Rollout

Improving roll out of business strategy

Graham Little PhD AFNZIM

Foundation book of the redesigning the organization series.

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Every CEO in company large or small faces two major problems: First, to select a strategy to sustain the business and provide adequate returns from the selected market niche. This is the easy problem for the CEO.

Almost certainly as part of strategy selection the CEO and key executives will have clear vision of smooth operations delivering quality product, dynamically marketed and sold and supported by superb customer service.

The hard problem for the CEO is making it happen.

Rollout describes the state of art scientific and empirically proven theory of exactly how to achieve perfect roll out of strategy. Rollout is the foundation book in the Redesigning the organization series.

Rollout summarizes the foundations of how to build and operate organizations to roll out strategy and achieve greatest success.

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OPD theory a global watershed in HR “The OPD concept as presented in Rollout is a global

watershed for social science and in particular for the theory

and practice of HR.

HR has the opportunity to embrace this new and exciting

model, to advance the status and impact of HR, and through

the better harnessing of its people to take a huge step forward

in the wealth and hence health of our communities.

HR can lead the way in economic and social development“.

Dr Pieter S. Nel Professor of Human Resources Management Unitec New Zealand Auckland Professor Extraordinarius, School of Management Sciences,

UNISA, RSA E mail: pnel@unitec.ac.nz

With OPD the money just turns up To a new divisional manager…

“Follow OPD advice, identify ideal actions and guide them

being delivered with commitment, the money just turns up.”

Grant Vincent CEO Hyundai Dealership in Auckland

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Published by Self Help Guides Limited

PO Box 36656 Northcote, North Shore

Auckland City 0626 New Zealand

info@opdcoach.com

A reaching for infinity book

Copyright © 2012 Graham Little

ISBN 978-1-877341-09-0

Graham Little asserts the moral right to be identified as the

author of this work.

All rights reserved. Except for purpose of fair reviewing, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or

retrieval system, now known or hereafter invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National

Library of New Zealand

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Contents

Why should you read this book? ...................................................... 11 Get improved results .................................................................... 13 Successful development of a more professional mind.................. 14

Current global state of HR ................................................................ 16

The necessary intellectual complexity of HR theory ........................ 18

The state of social science theory ..................................................... 21 The tools for creating social science theory ................................ 22

The starting question ........................................................................ 25

Fundamentals of why we do what we do ......................................... 28 Summary ...................................................................................... 28 The brain ..................................................................................... 28 Emotions ...................................................................................... 29 Thought ........................................................................................ 29 Attention and consciousness ........................................................ 29 Mental sets ................................................................................... 30 What we ‘see’ depends on our pre-existing ‘personal theories’ .. 30 Frames and perception ................................................................ 31 What if our personal theory is flawed? ........................................ 33 Self, spirit, purpose and meaning ................................................ 33 Freewill and choice ..................................................................... 35 Self responsibility ........................................................................ 35

The analysis of causality and why the team leader-team member relationship is critical to organisation and personal success ............ 37

Causality ...................................................................................... 37 Understanding the mechanism in teams ...................................... 41 Applying causal understanding in teams ..................................... 43 The search for ‘final’ cause is an infinite regress ....................... 45 Summary of causal understanding in teams and the professional

frame of mind .................................................................................... 47

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“I am a practical manager, why should I bother with this sort of intellectual stuff?” ............................................................................ 48

A brief look at OPD basic theory ..................................................... 51 Ideal actions underlie every goal ................................................ 51 The goal cascade builds the organization role structure ............. 51 Ideal actions are a key leadership judgment ............................... 52 Leadership effectiveness is how well the team leader guides

delivery of agreed ideal actions ........................................................ 52

Definition of design specification, paradigm, and social technology .......................................................................................................... 55

There is nothing more useful than and a good theory ................. 57

Understanding design specifications ................................................ 58 Example of engineering design specifications ............................. 58 A design specification implicitly carries the background

technology of the day ........................................................................ 59 A design specification leads to a paradigm but is not itself the

paradigm ........................................................................................... 60 Changing the design specification typically creates resistance... 60 Conflict of paradigms between individuals ................................. 61 Conflict of paradigms within the individual ................................ 62 Improving the design elements of a flawed design specification

will not fix the flaw ............................................................................ 62 Understanding organization design specifications ...................... 62

Current organization and HR models are based on a flawed design specification ...................................................................................... 66

The OPD theory is a superior organization design specification ..... 68 Summary of alternative organization design specifications ........ 69

The OPD theory of organization design and leadership ................... 70 Diagram of the OPD theory of strategy rollout ........................... 73 The OPD paradigm used in practice ........................................... 74 Definition of strategic HR management (SHRM) ........................ 77

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Monitoring and corporate management of the SHRM processes 78 Quantification of the impact of improved staff performance on the

results ................................................................................................ 79 Detailed definition of perfect human performance ...................... 80 Further comment on 100% human performance ......................... 82

What has this to do with the governance of human performance? ... 84 The directors need select the organization design specification . 84 Major organizational redesign must be driven from the top ....... 85 All management processes must have integrity with the design

specification ...................................................................................... 86 The HR department becomes the crucial driver of results .......... 86 HR becomes a route for training as a CEO ................................. 87

OPD theory from CEO point of view ............................................... 88 Role of HR ................................................................................... 89 Leadership judgment and leadership effectiveness...................... 89

Some key changes in management terminology .............................. 91

Financial payback from OPD strategic HR ...................................... 97 Normalisation of OPD profit profile link (OPDPPL).................. 99 The link between ideal actions and the profit and loss .............. 101 The link between actual behavior and ideal actions .................. 102 Using visualization of perfect human performance to assess actual

human performance ........................................................................ 103 The OPD profit improvement factor (OPDPIF) ........................ 104 Improved profits from improved strategic management of human

performance .................................................................................... 104 Case study: If it works in one mind it will work in any number 105

The definition of human capital...................................................... 108 Defining the human capital question to be addressed ............... 108 Definition of human capital value in OPD theory ..................... 109 Fixed or standing human capital value ..................................... 110 Dynamic human capital value ................................................... 111

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Using OPD-SHRMIS statistics to gauge likely profit performance

........................................................................................................ 112

Measuring the ROI on HR expenditure .......................................... 114 The team climate or team cultural audit .................................... 118 Graphing team climate or cultural audit results ....................... 120 The audit graph reflects the resilience of team performance .... 121 The financial impact of high resilience ..................................... 122 Normalization of cultural team audit scores against the profit and

loss .................................................................................................. 123 The ROI of HR in OPD theory ................................................... 125 The OPD-SHRMIS system ......................................................... 126 Predicting the future stability of current profitability ............... 127 Build or lease ............................................................................. 127

Professionalism............................................................................... 129 Building the focus on performance ............................................ 129

Implementation: Redesigning the organization .............................. 131 Key benchmarks of implementation ........................................... 131 The behavioral management process ........................................ 133

Engagement, motivation and link between a role and the person .. 134 Hertzberg hygiene and motivator factors .................................. 134 Building the hygiene framework ................................................ 135 The motivation factors ............................................................... 137 Flow ........................................................................................... 138 An integrated motivation strategy ............................................. 139 ‘Good job today’........................................................................ 139 Engagement ............................................................................... 140 Definition of engagement within OPD theory ........................... 142 The emotional structure of work ................................................ 146 Awareness in the role ................................................................ 147 The impact of work satisfaction ................................................. 147 The organization culture ........................................................... 148

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The organization mission........................................................... 148 The organization values ............................................................ 149

Why does OPD theory get applied? ............................................... 151 Learning experience .................................................................. 151

Emergent corporate ethics .............................................................. 155 The behavioral structure of society ........................................... 156 Finding fairness and equality in wealth distribution ................. 157 Wages, salaries and expenses not profits .................................. 158 The relationships embedded in OPD theory .............................. 159 Modern corporate ethics ........................................................... 160 The problem of ethical governance ........................................... 162

Conclusion ...................................................................................... 170

Appendix ........................................................................................ 171 Scoping the research task .......................................................... 171 The process to be applied in seeking a solution ........................ 172

Testimonial on OPD theory ............................................................ 174 Academic background ............................................................... 176 Author’s comments .................................................................... 177 Introduction to the redesign of the organization book series .... 178

References and notes ...................................................................... 182

Format note: The electronic up load does not readily support symbols; therefore

in the diagrams of ultimate and immediate effects the arrow is replaced by the word and signs e.g. -effects-

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Why should you read this book?

You need read this book for two reasons, first, it does the work for you and details the leadership derived from a new way of thinking of how to get best staff performance; it also provides insight into the sort of social science technology a manager needs if he or she is to avoid being conned into the sort of intellectual acquiescence that contributed to the global financial crash of 2008.

Second, the application of the system achieves consistent, reproducible results greater than any other system yet devised or available.

Business success rests on two things, first the selection of an apt strategy that places the business in a market situation that will enable the results; second, the effective roll out of strategy. Both these are the responsibility of the CEO. The best written strategic plan is just so much paper weight unless someone does the actions consistent with the plan. In any sized organization the fundamental is that nothing happens unless someone does it. We now have the obvious; strategy can only be rolled out through people.

Some years ago I had a golf coach who stressed that practice does not make perfect only perfect practice makes perfect. I was never good at golf; do not have the hand-eye coordination. But the message did stick. It is not good enough to have people ‘sort of/kind of’ doing the things needed to implement strategy, to achieve perfect delivery of strategy then what people do needs to be perfect in relation to strategy.

Is this concept possible? That is, is it possible to visualize perfect strategy, perfectly rolled out?

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Imagine a good social golfer, they can hit the perfect shot from time to time, professionals do it more often. So ‘yes’ the concept of ‘perfect performance’ is possible. Rollout outlines the theory of organizations and of the relationship the organization needs to make with people such that it is possible to have perfect delivery of strategy.

Definition of perfect rollout delivering sustainable

perfect results

� Leadership judgment: Perfect judgment of strategy, cascaded through perfectly judged organization structure, then ideal actions perfectly identified relative to each key performance indicator in every organization role.

� Leadership effectiveness: Perfect delivery of ideal actions by each person.

The premise is that perfect implementation of any strategy will greatly increase the results arising from that strategy. The governance of any organization that selects and implements the OPD theory of organization design will enjoy greatly increased and more sustainable results, with greater profit resilience and faster turnaround from normal economic downturns.

In unraveling the new organization theory human resources emerges as the fundamental and primary driver of strategy.

There is no theory of how to get top staff performance that has lasted which means there were none that were right. To

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enable the vision of perfect strategy perfectly rolled out it is necessary to examine the very basics of organization design and understanding, which in turn forced consideration of fundamental issues in social science. Tackling the issues of engagement and performance from a thoroughly scientific point of view makes Rollout a more intellectually challenging book than perhaps typical of popular management books.

Get improved results

Rollout outlines the process of engaging people in strategy in such a way as to have perfect strategic rollout as a realistic achievable goal.

We know that if we choose, we can get better results by trying and concentrating harder. The OPD theory gets better results because it works through the mind of each team member. And because it works through each mind it needs only to be proved in one mind.

It has now been proved in the minds of many people in business that if they choose they can get improved results such as:

1. A food manufacturing business increased sales gross profit by 5% in ten months.

2. A retail electrical chain increased profit by 22% in eight months.

3. A motor vehicle dealership (one of the first clients been on system four years) increased profits to double the accepted industry standard of ‘very good’. The CEO opened two other branches, become preoccupied and profit slipped from the peak to 25% above industry

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standard. He is now refocused and results are expected to return to previous levels over next months.

4. A small foundry business (20 staff) lifted gross profit from 42% to 58% in fifteen months.

Results have proved resilient and stable provided leadership focus remains on refinement and delivery of ideal actions.

Successful development of a more professional mind

Peter was a sales manager of a sales team of eight. One of the better sales staff, Matt, frequently did not complete the paper work on time or accurately which was a major frustration to Peter. Matt and Peter had had several tense discussions over the administration and support processes expected of sales people, but these had no impact, and if anything had deepened Matt’s resistance.

The OPD-SHRM system was introduced into the team. Peter discussed the case of Matt, and decided to follow the process exactly as suggested.

Peter began the one-on-one session with Matt during which they covered the notion of success in the sales role, what that entailed, why it entailed what it did, etc. the discussions were not about Matt, but about what was needed in the role if someone was to succeed in the role. The role and what was needed was approached rationally, objectively, calmly. Matt was forced to agree there were quite important aspects that he was not doing to a reasonable standard.

Discussions were held ever two weeks. After five meetings Peter approached the consultant and stated it was remarkable the change in Matt who was doing most of what was needed

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without seemingly realizing he had changed. Peter said Matt was far from perfect, but that he, Peter could live with the performance as it was and Matt was now the best sales person in the group.

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Current global state of HR

Julius Caesar was a powerful leader. Do we know more about leadership today than he understood? Certainly today we have systematized knowledge on leadership with books and courses, but do we really know more than Caesar…are we better leaders than Caesar?

