Exploring Strategy Development – the Organisational Evolution model
An interesting public workshop in Perth in the first week of October introducing a varied group to the Organisational Evolution model.
The Org-Ev is the model I developed for the start up of The Australian Strategic Planning Institute in conjunction with Steven Bowman.
Given the diversity of the group, there were a number of surprises for participants, the main one being the similarity of issues, even if scale of the issues was different depending on the size of the organisation. The two main themes were:
- Staff attraction and retention
- Staff Productivity
For the manager of the offshore oil and gas platforms, the drive for productivity in extreme conditions is a key challenge. High levels of stress and long working hours are common. For the Doctor and Practise owner from a regional location, the cause of stress was different, but working hours, and health and safety were as prevalent and as pressing inside his Practise as for the oil rigs Manager.
For the NFP attendees, staff attraction and retention was of high concern which interestingly matched to the Fire Services attendee.
Perhaps the biggest learning from the model was the separation of the ‘Operational’ aspects of a business, from the Execution aspects. The model is clear here – the thinking is and needs to be different. Operations identifies, prepares and manages the resources needed. The Execution part of the business USES those resources. Preparing for and Doing are NOT the same and different thinking must be applied.
The Four Phases, Ten steps model is just one way to develop strategic attention and enhance execution. Biased as I am toward futures thinking, I still come back to the first step in the first phase – Vision. Without a clearly defined Vision, decisions on what to pay attention to and how, seem moot.
If you’re interested in finding out more, feel free to contact me
In parts of the world it’s Christmas day, a time for excusing your retail spending on a ‘worthy cause’. Which is fun in some ways and delusional in others 🙂 Don’t allow my grinchness deter you from enjoying today. As for me, I’m delighted that a) my present was wrapped in old newspaper and b)…
Read More >Part of being effective as a futurist is being able to assess potential issues and their impact over time. The Victorian State Election is on this Saturday and though many say that State elections have little bearing on issues we face, our system means that the fluctuations at a Federal level are often countered by…
Read More >‘m wrapped to be acting as EmCee for the third year in a row at Blackwood 8’s Celebration of Hope event, raising money to find a Cure for Brain Cancer. And delighted that the event has sold out. But fret not – you can still bid for some great auction items online or make a…
Read More >The major party in Australia’s dual party Government, the Liberal Party, has removed their leader Tony Abbott, replacing him with the previous leader, Malcolm Turnbull. PM designate Turnbull may be inclined to spend the first few days appeasing and reassuring his party members that everything will be okay. And that would be a mistake. Public…
Read More >When I look at my overall client types, it seems to me that I have two main types of client. The first is a client that has a good business and is generally successful and wants a futurist to help keep them ahead of emerging issues and opportunities. The second main client type is one…
Read More >As a consultant, one of the great puzzles I consistently discover is the mindset many clients hold with regard to their own abilities to conceive of and pursue, their own approach to futures thinking. I know this is not an issues restricted to futurists as where some clients have a ‘not invented here’ approach to…
Read More >I’m going to come back to an idea I first floated back in 2004. By and large it is hard to change societal perceptions. Doing so requires on going effort, time and often resources like money to create marketing campaigns of some description. Unless you have a crisis. And right now it might be fair…
Read More >Whilst I appreciate the efforts that Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and the various Australian Governments have given regarding their aims to have the Japanese cease their annual whale harvests, I’m not quite sure they are tackling the issue through the best means available. Sure the confrontational approach of ramming ships, climbing aboard vessels, getting in the…
Read More >I’ve just read an article about Corporate Visions and getting employees on the same page. And as happens so often, I shook my head because it offered the same flawed advice about what a leader needs to do to get their employees to buy into the Vision. And therein lays the fatal flaw You CANNOT…
Read More >As the drought in California continues to bite hard on the lives of millions, a recent article on Triple Pundit suggested that many people want to help save water, they just don’t know what else to do. Which is why California needs to look beyond its borders to the driest inhabited continent on the planet…
Read More >