adhering to its guiding principles.
(I) Initiative: Competence plus adherence to guiding
principles leads to initiative: people seeing what needs
done and doing it because it needs done. Since the
organization's people are competent, they are able to see
what needs done and have the requisite knowledge, skills,
and judgment to do it. Since they adhere to the
organization's guiding principles and are committed to its
desired outcomes, they do that which needs done.
Conversely, if the organization's people do not manifest
initiative, there are organizational deficits requiring
management intervention. That intervention must be directed
to some mix of increasing the competence of the
organization's people and increasing adherence to the
organization's guiding principles. Increasing adherence to
guiding principles, of course, must focus on increasing
understanding and acceptance of that which is true, right,
and proper from the organization's perspective.
(D) Directedness: The organization's people can be
competent, do the right things, and manifest a high level
of initiative and still not achieve the organization's
desired outcomes unless there is a high level of
Directedness: focus on attaining optimal outcomes for each
situation or circumstance. These optimal outcomes are
intermediate steps toward the organization's desired
outcomes; and an absence of focus on them decreases the
likelihood of achieving the organization's desired
outcomes. Conversely, intense focus on intermediate
outcomes increases the likelihood of achieving the
organization's desired outcomes.
(E) Effectiveness: Were the internal and external
organizational environments static, professionalism,
responsibility, initiative, and Directedness would be
sufficient for achieving the organization's desired
outcomes; and once people were successful with respect to
the intermediate outcomes, they would only need to 'keep up
the good work.' Management, then, would be little more than
a 'maintenance of effort' process. However, both the
internal and external environments change over time; and
management is responsible for assuring a continuing fit
between the organization and the external environment.
Further, the organization's desired outcomes change over
time. This change may involve completely different outcomes
or changed standards for old outcomes. Whatever the change,
yesterday's desired outcomes will not be the same as
tomorrow's. It is, then, management's responsibility to
keep the organization's people aligned with its changing
outcomes. This is accomplished through doing what needs
done, evaluating what was done, and doing it better the
next time, while concurrently assuring continuous fit with
changing internal and external environments and desired
organizational outcomes.
The 'people' side of the principle/people equation requires
continuous management of Professionalism, Responsibility,
Initiative, Directedness, and Effectiveness in relation to
changing, desired outcomes in concert with the
organization's guiding principles. This leads to the
conclusion that PRIDE is and must be the underlying guiding
principle for effective management and for effective
managers.
With PRIDE as their guiding principle, effective managers
then strive to:
• Understand and further the mission of the organization.
• Define and maintain a rational, flexible Organizational
Structure within which employees can function with a
minimum of administrative and bureaucratic control and
interference.
• Provide clear, consistent Direction for employees,
assuring each employee knows and understands what is
expected of him and what behavior and action are acceptable
and unacceptable.
• Maximize Personal Control for each employee over his work
related environment and activities.
The critical strategies for achieving these outcomes are:
Cooperation: Emphasizing a helpful, supportive approach to
relationships and activities.
Loyalty: Emphasizing working with employees by
accommodating to special needs and interests and
facilitating resolution of problems.
Caring: Emphasizing concern for and interest in the
activities, successes, and problems of employees.
Sharing: Emphasizing talking with employees, reciprocal
assistance, and mutual problem solving.
Respect: Emphasizing acceptance of employees' beliefs and
values, receptivity to employees' thoughts and ideas, and
sensitivity to employees' feelings and interests.
Trust: Emphasizing giving employees the benefit of the
doubt without blaming, accusing, or threatening.
Integrity: Emphasizing keeping commitments to and
agreements made with employees.
Conflict Resolution: Emphasizing identifying,
understanding, and working through conflicts and tensions
among and between employees.
There you go and now you know.
----------------------------------------------------
Gary A. Crow, Ph.D. has over forty years experience in
management and training. He is the Executive Editor of
Leadership Village Press and Leadership Village, a network
of sites focusing on leadership, personal success, family
and parenting matters, and related topics. You will find
contact information at http://www.GaryCrow.net
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