Today we need many, many leaders throughout our organizations not just the one great leader at the top. Today with distribution of knowledge about leadership we have a greater percentage of people in our communities at the standard set by Caesar, so we have solved one problem. But I remain unconvinced people today are better leaders than Caesar. The problem is not dissemination of insight into leadership, but the conceptualization of the structure of leadership converted into definite HR processes for every team leader throughout the organization, since results are not driven from the top, but from the bottom.

In all organizations human performance is a crucial strategic factor in results. But HR is frequently seen as a cost based compliance driven function, and is not seen as an equal contributor to organization success1.

Global HR best practice as currently conceived has provided unquestionable improvements, but can more be done? Research shows a number of problems for example: Team leaders find HR an admin chore that does not add value. HR activities are delivered in uncoordinated silos as “latest new initiative” with limited long term, sustainable results. Once team leaders lift ‘foot off the pedal’ performance slips back and plateaus.

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Much lip service is given to ‘leadership’, and there is a strong view (83%) that leadership is important and that improved leadership effort will get a better result. Surveys2 have shown that only 74% of team leaders think that the current HR processes will in fact deliver improved team results, but even they, despite offering positive survey results, were not fully committed, for example to doing the annual performance appraisal, and when interviewed individually in fact hold mixed views as to its usefulness in improving team results.

Why…?

With the extent and depth of HR research, beginning with Hawthorn experiments early in the 20th century, why do we have these persistent problems, why have the issues not been resolved, why don’t we have better theory3?

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The necessary intellectual complexity of HR

theory

HR deals with people. To understand people we need understand mind. At very least have a general theory of psychology that includes the resolution of the body-mind problem. If not, there is left the likelihood that an eventual solution to the body-mind problem, or an eventual general theory of psychology could impact and alter or invalidate the HR solution. To maintain intellectual integrity, if we do not resolve prior issues that could impact any solution, then we need state that4 ‘… in the absence of a theory of psychology any HR solution is offered as speculation subject to an eventual general theory of psychology that may or may not support the HR solution’.

I am not interested in speculation. I am only interested in a HR solution that is of the status of scientific theory, therefore all underlying issues must be resolved and considered in relation to the HR solution, then and only then will we have a HR theory that will last and be reproducible and consistent.

If a general theory of psychology is to be causal then what is causality? How do we understand it in relation to our theory of HR? We are now very deep into complex issues involving the foundations of science itself yet there are direct links to a theory of HR and if none of these deeper issues are resolved then we must preface our theory of HR with a statement that declares fully the intellectual limitations5.

Further epistemological analysis concludes that to create a theory we need conceptualization tools so we know and

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understand the theories we build. Such tools are used and understood in physics6, but mathematics does not work in social science, so how do we build theory in social science such that we know and understand exactly the conceptualization process?

Professor Pieter Nel Professor of HR at Unitec in Auckland developed the following diagram to illustrate the extent that developing sustainable theory in HR as opposed the models requires interaction with almost all other social science disciplines.

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Interrelationship of the disciplines impacting on human

resource management7

For these reasons a theory of HR to meet the qualities sought of a solution must be built on foundations thoroughly grounded in a new formulation of social science.

Human resources

management

Management and business processes

Organisation behaviour

Sociology

Social psychology

Psychology

Political science Anthropology

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The state of social science theory

Theoretical physics is a respected discipline, yet theoretical social science is almost a joke. Why?

In my analysis of this problem I concluded there were two key issues, first was the demand for any intellectual endeavour to be grounded on what has gone before. The result is my strategic rule for science that any topic could only be discussed within the bounds of prior understanding in relation to issues relevant to the topic. For example, to discuss motivation in business there has to be a stated and agreed general theory of psychology within which there is a general theory of motivation then motivation in a business is only a detail within the broader theoretical structure.

The rule is first things must be done first. Far too often this rule is ignored. Speculation is defined as any statement on any issue that is not grounded in all that has gone before and where the first things have not been done first. Speculation is not acceptable, and is not science, rather it is science fiction8.

The second issue was the lack of tools to guide and lead our conceptualization efforts to create theory. In physics the tool used is mathematics, but in social science this does not work well, so we needed other tools able to guide the conceptualization process. After some significant research I selected the cybernetic tools of W. Ross Ashby supported by my own analysis of variables as conceptual abstracts from perceptual fields: Variables as the conceptualization of mechanisms.

The discipline of first things first, variables and the tools of Ashby create a system of theoretical social science.

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Proof of the OPD theory then implies that the process of its creation is valid and we move toward a theoretical social science to match the depth and power of theoretical physics.

The tools for creating social science theory

You would not go to catch fish with a paint brush. The right tools are crucial to do a good job including social science theory creation.

The use of variables9 and application of the principle of primary operations and immediate and ultimate affects by W Ross Ashby10 enables conceptualisation of the mechanism of any system11.

1. Variables are the concepts used in describing the working of any system. It is the interaction of variables that converts inputs into outputs. Variables are then our conceptualisation of the mechanisms of the system. In the first instance we create a descriptive explanation of the system; then by extending the conceptualization using Ashby’s immediate and ultimate affects and the relation ship between the two we build a causal explanation of the system. There is no a priori method of determining the variables that need used to describe a system. Variables selection to describe the operation of any system is the result of conceptual analysis and trial and error.

2. Primary operations is producing a perturbation in one variable and then watching the order in which variables are impacted.

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3. If two variables A, B, so that when A changes B changes then we can say A-affects-B, and describe this as an ultimate effect.

4. Then with research we uncover variable C, such that A-affects-C-affects-B, then A-affects-C and C-affects-B are the immediate affects underlying A-affects-B.

5. The relation between variables A-affects-B is then the descriptive explanation of the system, while A-affects-C-affects-B is the causal explanation relative to A-affects-B.

6. Any causal explanation must stand in relation to a descriptive explanation and is the conceptualization of the mechanism of how the change in the system occurs, and is described as cause.

7. The tools provide direction of communication between variables and do not necessarily describe the mechanism of the communication channel. This is especially crucial understanding when dealing with situations where all we have are the variables and their linkages.

There are many properties of the knowledge created using these tools12, and I will not explore them here, except one. Imagine two variables, one a valve, called V, another a pressure gauge, called P. Now we know that the link is V-affects-P, so that the position of the valve causes changes in the pressure. Given this information can we gain some insight into the system?

The system is a pressure cooker, when the valve is opened the pressure drops, and vice versa. The crucial point is that using our tools to conceptualize the system gave us the control

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in the system as V-affects-P, but the movement of mass and energy is opposite to the perceived control.

To further grasp the point of communication and complexity, imagine a TV, and the relationship between the position of the knob and the volume. The knob K alters the volume V, but we know the mechanisms are very complex. Similarly, imagine the position of the accelerator pedal, and the speed of the front wheels of a motor vehicle. Again immense complexity, all boiled down into a relationship between variables which describes the control between those variables. It states there is a communication channel, but does not necessarily tell us the nature of that channel.

If it is so easy to create complexity in what are known and quite simple physical systems then imagine the caution we need when faced with very complex and interactive social situations where all we may have is a few variables and their linkages13.

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The starting question

Ask a child what they want to eat and the answer is any guess. Ask a child if they want an ice cream, and the answer will be yes or no…likely yes.

The answer depends on the question.

It is easy to ask inept questions in HR, for example from one such ‘leadership book’14:

1. How do people feel about being led?

2. How do leaders feel about their leadership?

3. How do these contribute to organizational outcomes?

It was also stated that these questions are at the heart of organizational success.

The approach above is quite typical. There are several levels of failure in such questions. Foremost is the assumption that the focus on people and their feelings will eventually resolve any shortfalls in the performance of the organization. Who ultimately is accountable for our personal performance at work? Should the team leader or governance be concerned if we do or do not want to lead or be led? Should team leaders sit about having heart to heart counseling type sessions with people over their deeper feelings and the meaning of results to them?

A great New Zealand sportsman, Brad Thorn, said ‘I hate training, but it’s what you do’. He was regarded as one of the hardest workers at training by all who knew him in his decade career as one of the best forwards in the World Champion New Zealand All Black Rugby team. I shared these thoughts over a

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wine with friend Shane Hales, a New Zealand rock singer from the seventies and eighties whose career in New Zealand is having a revival, he looked away reflective and said ‘I hate rehearsals, but it is what you do’. I think all performance orientated people would agree the sentiments and most would add that time spent in practice is directly proportional to the level of success.

Performance, it is what you do; it is not what someone else makes you do or can talk you into doing. The only person with access to your mind is you, if performance starts in your mind, and you abdicate disciplined management of your mind then do not be surprised if the performance is weak, and while other people need treat you with respect, eventually it is you and only you with access to the one ‘device’ that can shape and define your performance, your mind.

This leaves the key issue of the starting question. And highlights how careful we need to be otherwise we get trapped into lines of thinking that are unproductive.

Some years ago Manchester United Football team were wiped out in a plane crash in Europe. But the club kept going. So what was it that kept going? All the people dead, but the club continues; it follows that the people are not the club which in some way is separate from people. This leads to the ontological question of organizations, what are they, do they exist and if so how? I will not consider the depth of intellectual argument needed to finally answer this question, but merely say ‘an organisation is separate from people and is an idea that influences human mood and conduct15’.

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If we begin with the proposition that the organisation is separate from people, then there must be a link between the organization and people, and specifically between the organization and people’s minds. Further given that strategy drives an organization, then there needs to be a link between the three, namely strategy, the organization and people’s minds.

Hence we have the starting question: ‘What exactly are the

causal links between staff behavior and the organization

strategy?’

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Fundamentals of why we do what we do16

This summary is a crucial part of doing first things first in relation to answering the starting question with sound theory not with speculation.

The general theory of psychology was derived by applying the tools for theory creation to system ‘person in their environment’17. The importance of this summary is as the backdrop to discussions throughout in the book, including ‘professionalism’, ‘motivation’, ‘frames’ etc, and also as the fundamental structure in the link between strategy and staff behaviour.

Summary

Human conduct is understood as a consequence of the resolution of the tension between entropy and free will18. All behaviour and emotions are driven by the brain. Through the attention mechanism the mind can intervene in the brain to direct neural flows into pathways of choice.

The brain

The human brain is a physical device driven by the tendency to seek the lowest level energy states available to it. This tendency is referred to as ‘entropy’19. Left to its own devices the brain will follow the paths of lowest energy (entropy) which will result in habit20.

The brain is the mechanism21 of mind, and the mind experiences the consequences of the brain, such experience of thought driven by the brain is not causal in conduct, but the person may believe it is.

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Emotions

Emotions shape mood and conduct. Emotions may arise with ideas, and circumstances, or may arise within us without us necessarily knowing exactly the underlying source,

Thought

At the centre of our daily existence is what we think22. Ideas23 or thought are causal and shape mood and conduct24. The process of conceptualization25 creates ideas which are defined as events26 grouped according to their properties27.

Thought is defined as ideas expressed in language available to attention. For example an intuition that something is not right is a feeling until it is made clear by being able to be expressed as a thought.

There are no categories of thought. Beliefs and values are thought associated with differing levels of emotion and integrated into habit to differing degrees.

Attitude is the ‘slant’ given a thought, sometimes emotional when it is like a belief, for example always seeing the glass half empty is a manner of attitude one may call negative, but not usually called a belief. Whereas thinking all woman are fragile and weak is also an attitude, but could be classified as a belief28.

Attention and consciousness

A process in our mind is ‘attention’ able to intervene into the brain to cause neural states to occur that if the brain is left to its own internal mechanisms would not otherwise occur. This is called choice29 or free will.

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Ideas expressed in language plus the attention mechanism result in consciousness.

Mental sets

Technically thought and emotions are linked in mental sets30, the complete system of mental sets within us being our psyche.

A single mental set is not complex to understand, but our psyche likely consists of many, many thousands of mental sets, some linked some not. The scale of our psyche makes it difficult to understand even for us from the inside. This scale and complexity of our psyche also enables feeling and conduct that may even surprise us, coming from mental sets that we may not have fully appreciated within us.

What we ‘see’ depends on our pre-existing ‘personal

theories’

In 197831 two researchers asked 50 people to view a house with the intent of buying it, they then asked 50 other people to view the same house with the intent of burgling it. They placed each group in a separate room and asked them to write down everything they could recall about the house. The participants produced lists so different you would not recognize they had seen the same house.

Our personal theories or conceptual templates32 (the ‘buys and burgles’) completely orientate us to the circumstances directing decision making and all subsequent conduct. This illustration gives scientific force to the De Bono approach of putting on different ‘hats’, with a ‘hat’ being a different way of seeing or a different personal theory or model or viewpoint.

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We see with our mind not with our eyes.

If we are emotionally committed to our existing model, our mind is then closed, and we will struggle to see options and alternatives in front of us.

Frames and perception

The full range of our thought available to attention is called our world view broken into mental sets. This concept is typically too broad to be of practical use in discussing why we do what we do. For simplicity and convenience we can understand how we ‘see’ as organized onto ‘frames’33 with what is on a frame as our personal ‘view’, ‘model’, ‘theory’, ‘cognitive structure’, etc.

