If you are passionately committed to a goal, it really focuses your efforts. My infant son so desperately wanted to walk that even when he crawled it looked like he was impatient to walk--and he managed to at 10 months. But he didn't do it alone. He had the very active and vocal support of those around him, especially his family.
Businesses and organizations also require support, both external and internal, to achieve their goals.
I've been doing some reading lately about different organizational models of how to make businesses and other organizations more effective and efficient. Here too commitment and passion--in this case coming from the leadership-- really count, but so too do mobilizing all levels of the organization involved in achieving that goal.
Doing so effectively depends in large measure on the quality of the relationships within an organization.
Trust, individual accountability and respect are all key components and I believe they depend on the little, everyday things: knowing that the agenda presented to the group is for real and not a pretense: trusting that the communication requested by leadership to accomplish a mission will in fact be welcome, even if some of the content doesn't paint a rosy picture of the current situation; feeling that cross-departmental work groups really exist to provide feedback, not just to comply with some external consultant's recommendations. Leadership, communication and training can all help ensure the kind of quality I'm talking about. And while no organization can ever achieve perfection in this regard, this kind of functioning is itself an organizational goal worth striving for. We can always do better, but that's a reason to try harder, not to give up.
Businesses and organizations also require support, both external and internal, to achieve their goals.
I've been doing some reading lately about different organizational models of how to make businesses and other organizations more effective and efficient. Here too commitment and passion--in this case coming from the leadership-- really count, but so too do mobilizing all levels of the organization involved in achieving that goal.
Doing so effectively depends in large measure on the quality of the relationships within an organization.
Trust, individual accountability and respect are all key components and I believe they depend on the little, everyday things: knowing that the agenda presented to the group is for real and not a pretense: trusting that the communication requested by leadership to accomplish a mission will in fact be welcome, even if some of the content doesn't paint a rosy picture of the current situation; feeling that cross-departmental work groups really exist to provide feedback, not just to comply with some external consultant's recommendations. Leadership, communication and training can all help ensure the kind of quality I'm talking about. And while no organization can ever achieve perfection in this regard, this kind of functioning is itself an organizational goal worth striving for. We can always do better, but that's a reason to try harder, not to give up.