To understand ‘personal theories on frames’ imagine a box of transparencies as frames, in the front of one’s mind and at a thought up comes – say – buy, and so we see the world through that set of eyes. Then change the ‘frame’ and up comes burgle so we see the world thorough that set of eyes - but it is a completely different world and we see things we cannot see and will never see with just ‘buy’. What is significant is the degree of influence of the thought completely dominating perception.

We can then understand a mental set as a frame with linked emotions, and what is on the frame has a ‘slant’ we can refer to as our attitude. We can simply understand our psychology by thinking of ‘frames’, each frame containing thoughts, or ideas or our personal theory. The frame is the structure of our psychology; the thought defines who we are. (‘Buy’ or ‘burgle’ are separate personal theories on frames relative to a house).

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A personal theory is of the same psychological status as a scientific theory, it is just that a scientific theory is assessed using more rigorous standards34.

If we sharpen our thinking - improve our personal theories - we can get a better result which leads to the comment: There is

nothing more useful than a good theory35.

Frames have emotions attached to them. It is the attached emotion gives the thought ‘attitude’ or makes it a value or a belief.

Frames can be nested, and linked, so that we can begin with one thought, and then have that slide us to another. For example, thinking of food and having our mind slide to our favourite food that may or may not be good for our weight.

Where frames are nested, then the highest frame in the nest is said to be the frame of reference. The frame of reference sets the emotional tone in all nested frames.

We can change what is on a frame. If we improve our personal theories we enable us to act more effectively in those circumstances relevant to the personal theory.

When we change what is on a frame, the old frame is still intact, the mind is not a computer, it does not overwrite ideas, we do not un-think ideas or delete them; the mind adds a new frame. This means that while we may choose a new idea the old idea may still be active as habit. It is this process in our brain that means merely by working through an idea does not mean it will become the manner in which we instinctively act. We need think through the idea as it is to be expressed in action and then monitor and discipline ourselves until the new idea is consolidated as habit.

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What if our personal theory is flawed?

What will happen if some part of our world view, our model or personal theory is flawed? Merely trying harder cannot overcome deficiencies implicit in the very thinking we are using to orientate ourselves. Trying harder may improve things for a while, but inevitably if maintaining the extra performance requires an unbalanced effort, then once balance restored the results will fall to the level the model is intrinsically able to deliver.

If the personal theory is flawed we need change the theory.

If the personal theory is what we do and how we ‘see’, how will we know if or when it is flawed? It is a fight to keep our minds open, vigilance is the only answer: Our personal fight to retain an open mind and our personal effort to constantly educate ourselves through reflection on experience.

Self, spirit, purpose and meaning

Our ‘self’ is as much an ‘object’ in our world view as a tree or photon36. The only ‘privilege’ we may have is that we are privy to knowledge of ourselves not known to anyone else37, but it is knowledge and in itself it is not special, merely internal38. We can only know ourselves as an object in our thoughts; hence self-esteem is what we think of ourselves.

Similarly our ‘spirit’ is a core of our psyche, consisting of typically very private parts of our psyche sometimes not fully conscious merely experienced as feeling39.

Spirituality is the sense of our own existence at the centre of our psychology. Our behaviour will lack commitment and resilience if we are not at spiritual peace with our choices.

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For example, tasks tend to have an intrinsic emotional component; writing requires starting with a blank page and filling it, whereas reception work requires managing work coming at you and seldom if ever is there the demand to create work or ideas. These circumstances have very different emotional demands, if we aim to act out one or other and in our core emotional structures we are not at peace with the emotional demand, then we are likely to not do it very well, nor feel comfortable doing it.

I refer to as our spirit as the deeper sense of who we are and what we like and do not like. We can better manage ourselves if we take the time to conceptualise our spirit as the core of self esteem. Also, if we conceptualize how our spirit is expressed within us independent of our daily thoughts.

We, all aspects of ourselves, are knowledge to us like any other knowledge. We can now have our ‘spirit’ conceptualised on a frame, independent of all other thoughts we may have. I refer to our spirit conceptualised in this way as the ‘I of I’ where we exist and be, without thought, for me an image of a lake, with emotions of silence and gentle stillness. So at all times ‘I’ spiritually exist as part of ‘me’ independent of ‘what I currently think’. Then it follows ‘I’, the active ‘I’, as living in the world via what I currently think.

Therefore if what I currently think does not work very well for me under some circumstance, then I can change the ideas without threat that ‘I of I’ has to change. I am only changing how I am currently expressed in the world with the intention of ensuring I feel better about how I express myself and so I am more fulfilled.

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Energy arises from our spirit expressing itself though our thought in mind and so defines us in the world.

Freewill and choice

Freewill entails choice40 and is the function of our attention mechanism. Choice embraces personal and social freedom.

Free will is only exercised by active application of attention to intervene in our brains to achieve neural flows that otherwise will not occur, hence the exercise of freewill requires energy and it is only by the application of that energy can we thwart entropy. I summarize this proposition in the comment: Only

consciousness can make water go up hill41.

Self responsibility

Only the individual has access to their mind42, and it is only the individual who can intervene in their own mind. We are fully accountable for our mind and hence the conduct that it enables. To achieve sustainable changes in behaviour we need create the structures in mind.

Conscious awareness is dominated by our world view itself segregated into mental sets where Thought and emotion are linked to environmental situations and/or to imagined situations43.

To translate a new idea into behaviour we must ensure disciplined attention to the new idea and its behavioral consequences until the new neural pathways are of lower energy than the old. It is possible the new ideas may never develop lower energy pathways than alternatives, and the new ideas may always require effort (“I hate training but it is what you do!”). This is self-discipline relative to our choices.

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Every person is responsible for the operation of their mind and therefore need accept the behavioral consequences arising from their mind and exercised via their brain. A consequence in business training technological is an emphasis on developing emotional intelligence to enable balance and objectivity.

We are unlikely to commit with resolve unless we choose the path and can see it clearly, accept the consequences, and we are at spiritual peace with our choice. Such choices position us for ‘flow44’.

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The analysis of causality and why the team

leader-team member relationship is critical

to organisation and personal success

Team performance is crucial in organizational success. Senior leadership set the direction and maintains performance pressure, but delivery of numbers is done at the work level. Typically, numbers are won or lost on the ‘shop floor’. The first line supervisors/team leader is crucial for achieving greatest results with the influence of the team leader well established45.

Why? Why are team leaders so important?

It is easy to see why team leaders are important in their relationship proximity to the team members, but is there a more fundamental issue? If we understand that issue can we then design better team leader inputs into the team so that they are more effective and more efficient in their leadership efforts?

To understand fully ‘why’ we must examine the mechanisms of what happens in groups.

Causality46

All systems exhibit outputs resulting from the operation of the internal mechanism47 within the system. Operation of the internal mechanism relative to an input is called necessity.

The figures 1 and 2 illustrate the relationship between internal mechanisms, necessity, theory creation tools and cause.

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Conceptualisation of the internal mechanism in a system in relation to the outputs is cause48. Cause is not necessity it is our conceptualisation of the mechanisms hence is our conceptualisation or understanding of necessity.

Output of any system relative to an input depends on internal mechanisms

of the system processing the input.

Figure 1: Necessity as the internal mechanisms of a system

Input Output

Mechanism = necessity

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This separation of cause and necessity is unique to this analysis. The proposition arising from this analysis is that any theory is causal if and only if the internal mechanisms of the system are identified in understanding the outputs49. If a theory is not causal then we have no choice but to resort to statistics to predict and analyze the data.

For example, we fully expect the sun to rise and set tomorrow, this is called causal expectation and as analyzed by the Scottish philosopher David Hume around 1750 it does not justify us expecting it to always be so. Because we saw it happen yesterday is no good reason for assuming it will again tomorrow.

The tools enable conceptualization of the mechanism of the system.

Figure 2: cause is the conceptualization of necessity

Input

Mechanism=necessity. Cause is conceptualization of mechanism which is our understanding of necessity. Proposition: A theory is causal if and only if it identifies the mechanisms.

Output

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From figure 1 we can understand the solar system as a set of mechanisms that produce the inputs and outputs we see, sun rises and sets. We do not know what those mechanisms are, but we know they must exist, and the sun rising and setting is due the internal mechanisms of the solar system.

Every system we can think of is the same; it has within it its own internal necessity, the mechanism by which it goes tick tock, tick tock...

Now, we apply tools of physics and astronomy, and we arrive at gravity, nature of the sun, nature of movement of planets etc. What we have now is a conceptual analysis of the mechanisms. But our conceptual analysis is NOT the mechanism; it is our knowledge of the mechanisms. And under the terminology used here it is called cause which is not necessity but our understanding of mechanisms and necessity.

Going from figure 1 to figure 2 is to go from the fundamental of the universe, mechanism processing inputs to produce outputs (figure 1); to conceptualization of those mechanisms into diagrams and equations and descriptions whereby we can explain why this input results in this output (figure 2).

Figure 1 represents how we must ‘see’ the universe. We then seek explanation, which gives rise to figure 2, our understanding of the universe. In much earlier times people gave thanks to the gods for rain and sun… their explanation at that time for the ‘mechanism’ of the box called weather. Today, we have different explanations that serve the same psychological purpose.

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Now why is all this important? Because without this understanding we are no more than ancient people praying to some gods to ensure the mechanism of some system fall is in our favor. The state of global understanding of social science and of HR, leadership and organizations in particular is in a poor conceptual and intellectual state, leaving us with tools and levers that do not directly impact the mechanism of group action therefore do not have reproducible and consistent results.

Understanding the mechanism in teams

No one in right mind would try to build a house from the roof down. No business person of sound judgment would sign off on a business plan for a product without analysis of the market, competition, customer preferences, likely pricing, capital needed and gross margin, etc.

This principle, of ‘first things have to be done first’50 is equally applicable to intellectual endeavor. For example, if one seeks a general theory of say, psychology and one wants it to be reproducible, and hence causal, then there has to be a theory of cause and to identify the mechanisms in the system [person interacting with their environment] there has to be understanding of the tools being used in theory creation. If we do not do these first things first, then we are left with the potential for example, that should someone come after us and develop a theory of cause that could alter all our work.

Technically ‘first things first’ is stated: Discussion on

any topic must be bounded by what is known of the prior

issues that are able to impact the topic.

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The starting question is what exactly is the link between staff

behavior and organization strategy? The first two prior issues relative to the starting question are resolved, namely identifying tools enabling systematic theory creation51, and the analysis of causality via the tools. The third prior issue is the understanding of the mechanisms that result in response of a team.

Imagine viewing ruins of houses and circumstances of some ancient civilization. If we return to the ruins in a year, or 100 years they will be unchanged other than obvious physical decay.

Are ruins the civilization? Obviously not: So, what is needed for a civilization to dynamically exist? What is it that makes ruins ‘living’, or conversely, what is it that is missing in ruins that makes them ‘dead’ in the sense they are unchanging in every way other than physical decay.

Now, imagine walking into a room, there are cups and plates scattered about, seats in a semi circle, two white boards filled with notes; scraps of paper with more notes and four groups of five chairs arranged away from the main group of chairs and well separated from each other about the room.

We can surmise there was some form of group workshop, and from the notes we may even surmise what the workshop was about. If we leave the room overnight and return in the morning, then the room will be as we left it, no living actions will have altered the features in the room.

The group room is to the group as ruins are to the civilization; both are the remnants of dynamic causality of the

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living; both are missing people engaged and active in the processes implied and relevant to remnants.

The remnants of the group activity are part of the group outputs; there are other outputs in terms of what members of the group carried with them in their minds relative to the activity. For ruins and for a workshop room, then the outputs that continue in the minds of the members can be referred to as ‘cultural’, so now we have two types of output, physical remnants and cultural outputs carried forward in the mind of those participating52.

These arguments mean that the mechanisms of team/group outputs are via the individual mind. A theory of teams requires a causal understanding of psychology. Hence the earlier section on why individuals do what they do.

Applying causal understanding in teams

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the different processes and how they impact the ‘group internal mechanisms’ (P is for person, and +, -, & 0 for the impact positive, negative or neutral).

Figure 3 is for a group input. Figure 4 is where each person in the group is addressed individually.

The solution is obvious, namely that one-on-one interaction is more effective than group inputs. However, with the analysis of cause we have gone beyond our opinion that one-on-one is more effective and can concretely demonstrate why that is causally so.

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P1 P2 P3 P4

P5

Figure 3: statistical impact on a group

Group input: talks, newsletters

, etc

1. Net group impact +1.5. 2. Outputs only statistical. 3. Doesn’t engage group internal mechanisms.

P1 + P2 - P3 0 P4 +

P5 0.5

Individual input into each mind

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5

Outputs P1 + P2 + P3 + P4 + P5 +

Figure 4: Causal impact on a group

1. Net group impact +5.0. 2. Outputs able to be considered causally. 3. Directly engages the group internal mechanisms.

Results only

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Any group wide phenomenon that appears to have group wide impact is merely a ‘shotgun’ scatter into the group with take up via some percentage of individual minds in the group53 (figure 3).

All social causality is via the individual mind54 (figurer 4) and any form of group development via the mind of each person will be much more effective than group events.

All success begins in our mind. The team leader is crucial since

it is only the team leader who can build the relationship with

each team member such as to be able to influence the team

member’s mind.

The analysis of cause in social systems means that it is much more effective for a team leader to interact directly with every team member in the performance of the tasks assigned the team member.

The search for ‘final’ cause is an infinite regress

Imagine a box, call it box1; we know it is the internal mechanisms of box1 that turns inputs into outputs. Now, imagine we conceptualized the mechanisms of box1 to produce causal understanding of what happens. What do we have? Conceptualization of the mechanism produces a lot of linked smaller boxes inside the box1, with each smaller box having an input converted by its internal mechanisms to an output.

Now imagine we take one of the boxes inside box1, call it box2, and we then analysis the internal mechanism of box2, what do we get? Conceptualization of the mechanism produces a lot of linked smaller boxes inside the box2, with each smaller box having an input converted by its internal mechanisms to an output.

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Now imagine we take one of the boxes inside box2, call it box3, and we then analysis the internal mechanism of box3, what do we get? …etc, to infinity.

The question is whether or not there is ever any level of ‘box’ that has no internal mechanism? So then we have the ‘final and ultimate box’. There could be such an ‘ultimate box’, but this is a huge decision, to date, all of human intellectual history has always uncovered the internal mechanisms of every ‘box’ we have ever created and then discovered that the internal mechanisms themselves are just more boxes with internal mechanisms. For example, ancient people praying to gods for rain are merely assuming that what they think are the internal mechanism of weather – the actions of gods – can be slanted in their favor. Today we know the internal mechanism of weather are not gods but complex patterns in our atmosphere, so we seek a weather map hoping for good news.

It is this mechanistic regression argument that ends up with the universal mechanistic postulate that there is always a mechanism55.

This discussion brings to the fore an important principle, that it is not possible to treat issues as separate56, especially in social science.

To better understand organizations one needs to better understand human psychology, and from within that better understand knowledge, and science as an aspect of knowledge.

To build a science of organizations it is necessary to go back to truly fundamental issues, beginning with the very nature of social science. The OPD theory is built on this revised understanding of social science.

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The question referred to above, namely ‘whether or not there is ever any level of ‘box’ that has no internal mechanism so we have the final and ultimate box?’ Can be formally defined as “does any X-affects-Y exist such there is no underlying immediate affects X-affects-Z-affects-Y?’ We get the same answer, namely ‘perhaps’ ... but assuming there is such a proposition goes counter to the whole of humankinds experience to date, and if we assume there is no such underlying immediate effect (the Z) it will certainly reduce our search for it.

Summary of causal understanding in teams and the

professional frame of mind

All team outputs are the averaged from the actions of each person in the team. The actions of each person are derived from their mind guiding the neural flows in their brain which in turn drives mood and behavior. The behavior of each team member is linked to the strategy of the organization via the mind of the team member. Group inputs such as talks, newsletters etc, have an unknown impact on team member minds hence results can only be statistical. The team leader effectiveness is greatly improved if they deal directly one-on-one with team members guiding them to develop their mind relative to their required performance in the team.

The psychological frames in an individual relative to their performance in the team are called their ‘professional mind’. We need now review exactly the individual’s required performance in a team and identify exactly the structure of the team member’s professional mind that enables that performance.

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“I am a practical manager, why should I

bother with this sort of intellectual stuff?”

This is a very good question. Depending on your attitude, there are two answers.

First: If you are prepared to accept the background science then read the section ‘Implementation: Redesigning the organization’, and the copy of the brochure in the appendix, acquaint yourself with other books in the ‘Redesigning the

organization series57’, which are focused almost exclusively on what to do and how to do it. Then contact an OPD consultant and get on with it, increasing profits, engagement and satisfaction in your organization.

Second: If you have any hesitation, if any thought at all slips to mind about “what has this guy got that Harvard, or Stanford

or Oxford has not done six times already”, then you need come to terms with what is here.

Imagine you have some capital and willing to invest in a business. Now imagine some person comes along, like a fellow called Gates about 1975, long hair and with a lot of geeky mates… would you have invested? As Bill said in an interview a few years ago “Be kind to geeks, likely you will end up working for one”.

You will most likely invest in something that fits with what you currently understand. Well, journal editors do rather the same thing. The result is that which is currently accepted gets most easily published, so the balance is always conservative. Politics in the sense of what could be described as ‘political correctness’ is very powerful, and there is a reluctance to judge

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ideas on merit, so it is less what it is, and more where it is from, and whether or not it immediately ‘fits’ the mind reading it.

There is no causality in groups or society, all social causality is via the individual mind.

The influence of this can be seen for example, in economics. The mechanisms of regulation and deregulation lie in mind; individual consciousness and psychology are the mechanisms, not groups, not invisible hand of markets, etc. This causal reality needs exhibited in an appropriate level of scientific conservatism since economists are not trained in these mechanisms; they do not have the background conceptual analysis of the mechanisms involved therefore not able to comment. Such intellectual stature was not exhibited in the recent58 financial crisis and the world paid dearly.

Practical managers today are not able to ignore intellectual stuff when pronouncements by prominent intellectuals have the potential to contribute to global financial meltdown. Practical managers today need sufficient intellectual tools to judge the ideas and not merely acquiesce before the high profile source of the ideas which assumes there is integrity in these lofty places when we have learned there may not be.

This work is not my opinion; I am merely the vehicle for exploring the logic and the application of clearly defined intellectual processes to a well defined system. This has not been done previously and leads to sustainable and improved answers to the key question of getting the best out of people within the organization.

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It is only through intellectual rigour do we achieve better thinking that enables improved sustainable solutions that produce improved sustainable results.

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A brief look at OPD basic theory

We can begin with goal-action; that for every goal there are actions that must be delivered if the goal is to be achieved. For example, if you are responsible for maintaining the food in the fridge, the fridge is empty and you go to the movies, not the supermarket, then there will be no surprise if the fridge is still empty on your return home.

Ideal actions underlie every goal

The point is very simple and general, underlying every goal there are actions that must be implemented if the goal is to be achieved. I call the actions underlying a goal the ‘ideal actions’, which are of the quality that doing them does not guarantee success59, but not doing them guarantees failure.

We can now apply the goal-action principle to organisations. We begin with strategy as a complex goal which has implicit detailed goals that need to be achieved if the strategy is to be realised. It follows that as we derive the detailed goals from strategy then under each detailed goal there are ideal actions that must be enacted if the goal is to be achieved. (Call each detailed goal a key performance indicator or KPI for short.)

The goal cascade builds the organization role structure

Deriving the KPI structure from the strategy is called the goal cascade. KPIs are grouped ‘like with like’ to form roles and roles grouped into jobs. For example, a sales and marketing manager has two very different roles, running a sales team and doing the marketing thinking.

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Grouping KPIs like with like means an overlap in the necessary ideal actions so a person assigned the role is not expected to have skills and exhibit behaviors that are too broad and diverse.

Ideal actions are a key leadership judgment

We can approach the identification of the ideal actions quite objectively. Deciding on ideal actions is a rational and objective decision arising from analysis and experience of what actions need to be taken if the goal is to be fully achieved.

Determining ideal actions that underlie any goal is a key leadership judgment that in the first instance is made without reference to people; it is an objective assessment by experienced people as to what someone must do to give themselves the greatest chance of greatest success.

Leadership effectiveness is how well the team leader guides

delivery of agreed ideal actions

People are then assigned the role, consisting of the KPIs and agreed ideal actions whereby the KPIs are most likely achieved. Any one job may consist of two or more roles. The role assigned a person is called their personal game plan derived from the team game plan; it specifies their contribution to the team effort.

People are then expected to approach the delivery of assigned roles in an objective manner I call ‘professional’. The approach is exactly the same as a sports person approached their game… so a top golfer approaches every shot with an objective determination and a degree of detachment; they know they need focus and concentrate in order to deliver the perfect

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shot, that they need have a clear mind and steady emotions if they are to have their body do that which is needed.

The emotional relationship between a sports person and their game is the same as person assigned a role in business and delivery of the ideal actions in that role. Generating this emotional state one of focus and clarity, I call ‘turning up’, with the exact same imagery as in sports, that a team may be on the court, but if they did not ‘turn up’ their mind was not on the task.

This underlying structure is summarised in figure 5 below, where an ‘organization’ is compared to sport.

The remainder of the book is then reviewing exactly how to apply this theory and the consequences to be expected when it is applied. But first we need review a number of important definitions.

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SPORT Goal (Win)

Action (ideal actions enabling best chance of greatest success) No-one doubts the sport is separate from people

Figure 5: A very brief look at OPD basic theory

BUSINESS KPIs (Achieve)

Ideal actions: Business is like sport, the organization is separate from people.

1. The goal �� action principle will get better results for the individual who chooses to apply themselves.

2. All things equal, more of the ideal action more success.

3. Ideal actions underlie every strategy independent of people.

4. Actions: (1) Build team ‘game plan’. (2) Ensure all team members have clear personal game plan drawn from team game plan. (3) Guide people to ‘turn up’ and do it.

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Definition of design specification, paradigm,

and social technology

Leadership is aligning of minds to the task and generating energy in relation to doing what is needed to achieve the result. Therefore it is crucial to have a framework of definitions able to be shared that define the key items of mind and how and where they apply.

‘Social technology60’ offers the actual thinking frames and emotions to enable improved results for someone who adopts the technology. For example, guidelines on the type of thinking needed to build a professional mind and so enable an objective approach to the assigned tasks.

A coach will guide a sports person to exercise mental discipline to ensure their mind assists and supports the performance they seek and does not erode or cloud what they need do to achieve the results. The willingness to adopt this sort of disciplined objective management of one’s thinking is a critical aspect of the ‘professionalism’ required to succeed at almost any endeavor.

A second example is applying the idea of flow61, that of losing oneself in the task as the state of greatest happiness and satisfaction. Flow is often discussed in management and leadership books but discussed as a concept62, whereas OPD theory offers a tool, a social technology to realize flow by having people lose themselves in the daily task of delivery of ideal actions.

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Design specification: Explicit information about the requirements for a product and how the product is to be put together. A ‘state of art’ design specification has implicit within it the latest science and technology.

OPD theory: The ‘state of art’ design specification for organizations based on a new intellectual platform for social science. The OPD theory is the manner of thinking about organizations and leadership that lead to the OPD-SHRM system.

Paradigm: A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them; the agreed intellectual framework enabling a common approach to dealing with common issues.

OPD-SHRM system: A paradigm for team leaders derived from the OPD theory with associated processes enabling the paradigm to be applied in every team and to every team member; the social technology for implementing the OPD theory in the organization to achieve sustainable improved results.

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The OPD theory is the system of thinking used to understand organizations, leadership in organizations, and roles, etc. The OPD-SHRM system is the paradigm derived from the theory to be used by team leaders to orientate themselves to the task of guiding a team to greatest results.

There is nothing more useful than and a good theory

Each team leader is expected to hold a frame in mind on which is the OPD paradigm. The paradigm itself consists of variables that are used in judging the most effective action, this decision is reached by inserting the actual values of variables in the paradigm for a particular person in the team and then judging where their effort can be best improved. The team leader then has a discussion of the analysis with the person who then may choose to adjust their effort toward a better result. Each person is expected to hold in mind a frame of their KPIs and ideal actions, and to approach the delivery of ideal actions in an objective, committed professional manner. In short, the OPD overall system guides each person to build a better personal theory of what they need do and how to do it to be more successful.

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Understanding design specifications

The quality of any object we create depends on the quality of our thinking about that object at the time we created it. The ‘design specification’ is the core of the thinking about an object used to create the object.

A design specification is how we ‘see’ the object.

Example of engineering design specifications

Fundamentals are that better science builds better engineering and better engineering builds better design specifications which build better bridges or airplanes (or fridges or washing machines).

1. The design specification reflects the quality of our

thinking when the machine was conceptualized and

reflects the background quality of science and

engineering at that time.

2. Quality of science (leads to) quality of design

specification (leads to) quality of machine

3. Our construction of organizations is influenced in

exactly the same way.

4. Quality of social science (leads to) quality of

organization design specification (leads to) quality of

the organization

Imagine the engineering specification for a dish washer; we are able to ‘see’ the overall design and elements within that design. No aspect of the operation of a dish washer is outside the design specification. Within the design specification we can ‘see’ the bearings and how they could be improved, how to

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reduce noise, how to improve the functioning of the dispenser, each of these design elements able to be improved within the overall design specification.

The design specification ‘orientates’ everyone to the dish washer, the detail in the blue prints derived from the design specification then coordinates the efforts of people who may never talk to each other, but nonetheless their behavior is integrated and coordinated by the blueprint, which is the shared paradigm, at least that part of the blueprint appropriate is the shared paradigm for that group.

A design specification implicitly carries the background

technology of the day

We can now see how the science and technology of the day is implicit in the design specification. It is not possible to build a carbon fiber casing without the technology of carbon fiber. I understand this may sound silly, but it is crucial to understand, we cannot do that which we cannot do, and to build practical and workable things we need design it using what we understand at the time.

Therefore as our understanding and the background science and engineering principles improve so we can build better machines, for example, we can build computer data sticks with memory that is amazing to what we could do just five years ago, simply because we better understand the science and technology relevant to data sticks.

The point made here regarding social science is that there have been no improvements in the last 100 years; hence we struggle to improve insight into our organizations. The problem

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is the background thinking, the science, the tools and the core philosophies that have limited growth in our understanding.

A design specification leads to a paradigm but is not itself

the paradigm

The shared way of thinking about the machine has as its core the design specification then all the elements unraveled and linked back to the core. It may be that some people only hold in mind that part of the design specification and elements that directly impacts them.

The paradigm for each person is that part of the ‘whole’ they hold in mind and use to guide their performance as defined in the design specification. It may be that no-one holds the ‘whole’ paradigm in mind, but everyone must be confident in the core design specification and the integrity with which elements are allocated so that they know that their efforts are fully coordinated with the efforts of people with whom they may never interact. It is perhaps only the Senior Executive who ‘see’ the ‘whole’ paradigm but only at a ‘high’ conceptual level with the detail distributed into the divisions expected to deliver particular aspects of the overall design.

Changing the design specification typically creates

resistance

Changing the design specification is a change in the paradigm, which is a change in personal thinking. Changes in personal thinking can produce resistance. If some people are committed to the original design, or with substantial vested interest in it, or of a lesser intellectual flexibility, or of a fearful orientation to change, then the change will be resisted from the earliest stage.

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Conflict of paradigms between individuals

The tensions between people for and against the change of design specification can be viewed as a conflict of paradigms, conflict between alternative ways of ‘seeing’ the machine and perhaps its place in the market, economy, product mix, etc. Tensions arising over conflict in ways of thinking can only be resolved by one person being convinced to change their mind, or by use of authority to overrule their objections.

Imagine a person fully accepts the design change. The mind is not a computer; the new design does not ‘overwrite’ the old. Both paradigms will be present in mind. Depending on how long the old design was used, there may be habituated ways of thinking based on the old design that result in a lengthy period of learning and adjustment to overcome habit. If the new paradigm uses similar terms to the old design specification but entails quite different definitions, this will further complicate learning and adjustment, and will lengthen the learning period.

If a person (Fred) has accepted the new design but has not yet been coached in some particular design elements, and if that new design element uses a term (say ‘engagement’) from the old design that now has a different definition, then if someone (Cassie) holds a discussion with Fred using the term ‘engagement’, then Fred will be thinking of the old design specification definition, and Cassie will be thinking of the new. So even if verbal agreement is reached the mental views can be very different resulting in sharp differences if action is expected in regard to the term (engagement).

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Conflict of paradigms within the individual

Even if the person fully accepts the new design specification, it will still require attentive vigilance to avoid slipping into old habits and patterns of thinking. (The brain drives habits; the brain in turn driven by entropy, only attention and active and conscious effort can avoid the brain dominating the mind with habituated ways of thinking and subsequent behavior).

Improving the design elements of a flawed design

specification will not fix the flaw

Imagine a design specification that was inherently flawed so the machine did not work very well. Imagine various elements – the motor, bearings, and noise level - were improved, but the inherent design flaw was not corrected and without this the machine would continue to not work well.

For example, imagine an airplane design specification, but the prototype is under powered and will not perform to the specification. To increase engine power requires the wings be shifted, and to shift the wings means they need to be redesigned and the cockpit will need to be shifted, and all the wiring altered… In short, the design specification was flawed - best to begin again.

Understanding organization design specifications

Organizations are not things beyond us in the way a tree or a photon is a ‘thing’ beyond us, we humans create organizations. Therefore the quality of the organization depends on the quality of our thinking when it was created63. The nature of out thinking when we created the organization I call the ‘organization design specification’.

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The organization design specification is a design specification like any other; it is the framework of thinking from within which we create the organization. It is not possible to create a washing machine without a design specification. To press the point, it is not possible to create a work of art without some idea of the aim. When a novelist writes a novel, the characters can take over, the work can take twists that were not seen prior, but the author would normally have an overall idea of where it is going, they just allow the characters to shape the road by which the book travels. This type of background thinking is part of how we work; very seldom do we act without some orientating purpose existing within a framework of insight and understanding, even if at times we are not fully aware of the framework. For specific machines we always have a design specification, we are conscious of the framework and our deliberate focus on it before we begin to build. Typically there is a unique design specification for each model of machine.

For organizations it has been different; first we have one design specification for all organizations, furthermore we built the organization on an intellectual platform we took for granted. We were not conscious that we used an organization design specification, and this design specification does carry technology of the day, in that it is based on the existing insight into social science at the time we created the organization.

Where we did perhaps question the design specification, then we bumped into significant issues such as whether or not the organization was separate from people, which was closely related to the question of whether or not knowledge once created was separate from the knower, which was related to the

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question of causality. It becomes complex and difficult, it was what I call a ‘complex and intertwined’ problem situation not amenable in any way to the typical Descartes64 ‘divide and rule’ or ‘isolate and resolve separately’ thinking processes that have dominated scientific thought for centuries. When there are interrelated problems then the only recourse is iterative that is to create a solution then carry it around every problem in the complexity, if it does not solve them all, then it is rejected and we create another solution until one is found that does resolve all problems.

The core intellectual platform of social science is barely changed in 100 years. The social science paradigm at the time of the Hawthorn experiments was largely the same as it is today. It is the intellectual platform, the very nature of our insight into causality, social causality, psychology, and ontology that has resulted in little or no progress in our insight into organizations in 100 years. Except in sport where no-one seriously offered the idea that sport and people were the same, clearly they were not. So the idea of professionalism in sport developed with clear differentiation that sport was what someone did, objective, rational, with performance able to be discussed independent of the person feeling offended as some slight on them.

What we ‘see’ depends intimately on how we think. Therefore a shift in the insights and principles of social science offers the opportunity to ‘see’ our social problems very differently and using better intellectual tools create different and more effective solutions. The start is here with the application of this new intellectual platform to making our

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organizations more effectively serve the communities within which the organization is embedded.

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Current organization and HR models are

based on a flawed design specification

There are intrinsic flaws in the current global HR design specification that working with the various elements cannot overcome.

1. There is no direct link between outputs and staff behavior. The only process linking results to staff behavior is statistical; there is no causal understanding in organizations since there is no understanding of cause.

2. There are weak linkages of ‘management theory’ to general theories of psychology, and knowledge. It is as if greater insight into psychology or knowledge would have no impact on insight into management. This is the ‘strategic flaw’ of lack of doing first things first.

3. The organization is treated as the same as people, this is the ontological flaw.

4. Management and organization is treated as a stand alone subject, able to be discussed without reference to social science issues and theories. This is the ‘relatedness flaw’.

5. There are no clear and concrete tools that lead the conceptualization process and create knowledge of a systematic and known quality and standard. This is the ‘theory creation flaw’.

There have been repeated efforts at getting a better and more effective system. But these efforts have dealt with design elements not with failings in the fundamental intellectual

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platform the core of the design specification used to create the organization.

In fact, as in the case of the airplane design specification, unless the interaction of the elements in the design is taken into account, then changing one element may adversely impact the application of the design specification. This is the case with the current organizational design which is irrevocably flawed and where repeated failed attempts to ‘upgrade’ - for example, MBO, performance management systems, 360 degree, job enhancement, goal ownership, cultural audits, many motivation programs, HRIS systems (although the administration of HR is important, it is when these try to flow into the delivery of HR that they exhibit limitations) - has deepened cynicism of the processes and of HR in general65.

As already stated, if the design specification is flawed then no amount of altering the detailed design elements will improve performance.

This limitation of HR is solely due a flawed design specification which cannot be overcome by changes to individual design elements.

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The OPD theory66 is a superior organization

design specification

I began with the view that it is the actual design specification itself that was flawed, and the results have proved that to be so.

The fundamentals implicit in the OPD theory and on which it rests include management and organization fully created by people therefore are part of social science. Cause is clearly defined. The ontology of the organization is clearly defined. The epistemological tools for theory creation in social science are clearly defined as is the link between outputs and staff behavior. Human psychological variables and the causality implicit in those variables are fully accounted for.

The OPD theory has now been accepted into the peer reviewed literature67.

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Summary of alternative organization design specifications

The current global organization design specification assumes:

1. ‘Management and organization’ can be discussed separate from social science.

2. The insight and theories in social science and are not relevant to management insight.

3. That people are inseparable from the organization.

4. All links between strategy and staff behavior are statistical not direct and not causal.

The OPD organization design specification assumes:

1. ‘Management and organization’ are fully part of social science.

2. Lasting management insight can only be derived from the ‘first things first’ principle of dealing with the prior issues in social science.

3. That people are separate from the organization.

4. Links between strategy and staff behavior are direct and causal.

These two systems of thought are diametrically opposed and lead in profoundly different directions.

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The OPD theory of organization design and

leadership

I will not discuss this full theory. It is seldom used in practice. Team leaders are guided to build their ‘professional leadership frames’ based on OPD team leader paradigm and guided on how to apply it on the basis that applying it will enable them to achieve a better results than they would using any other system of thinking and associated tools. It is this direct guidance on building ‘professional frame of mind’ that makes OPD theory in practice a ‘social technology’. This raises an oft misunderstood issue that applies in much of social science and management. The issue is to understand exactly the line between normative advice and objective science68.

The OPD theory has the following key features69.

1. The goal cascade from strategy to the KPIs in each role70. If all KPIs are achieved, the strategy is achieved.

2. Apply the causal link between goals and ideal actions needed to achieve the goals. Ideal actions are driven by the goal and are independent of people71.

3. Then link the mind of the person assigned a role to the ideal actions needed in the role such that the ideal actions are delivered with increased effectiveness.

OPD-SHRM is the name applied to the set of human resource management processes72 that enable greatest opportunity of greatest organizational success.

The full theory is in the diagram below.

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The epistemology on which the OPD theory is based describes science as existing in variables and relationships between variables, that by applying the tools of Ashby, these relationships are then conceptualized into systems of ultimate and immediate affects. These diagrams are the OPD theory. This is fully social science.

Applying the OPD theory via OPD-SHRM system then crosses the boundary; it is normative in that it gives advice and guidelines of what a team leader must do to deliver the theory in their team. Thus for instance, OPD theory rests on the understanding of psychological frames, then OPD-SHRM states that for a person to implement OPD theory with the prospect of the greatest success then the advice is to opt for attitudes on frames such as the following.

What I see depends on what I think, therefore by adopting a

better theory of the link between strategy and behavior I can

use it to get a better result ... I can choose to seek and build

better ideas …

I can choose to be successful at work…I can choose to be

professional and focus on the actions at work that enable my

greatest success…I can choose to ‘turn up’ each day…I can

choose to cooperate with my team leader to improve my

professionalism…I can make it happen if I choose and put in

the effort.

These recommendations are not OPD theory, which consists of objective variables plus carefully conceptualized relationships between those variables; it is the OPD-SHRM system, namely the OPD theory in practice.

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These recommendations of effective way of thinking to get best result arise from consideration of the issue: If someone was to commit to deliver OPD theory what would be the sort of thinking that would best enable the greatest result? This relationship between theory and practice, between normative advice and objective science is typical of all social science73.

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Diagram of the OPD theory of strategy rollout

Strateg

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Team

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Ideal actio

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The OPD paradigm used in practice74

The paradigm is the cognitive tool used by team leaders to ‘see’ and assess the team and the performance of people in the team. Details for each person are inserted into the paradigm in preparation for discussions with the person about the delivery of ideal actions assigned them and the ongoing aptness of those ideal actions.

The first step of the OPD paradigm is ‘get the concept right first’ that is ensuring clear strategy, team/role structure judged most likely to succeed, then the ideal actions in each role. Once created, then from the CEO point of view75, they have the strategy and the set of ideal actions across the whole organization, such that if the ideal actions are delivered to standard, then the strategy is achieved.

Definition of perfect rollout delivering sustainable

perfect results

1. Leadership judgment: Perfect judgment of strategy, cascaded through perfectly judged organization structure, then ideal actions perfectly identified relative to each key performance indicator in every organization role.

2. Leadership effectiveness: Perfect delivery of ideal actions by each person.

Once the concept is judged apt and agreed the focus is shifted to achieving delivery of ideal actions to standard.

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Delivery of ideal actions is delegated to every team leader who is expected to follow the OPD-SHRM processes at working with team members in supporting them to build their professional minds relative to their choices.

Ideal actions go far beyond job descriptions, they do not belong to people at all being totally dependent on strategy and the goals (KPIs) derived from strategy. At this point the organization and what it needs from people is completely independent of people.

The first stage, labeled 1 in the figure 6, sets up the organization ‘architecture’ from strategy through team structure and roles in team, to define goals (KPIs) in each role,

Strategy

OPD-SHRMIS Monitor processes done and done to

standard

Guide people

to do it

Goal/KPI cascade

Ideal actions

Teams and

roles in teams

2 3 1

Figure 6: The OPD paradigm for team leaders

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and ideal actions derived from goals essential if the goal is to be achieved.

The architecture is not the team/reporting structure; rather it is the cascade of goals leading to the ideal actions. In creating teams/divisions, etc, the rule followed is ‘like goals with like goals’, this is important since goals generate ideal actions, so if markedly dissimilar goals are combined in a role, then the behavioral spread will be very wide, demanding an extraordinary spread of competencies in the person assigned the role76. The central document defining the architecture is called the ‘role performance specification’, defining the KPIs, ideal actions, noting extraordinary issues and factors in the role77. We regard clarity of roles as important, with improved clarity supporting improved role delivery. Role multiplicity also improves role performance, by enabling clarity of the role structure of the job, and the actions needed within each role.

Time available is assigned to each role, then the time assigned the role is distributed across the ideal actions, this process of allocating time across the roles and ideal actions in the role is called time budgeting78.

Key terms are (1) behavioral structure which is the set of ideal actions underlying some set of KPIs, hence behavioral structure of the organization as a whole, of a division, of a team, or of a particular role79. (2) Behavioral balance is the assignment of time available across the roles and ideal actions within each role. The term ‘balance’ referring to balanced effort across the ideal actions judged the most likely distribution of effort to achieve the greatest result. It is important to understand that the time budget is not set in stone,

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it can often be ignored for several weeks, but if ignored for too long then some aspect of the required result will not be achieved.

It is the fundamental leadership priority of the CEO to guide identifying the behavioral balance across the organization that is judged as offering the greatest chance of the greatest result80. This process is referred to as leadership judgment, beginning with strategy and ending with the identification of the actions needed offering greatest chance of greatest strategic success.

The person assigned the role must be involved in finalising the ideal actions in the role. Once finalised the ideal actions are signed off by the team leader, the team leader’s boss, and by the person assigned the role. It is the CEO who is ultimately responsible for the ideal actions identified as being those needed to achieve strategy.

The second step labelled 2 in figure 1 is cultural and developmental in staff involving the application of the staff in delivering the ideal actions judged most likely to achieve greatest result.

Definition of strategic HR management (SHRM)

Within the OPD theory SHRM is intrinsic to HR, and is the activity of aligning actual staff behavior with the ideal actions agreed as needed for success. Within the OPD theory the process of aligning actual staff behavior with agreed ideal actions is the fundamental process of roll out of strategy. The set of HR processes to achieve the roll out is called OPD-SHRM.

OPD-SHRM actions: (1) Build team ‘game plan’ relative to strategy. (2) Ensure all team members have clear personal

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game plan drawn from team game plan. (3) Guide people to ‘turn up81’ and do it.

Summary: OPD-SHRM = roll out of strategy.

Monitoring and corporate management of the SHRM

processes

There are very clear and well defined processes in the OPD-SHRM system. The principle is that if every team leader does the SHRM processes to standard in their team then the team has greatest chance of achieving the greatest result.

If the ideal actions are identified and delivered to standard then the results must be achieved … the provisos are (1) the ideal actions are apt and accurate in relation to the KPIs; (2) there is effective guidance to sustain delivery of the ideal actions; (3) that economic conditions do not change.

It is the role of HR to monitor implementation of the SHRM processes in every team; this monitoring system is provided and is called OPD-SHRMIS82 (the SHRM information system labelled 3 in figure 1).

If the SHRM processes are not being implemented in any team then HR person discusses that with the team leader, checks they have the skills etc, then if the team leader persists with failure to implement the SHRM processes HR reports the failure to the senior manager of the team leader.

These corporate processes are not the ‘operation’ of the OPD-SHRM system which is focused on each individual mind via team member-team leader one-on-one discussions: Rather they are merely organization wide monitoring to assess the

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processes being applied by every team leader to every individual mind.

These corporate SHRMIS wide monitoring processes do not build a professional culture; they merely monitor that SHRM processes offering greatest chance of the greatest level of individual professionalism are being applied in every team.

A ‘professional’ culture emerges as the term used to describe the overall perception of how the group act, that is if every person is ‘professional’ then the organization culture can be described as ‘professional’83. It must be stressed there is no group or corporate wide way of changing organization culture, that can only be done by changing enough individual minds84.

Quantification of the impact of improved staff performance

on the results

Ideal actions are derived from the goals and KPIs, therefore all things being equal, and if the leadership judgements are apt and accurate, more of ideal actions will mean better goal achievement.

There are two steps: (1) estimation of the potential for improving staff performance. (2) The link between increased delivery of ideal actions the profit and loss.

Imagine Senior Executives can see ‘existing’ staff behavior and ‘perfect’ staff behavior then they can apply judgment on the extent the gap can be closed in the coming accounting period, usually one year, by applying the OPD-SHRM system.

Perfect staff behaviour is defined as the delivery of apt ideal actions.

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People are doing much of the ‘right things/ideal actions’ now, so judgement of the potential gains in human performance is in relation to (1) extent the ideal actions can be sharpened so that they are more effective (leadership judgment working on the business); (2) Sharpening priority of ideal actions; (3) training to improve skills at acting out ideal actions; (4) Extent people can be encouraged/guided to ‘turn up’ with more commitment and drive to succeed; (5) Extent people can be guided to focus and to not be distracted by other factors85 that erode performance when on the job.

In a well run business these improvement factors will close the gap between current staff behavior and ideal staff behavior by 8-10%, in less well run business, the gap could be closed by as much as 20%. Gains above this range are unlikely, since for that to be possible means the staff conduct in the business is really a very long way removed from effective conduct and to be that far removed would likely mean the business is failing86.

Detailed definition of perfect human performance

We now have all the tools needed to define and fully understand perfect human performance.

1. Building the clarity of direction.

1.1. The strategy has been selected. (The strategic plan includes the behavioural structure for the whole organization, and is thus called the ‘corporate game plan’.)

1.2. The goal cascade through teams and into roles in teams is judged apt and effective relative to the strategy.

1.3. Each team plan specifies KPIs for the team and the behavioural structure of the team, and is the team game

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plan integrated with the corporate game plan such that if all team game plans are achieved then the corporate game plan is achieved.

1.4. The ideal actions relative to every goal have been identified and specified in the role performance specifications, and judged apt and effective relative to every goal.

2. Guiding people to ‘turn up’.

2.1. People are assigned roles.

2.2. People can do the ideal actions. In the same way people can do perfect golf shots, they are capable to doing perfect delivery of the ideal actions.

2.3. ‘Turning up’ is people choosing to be there with the intent to seek a ‘perfect shot’ each shot, with proviso that work is different from sport in that work is 40 or more hours every week, therefore work must be approached with a calm, quiet an emotionally still but determined frame of mind.

3. The psychological structure of perfect performance.

3.1. The ideal actions must be on a frame of ‘what I do at work’.

3.2. This frame likely best nested inside a frame of reference ‘I choose to be successful at work and will strive for perfection in what I choose to do’.

3.3. Both frames need to be supported by positive emotions, supported further by self-confidence that ‘I can do this’.

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This process is derived fully from the OPD theory and is the strategic human resources management system (SHRM) as defined under OPD theory. Game plans have nothing to do with people; they are developed from strategy and in relation to what must be achieved for the organization to be successful. The person is then assigned the game plan of their role and is expected to deliver the ideal actions, this is exactly parallel to a sports person expected to deliver the ideal action needed in their sport. It is possible for people to deliver very high level human performance as per this system, but for the organisation to fail since organization success depends on perfect human performance plus the initial selection of the strategy. It is this analysis that leads to the view that HR considerations are properly after final strategy selection.

Perfect human performance is development of this background strategic and psychological structure that enables every person the opportunity to deliver the perfect shot on a regular basis.

Further comment on 100% human performance

Imagine a top golfer, 150 yards from the pin, they know they have the skills, they know they have practiced and not just do a good shot, but achieve the perfect shot and if not put in the hole, get with inches and ensure a birdie. They also know they do not do it every time, that it takes focus and concentration. Achieving the perfect shot is achieving 100% performance. It can be done, and is done, on occasions. If they deliver the perfect shot for each shot, then that is perfect human performance for the round.

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If we examine the neural and psychological issues, the golfer will most likely have their mind clear; hence their psychology will be very professional. What is much more difficult is to have the brain clear, since much of the swing emerges from the brain, not the mind, thus if in the neural system there are minor energy flows, any one could easily deflect the swing by the merest millimetre which after 150 yards could easily mean in the right hand bunker. All aspects of mind-brain need be still for the neural system to deliver the perfect swing.

It follows that if people have the skills, have practised delivery of ideal actions, then perfect performance of those ideal actions is possible, and if the necessary pre-existing decisions and judgment is accurate, then the organization can achieve 100% human performance. It is important to understand that it does not necessarily mean everyone is doing exactly the same thing if they have the same ideal actions. For example, a key part of selling is prospecting, so an ideal action would be delivery to the sales manager each Friday of the top ten opportunities for the coming week. This supported by a background brief of how to prospect, so one person may use their personal networks, another may work the database and spend time of phone, another may prefer to spend time house to house calling, etc. the key is that each person has a definite plan whereby they intend to secure the sales opportunities needed to achieve their budget for the week, and this plan agreed to by the sales manager. Each person then is expected to ‘turn up’ and perform against the game plan assigned to them, and agreed and accepted by them.

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What has this to do with the governance of

human performance?

Human performance is a strategic factor in the profit and loss and as illustrated below it can be a very significant factor in results, greater often than many things the board pays great attention to, such as marketing plans, new products, acquisitions or new equipment.

Perhaps the reason why marketing plans get attention while SHRM does not is that there are few if any clear guidelines for directors on how to address issues of truly improving human performance, there is a lot of advice, anecdote and comment available on culture, engagement, performance management, leadership development etc... Plus personal experience, all of which are lacking in the same very critical manner. The latter, personal experience is a factor that can impede progress to better strategic management of human performance, since past personal success can blind one to opportunity.

The directors need select the organization design

specification

Until now, there has been no orientating theory linking strategy to human performance, and where suggestions existed, they were weak and unrelated to key issues in social science. With flawed design specification progress can only be made by creating a new design specification.

With the OPD theory now accepted in academe87 and the OPD-SHRM system proved in practice, there now is a clear rationale and model for both those governing and for those managing.

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In the determining the line between governance and management of human performance, the OPD theory becomes the strategy and it is the role of the directorate to set this strategy governing the organization toward the potential of greatest human performance. The management then adopts the OPD-SHRM system as the set HR processes whereby the strategic management of human performance as a factor in the profit and loss is managed on a daily basis.

Selection of the OPD theory as the organizational design specification is the choice of the board, delivery of the SHRM process derived from that strategic choice is the work of the leadership team. Coaching team leaders in the skills to deliver the SHRM processes in their team and monitoring and reporting they are doing it is the task of the HR Department.

Major organizational redesign must be driven from the top

The OPD theory is a scientific and causal step forward in the quality of our thinking about organizations.

To apply this thinking about organizations to an existing organization requires a cultural and operational redesign of the organization from the top down so that the whole organization is embodied within the improved design specification. For the change to be effective in lower organizational levels it must be exhibited from the top. The process must begin with the directors selecting the best design specification of the organization, and then overseeing accurate implementation.

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All management processes must have integrity with the

design specification

The core principle of the organization design specification based on the OPD theory is if the ideal actions are well

constructed and well implemented then the organization has

the greatest chance of greatest success. Everything done within the organization must reinforce this principle.

Therefore every aspect of management, leadership, HR processes, performance management, training, coaching, induction, recruiting, etc, must be consistent with the core principles of the design specification. Failure to do this will mean paradigm conflict within the organization which will reinforce cynicism and erode performance.

The HR department becomes the crucial driver of results

Perhaps only the senior executive ‘see’ the ‘whole’ organizational paradigm but only at a ‘high’ conceptual level with the detail distributed into the divisions expected to deliver that aspect of the overall result.

Within the OPD theory the crucial division is HR, which is delegated the responsibility for overseeing that every team leader is fully implementing the core OPD-SHRM processes in their team.

HR is accountable for ensuring every team leader has identified KPIs relative to strategy, ideal actions in every role relative to KPIs, and is guiding development of the professional mind in each team member to enable full delivery of those ideal actions in every role. In this sense, HR is accountable for management of human performance as a strategic factor in the profit and loss.

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HR becomes a route for training as a CEO

Currently global HR is not regarded as a route to CEO, because the HR technology is not seen as fitting someone for the top job.

OPD theory is the only effective theory on the role out of strategy.

Understanding fully and clearly how to guide the rollout process in an organization emerges as the key if not the central organizational skill for the CEO, and hence under OPD theory makes HR the most appropriate route to the role of CEO. The technical skills of sales, finance and operations, are managed by the overriding organizational skill and while it is important that a CEO has a sound grasp of these technical business skills, details of these skills will always rest in the technical divisions concerned and if the CEO has the core OPD skill then they can facilitate appropriate creativity in the technical discipline.

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OPD theory from CEO point of view88

Imagine being CEO, good judgment has gone into the team game plan and integrated individual game plans which are complete and apt in relation to the strategy.

As CEO you are well satisfied with the leadership judgment: The strategy, team structure, team roles, KPIs, and ideal actions are well defined. There is fully developed role specifications for every role and you have personally signed off the behavioral structure with every divisional manager and know they have given it a lot of thought and effort. You are confident of their skills and that their judgment will be apt and accurate in relation to the behavioral structure of their divisions.

As CEO, you know that the roll out of strategy now depends solely on leadership effectiveness to guide delivery of ideal actions to standard.

You now see your crucial priority as ensuring every team leader is applying fully OPD-SHRM processes so that the appropriate psychological structure will enable perfect performance of every team member in ever team.

As CEO you now have several issues: Organization development to maintain aptness of roles, KPIs and ideal actions. Monitoring OPD-SHRM and support/partnering with team leaders enabling best delivery of ideal actions in each team. Develop coaching ‘edge’ in team leaders at guiding team members to ‘turn up’. Develop skills/training89 of staff in relation to delivery of ideal actions. Recruit90 and retain staff with skills needed to deliver ideal actions.

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These issues are delegated to the HR department. However the CEO should not delegate responsibility for final delivery of the corporate behavioral structure, this becomes the central focus of the CEO and should dominate the weekly dairy as a key activity that needs touched and acted on most days.

Role of HR91

The OPD theory redefines every aspect of HR and restructures the HR Department92 into following clearly defined main functions.

Aim of HR: To partner with all team leaders in identifying, refining and guiding delivery of ideal actions to the highest standard.

Key functions: Organization development: To guide conceptualization of architecture and clarify the behavioral structure to improve results. Training and development: To ensure all staff has necessary skills at delivery of ideal actions to highest standard, this includes coaching skills of team leaders and induction of new staff. Monitoring: Assessing that all team leaders are applying the systems. Recruiting: To recruit people with required professional attitude.

Leadership judgment and leadership effectiveness93

Leadership judgment is determining: An apt strategy for the business; the team/role structure. Delegation of KPIs into every role; the set of ideal actions needed in every role if the KPIs in that role are to be achieved; goal��action: Ideal actions are those actions derived from every goal agreed needed if the goal is to be achieved.

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Leadership effectiveness is the extent the leadership succeeds in guiding every person to deliver the agreed ideal actions in the role assigned them94. Successful leadership effectiveness achieves alignment of actual staff behavior with the ideal actions agreed as needed for success.

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Some key changes in management

terminology95

This terminology needs to become more than words, it needs to become the way we ‘see’ organizations and leadership and so be the core ideas we actively apply to achieve the greatest result.

Nothing changes unless our thinking changes.

OPD theory: The fundamental set of assumptions on which all organizations are designed and built.

OPD paradigm: The frame via which the team leader ‘sees’ their team. Each team leader then inserts the data for the person and the role assigned them into the paradigm prior to the discussing performance with them.

Leadership judgment: Judgment of the behavioral best practice underlying every strategy.

Leadership effectiveness: Guiding staff to turn up and deliver the behavioral best practice.

Behavioral structure: The set of ideal actions which underlie a goal (KPI). The term does not change with scale and so applies to the organization, a division, a team or a single role.

Behavioral balance96: The set of ideal actions (the behavioral structure) with the allocation of time available to ensure a ‘balanced’ effort in relation to the KPIs to be achieved.

Ideal actions: Those actions agreed as the offering greatest chance of greatest success. Ideal actions are of quality

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that doing them does not guarantee goal achievement, but not doing them guarantees goal failure.

Organization success: Achievement of goals (KPIs).

Personal success: Delivery of agreed ideal actions to standard.

Ownership and self-responsibility: Of personal behavior at work.

Improving human performance: Only occurs via the individual mind and is facilitated causally via a one-on-one process where the person chooses to work with their leader to develop their professional frame of mind and engage in mind with the ideal actions needed for greatest success for themselves and the organization.

Increased human performance: Defined as increased delivery of ideal actions.

Results report (numbers): Viewed as a summary of staff behavior, the extent the leadership guided delivery of ideal actions since it is the ideal actions that deliver the results.

Improving results: Selection of the numbers to be improved, then identifying the roles and hence KPIs to improve, then identifying the ideal actions (the behavioral structure) to be improved. Finally, feeding this analysis into the one-on-one team leader interactions so that actual staff behavior is shifted toward the ideal actions required to achieve greatest result.

Human capital value (HCV): defined as consisting of standing or static HCV and dynamic HCV. Standing HCV lies the SHRMIS system, it is the capture in the

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system of the behavioral structure or behavioral best practice; it is the leadership judgment of what people need do in each role that enables the greatest result. Dynamic HCV lies in the skill and energy of the people to deliver those actions that enable greatest chance of greatest success. Standing human capital is owned by the organization, dynamic human capital is not. Under OPD theory there is a direct correlation with accuracy and aptness of the standing HCV and profitability.

Increased leadership effectiveness and efficiency: For a team of 10, implementation of OPD-SHRM involves 1 to 1.5 days each month of team leader time and can gain up to twice the current results.

Visualisation as engagement97: By visualizing the ideal actions the person then engages in mind with the ideal actions to improve delivery of those actions.

Role specification: The KPIs derived from the strategy with associated ideal actions agreed to enable the greatest results. One job may consist of many roles (for example sales and marketing manager). A role is a unique set of actions, attitudes and skills in relation to goals expected to be achieved in the role.

Behavioral management process: The monthly one-on-one discussions between the team leader and team member on the aptness of ideal actions effectiveness of ideal actions with which they delivered them.

Performance management98: The whole OPD-SHRM process, but most specifically delivered each month in

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one-on-one meeting where the actual behaviors are compared with the ideal actions needed for success.

Working in the business: Delivery of ideal actions to standard.

Working on the business: Review of ideal actions to assess they are still relevant and sharp.

Ongoing performance improvement: Improving ideal actions and delivery of those actions.

Organizational development (OD): Review of strategy, or goal cascade, or ideal actions needed to achieve goals and strategy: The conceptual analysis of the needs of the organization in relation to new or changed external conditions. OD is conducted fully independent of people.

Change management: Follows OD and is the realignment of actual staff behavior with the new ideal actions. Change management is done by one-on-one meeting between the person and manager to review the alignment of their mind with the new ideal actions/KPI structure determined from the OD effort.

Cultural audits: Review of team leader effort at implementation of the key SHRM processes that offer greatest chance of greatest success.

Customer audits: Identify those ideal actions that enable greatest customer satisfaction and then use the OD and change management process to increase delivery of those ideal actions.

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Time budget99: The time available in a role, or roles, distributed across the ideal actions to enable the greatest result.

Staff satisfaction: Ensuring core of sound hygiene factors in wages, salaries and conditions100, then apply OPD-SHRM motivation factor to deepen satisfaction from engagement and achievement101 enabling people to find flow in their daily work. The platform of hygiene factors moderates any dissatisfaction. Satisfaction occurs only through successful delivery of ideal actions, satisfaction is only to be gained after success.

Corporate values: The conduct of the organization relative to the community it serves.

Organization mission: To stay in business and enable increased salaries, wages and expenses and so build the sustainable base of wealth in the community that leads to increased community satisfaction and health. The internal focus of the organization is on achieving the strategy, stated in the strategic summary. Under OPD all organizations have a mission only in relation to the community in which the organization is embedded.

Organization cultural values: The conduct of the organization relative to the staff.

Talent identification and development: Team performance is the core of organizational success. Hence the first step is to identify people who can and do use the OPD-SHRM processes to achieve high team results. Such people have already made crucial psychological commitment to lead. Development of talent is then

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exploring the extent the person has the intellectual capacities to operate effectively at higher organizational levels demanding higher IQ and greater insight and strategic creativity. There is no sure way of assessing these intellectual and creative capacities, with judgment based on a blend of educational achievement, psychometric tests, practical projects and sound judgment of experienced executives.

Training: Enhancing skill at delivery of agreed ideal actions.

Coaching: Coaching is an aspect of the one-on-one performance management process where the team leader uses their skills and insight to guide sharper delivery of the ideal actions by the person; coaching is significantly maintenance of the professional frame of mind whereby people are guided to ‘turn up’. Both coaching and training have the same objective, to improve the delivery of agreed ideal actions.

For a full list see the glossary, appendix 3 in The last

leadership book you ever need read. http://www.amazon.com/last-leadership-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004ZQRS64/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

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Financial payback from OPD strategic HR

Below is the simplest form of the OPD paradigm as it needs to exist on the ‘how I assess my team performance’ frame for each team leader. This is the paradigm team leaders are expected to use to ‘see’ their team and its efforts. Each team leader then ‘fills’ the boxes (variables) with details from each of their team members.

1. The team leader paradigm ‘orientates’ the team leader to the ‘levers’ the OPD theory states they need use to achieve the best result.

2. The team leader then uses the paradigm and applies it to a particular team member, so that now the paradigm is filled with actual data about the team member.

3. By assessing the team ember via the paradigm the team leader is objective, systematic, and clear, and from the data on the team member within the paradigm the team leader then holds the discussion with the team member on how they can improve results.

This psychological structure is to be used to ‘see’ the team and team members within, and offers insight into the exact nature of ‘social technology’ and OPD-SHRM crosses a line and is no longer science, rather it is direct advice on how to get better results, but advice based on and derived from OPD theory (which is science).

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The sequence on right is the creation of the architecture of the organization, with well defined cascade from strategy to ideal actions (behavioural structure)

1. Guiding people to turn up with the appropriate psychological structures on frames etc, is guiding people to do it.

2. The OPD strategic human resource management information system records the effort to each team

Strategy

OPD-SHRMIS Monitor processes done and

done to standard

Guide people to do it

Goal/KPI

cascade

Ideal actions

Teams and roles in teams

Figure 7: The team leader frame

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leader at applying the core processes of OPD in their team.

3. The dotted lines indicate that the OPD-SHRMIS also monitors and collects the data on the architecture, and this is a crucial part of the human capital value of the organization (discussed in a later section).

This structure leads immediately to two steps in assessing the potential financial payback.

1. From leadership judgment: The relationship between ideal actions and the profit and loss.

2. From leadership effectiveness: The extent people could improve delivery of the ideal actions.

Normalisation of OPD profit profile link (OPDPPL)

Within the current global model of HR, normalisation is typically via industry and sometimes broader. Use of satisfaction surveys and Gallup Q12 are examples.

When using Gallup Q12 the idea of engagement is that which is measured by the questionnaire with a large background data base of results by industry, staff numbers, region, etc. This intellectual process is legitimate but limited by its statistical structure and by the fact there are no exact and precise processes whereby action can be taken to improve the result. A second deeper concern is where the questions explore issues that may or may not be relevant to performance. For example, recently a famous and brilliant tennis star said she never liked tennis, and we have the “hate training, but it is what you do”, attitude. Such issues beg the question: If we decide to do something, must we ‘like it’ in order to be good at it? And must we like those we have to deal with in order to good at

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what we choose to do? Does our professional life necessarily demand of us these concessions in our private life?

Within the OPD theory these questions do not arise. Performance entails discipline for all seeking any sensible level of performance including performance in sport or in any organization.

Engagement in OPD-SHRM is visualization of the ideal actions, a very precise lever known to work fully in sports. Second, with OPD-SHRM satisfaction is fully separated from dissatisfaction, and prior to the effort the organization merely commits to reduce dissatisfaction. Satisfaction arises only after the effort, and arises upon successful delivery of the ideal actions to standard.

For intellectual reasons and reasons of definition and structure normalization in OPD theory is done within each organization.

Normalization comes to be understood and clarified as the organizations learns the level of audit answer in relation to the level of result, this arises since some people answer audit questions in range 2-9, never using 1, or 10 while others use 1-10. As the relationship emerges from data so the organization can set standards for cultural audit scores and expect appropriate financial results to emerge. This is important in relation to assessing ROI of HR expenditure where the focus is on improving team cultural audits and so improve delivery of ideal actions in the team. Where there is limited HR budget then decision can be made to place effort in team where payback is projected to be greatest. ROI of HR is discussed in more detail in a later section.

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The link between ideal actions and the profit and loss

The link between ideal actions and the profit profile we call the OPD profit profile link (OPDPPL, C in figure 8).The exact question is as follows. For every 1% increase in effectiveness

of delivery of ideal actions what will be the increase in the goal

achievement?

Our research is not complete, and is not yet published. The results come from discussion with clients, and from relating gains in client results to improvements in cultural audits that record the improvements in the professional mind of staff.

Initial answers are as follows. For every 1%102 gain in human performance then:

1. For sales revenues, there is a 0.3 to 0.4 increase. 2. For direct costs there is a 0.2 to 0.3 reduction. 3. For overheads, there is a 0.1 to 0.2 reduction.

Getting reduction in overhead costs is the hardest since costs in overhead are seldom real unless staffs are dismissed, and that is not usually the target. Increases in sales is the largest OPDPPL, that is realistic since sales is all behavior and handling people, so any improvement in ideal actions will most impact results. Direct costs are also impacted heavily by machines and operational process not immediately involving behavior, like speed of work lines, therefore sits mid way between sales and overheads.

There is initial indication that different industries fall differently in these ranges, so in one industry the sales OPDPPL may be 0.25, while in another 0.38. This means that in some industries the close ratio for sales is intrinsically lower than in other industries.

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The link between actual behavior and ideal actions

If you judge what needs to be done to get the best result and do it better and more effectively then one expects to get a better result. So if I practice tennis or golf, then I expect my game to improve (“I hate training but it is what you do”).

Ideal actions are derived from the goals (A in figure 8). Therefore given apt judgment of the ideal actions, and given consistent economic circumstances then more effective delivery of ideal actions will see a better result (C in Figure 8). The increase in delivery of ideal actions is called ‘increased

Actual behavior

Ideal actions

Goals/KPIs/results

Leadership judgment (A): Team leader works with the team member to build clearer more effective personal game plan coordinated with the team game plan, ideal actions derived from goals. So goal-action is causally engaged in the organization. Leadership effectiveness (B): Team leader then guides & support delivery of the personal game plan. Team leaders spend 20 minutes/month/role in one-on-one discussions.

(1) Input to move actual behavior closer to ideal actions. Typical is 8-16% improvement.

(2) Typical for each 1% gain in performance sales increase 0.3%-0.4%, direct costs decrease 0.2%-0.3%, overheads decrease 0.1%-0.2%.

Figure 8: Causal link to results (OPDPPL) via each mind Gain in results is 1x2 = OPDPIF

A

B

Ideal actions

KPIs

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human performance’ (B in Figure 8). The exact question is as follows. What percentage increase in delivery and effectiveness

of ideal actions is possible with this person (group of people,

team, division, or whole organization)?

The core SHRM team leader process103 is developing improved delivery of ideal actions in the individual104. On evidence to date in well run and well organised companies, the improved OPD-SHRM processes will create an 8% increase in accuracy and aptness and delivery of ideal actions. In less well run companies, the impact is up to a 20% improvement in the aptness and delivery of ideal actions.

The impact of a tightened intellectual base for HR processes results in realistic sustainable gains in staff performance with often a large gain in profits.

Using visualization of perfect human performance to assess

actual human performance

Try to visualize the very best behaviour that would generate the very best result. These behaviours are the ideal actions. Now visualize those ideal actions being perfectly delivered exactly as one can visualize perfect delivery of the golf shot or of the tennis shot or of the soccer strike.

Now try to ‘see’ the gap between perfect delivery of the ideal actions and the actual delivery of the staff right now.

Finally assess the percentage gap, could delivery of ideal actions be improved 5%, 10% or 25%? This is a judgment of the extent human performance could be improved in your organization. This judgment is the first step at assessing the payback arising from improved strategic management of human performance as a strategic factor in the profit and loss.

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The OPD profit improvement factor (OPDPIF)

The OPD profit improvement factor is calculated from the projected gain in human performance, multiplied by the projected impact of improving delivery of ideal actions on the result.

OPDPIF= (OPDPPL x % Gain in human performance)

Improved profits from improved strategic management of

human performance

Assume a company with revenues of $200, 000,000 with 150+ staff. Profits are 8% of revenues, at $16, 000,000. It is reasonably well run, so projected potential gain in human performance is assessed by the executive team as 10%.

Agreed links to the profit profile are:

1. Sales 0.35%, therefore sales OPDPIF is 3.5%. (0.35x10) 2. Direct costs 0.25%, therefore direct cost OPDPIF is

2.5%. (0,25x10) 3. Overhead 0.1%, therefore overhead OPDPIF is 1%.

(0.1x10)

These figures are now applied to the profit profile. (Figure 9)

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Figure 9 Before OPD-SHRM OPDPIF After OPD-SHRM

Sales 200,000,000$ 100% 3.5% 207,000,000$ 100%

Direct costs 120,000,000$ 60% 2.5% 121,095,000$ 58.50%

Gross profit 80,000,000$ 40% 85,905,000$ 41.50%

Overheads 64,000,000$ 32% 1.0% 63,360,000$ 30.61%

EBIT 16,000,000$ 8% 22,545,000$ 10.89%

Profit gain from better SHRM 6,545,000$ 40.91%

Simply from improved management of human resource as a strategic factor in results, profits increase by 40%. Business is more successful, people more successful with greater satisfaction, team leaders subject to less pressure, less stress, more money to pay performance pay. In short, a greatly improved result balanced by greater staff morale.

Case study: If it works in one mind it will work in any

number

Michelle was the parts manager in an automotive dealership. She had two direct staff reporting to her. Results were strong, with a gross margin of over 27%105. She was applying the OPD system, and had worked conscientiously to develop clear and effective ideal actions derived from the KPIs as agreed with the CEO and owner of the dealership.

She had held initial meetings with her two team members, and they had agreed the ideal actions and their commitment to delivery of those actions. In short she saw it working, the improvement in numbers proved it in her mind and she was committed.

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During a review she said she did not really do the one-on-one but kept on top of it by regular brief and daily interactions with her team.

We discussed that if people are to generate sustainable changes in behaviours they needed to have their mind in the right place. We then discussed how to get people reflective, and how do we really get clarity in our thinking, and she agreed that it was best done without distractions, and where the mind was clear. Finally we discussed again the idea of professionalism, the quiet steady focus on what we have to do and the steely quiet resolve to do it each day as needed.

After a moments reflection she agreed, and committed to do the one-on-one meetings to engender more professional reflection in the minds of her team member, ‘pulling them out’ of day to day, and assisting them to get clear on what is needed and why, and then when they had agreed, then having her people re-commit to day to day with improved clarity and focus and the quiet determination to get it done more often and to a better standard.

Christmas and New Year holidays intervened. On the first visit to the dealership since the meeting, Michele immediately approached to say how successful the one-on-ones were going. That everything discussed proved to be so, that the ’time out’ aspect of the one-on-one meetings was a great idea, and already ideas had come up on how to sharpen the ideal actions, and that already there were clear and definite signs of improved professional focus. And the people felt good, proud of their professional efforts at improved delivery of ideal actions.

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Numbers are improving along with improved customer satisfaction.

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The definition of human capital

People impact results. The problem is the organization does not own people; technically they are rented from society (in the full economic definition of rent). ‘People’ are in the exact same category as rented premises, the organization does not get to keep them when it leaves, hence such premises are not able to be capitalized on a balance sheet, so neither can people. In defining human capital we need identify what the company owns, can control and retain when people leave.

Defining the human capital question to be addressed

Assume the directorate has considered the options and selected the OPD theory as the organization design specification, and that the executive are now expected to implement the OPD-SHRM processes. The question on human capital can now be defined: Under the OPD theory what

exactly is human capital, and what exactly does the

organization own and retain when people leave (if anything)

and hence could be valued and used in the balance sheet?

We seek a number that represents the quality of human capital in the business. The number must meet the following criteria: the number represents factors fully owned and under control of the business; does not alter when people leave; parallels the impact of human performance on the profit and loss. So, for example, the bigger the number the greater the extent the organization had learned how to achieve greatest human performance in relation to the profit and loss, and hence achieve greatest profits.

The number sought is the quantification of the concept of ‘the learning organization’, with the number measuring what

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the ‘organization’ has learned in management of human performance as a strategic factor in the profit and loss. The number we seek is not the learning of people, but that aspect of what people know that is captured by the organization and is encapsulated in some way within the structure of the organization independent of people, and remains when people leave.

A strong human capital value would give much confidence to investors, they would know that under any circumstances the business will rebound and rebound faster than competitors. Second, such a number would guide management, since if it is lower than an agreed standard there would remain scope to improve results but increasing the value of the human capital.

Definition of human capital value in OPD theory

Leadership judgment is judgment of the behavioral structure needed to achieve the strategy. The judgment of the behavioural structure is captured in the OPD-SHRMIS system, and incorporates the collective insight of team leaders106 as to the actions that enable the greatest chance of greatest success. Leadership judgment is therefore a fixed and standing estimate of the action needed by staff to get the greatest result and is retained when people leave.

Leadership effectiveness is the artfulness and skill of team leaders to guide staff to deliver ideal actions to a standard such that the company has greatest chance of greatest success. Leadership effectiveness is the skills of team leaders and the extent those skills translate into the daily actions of staff and the commitment and motivation lying behind those actions.

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Leadership judgement

1. Create an apt and sharp team game plan.

2. Integrate the individual game plans with the team game plan.

Leadership effectiveness

1. Guide people to ‘turn up’ and do it.

These distinctions in OPD theory lead immediately to a definition of human capital value in two parts. Fixed or

standing human capital value arising from leadership judgment is captured in the OPD-SHRM system as the role specifications that define the behavioural structure that must be enacted for the strategy to be achieved. Fixed human capital value is owned by the company and retained when staff resigns. Dynamic human capital value arising from leadership effectiveness defined as in skills and energy in the mind and emotions of staff. Dynamic human capital value is not owned by the company it is only rented cannot be capitalised.

Fixed or standing human capital value

The fixed human capital value is in the architecture reflecting the collective judgment of the successive team leaders. The fixed standing structure includes the following.

1. The strategic judgment of the position of the business in the market.

2. Governance policy brief for the CEO on the selection of the OPD theory as the organization design specification

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with subsequent focus on identifying and delivery of behavioral structure relative to the strategy.

3. Clarity and relevance of the behavioral structure as encapsulated in the architecture. This must be accurate and up to date in the SHRM IT system (in OPD theory referred to as OPD-SHRMIS107).

4. Standing policy manual on what team leader must do to deliver HR processes in their team.

These are all standing documents of information systems independent of people. They remain fully intact when people leave. The SHRM IT system is a clear and precise ‘model’ on how to achieve greatest performance, the manuals and policy briefs are then largely guides on how to implement fully the SHRM system in every team. The higher the assessed value of the SHRMIS system the more the company has learned of how to achieve greatest profits through the people.

Dynamic human capital value

The dynamic aspects of human performance in the organization are encapsulated most fully in the audits.

1. The cultural audits measures how well team members understand their KPIs, understand the best practice ideal actions to deliver the KPIs, are committed to delivering them, have sound business processes people understand and respect, and have sound team leader relations with team members feeling supported in their striving to achieve.

2. Internal team performance audits measuring the extent each team appropriately serves the team it needs serve in order to ensure performance and efficiency.

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3. Customer audits, measuring satisfaction of the group the organization must finally serve.

The higher the audit score from the OPD-SHRM system then the more effective team leaders in translating the ideal actions into actual behavior, and again the higher the profit.

Using OPD-SHRMIS statistics to gauge likely profit

performance

Considerations for assessing profit performance are ranked as follows:

Strategic choice: Has the business identified a clear and compelling position in the market?

Design specification choice: Have the directors selected the most compelling organization design specification offering greatest chance fully of engaging staff so harnessing human performance to fully realize the potential of the selected market position?

Leadership judgment: How well has the leadership identified the key standing elements of the architecture and encapsulated them in policy and operation briefs and in the SHRM IT system? The standing items have an associated cost both of initial set up and ongoing maintenance. This could be capitalized.

Leadership effectiveness: How well is the leadership guiding delivery of the architecture? This is measured in the audits, however, it is crucial to understand that the audits are geared to the OPD theory, and ‘cultural or staff satisfaction audits’ under the historical paradigm will not provide the

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reliable guide to assessing profit performance since they are not related to coherent underlying theory.

An organization with a strong ranking against these parameters will show strong current profits, significantly greater than ‘current best industry results’, and given maintenance of the SHRM structure, that profit lead will be maintained regardless of the economic cycle.

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Measuring the ROI on HR expenditure

There is limited data on relating HR input to results. One financial analysis of HR improvements using the current global statistical model of the link between HR input and results is from Sears Roebuck who correlated a 5% improvement in staff attitude to a 1.5% increase in customer satisfaction which was then correlated with a 0.5% increase in sales.

Using the normalization of the OPD system this becomes for a 1% increase in staff attitude there was a 0.1% increase in sales revenues. This is a solid result, but statistical. The sort of questions that arise include – how do we increase staff attitude? Will all staff respond? How do we measure the gains? Is it reproducible? How it is managed long term? If we stop doing it will results slip back?

Imagine the ideal actions of some sport, the skills of say golf, or tennis. Then ask yourself, if you practice one skill each week would you performance improve over time? ‘Of course’, I can hear the reply. It is difficult to imagine that performance would not improve. The skill sets to be refined are direct, very clear and immediately related to the game to be played. The effort is precise and in direct relation to the desired results.

Now imagine as well that you made an effort too not just physically practice and get the skills more refined, but you choose to work on your mental application. You trained your mind to be more focused, clearer on the actions needed to get the best result, and developed greater commitment in mind to actually deliver the best shot every time. Would your performance improve…? Of course, in fact it is very likely that performance would improve without physically practicing the

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skills or at least only practicing those sills where you are below the standard needed.

The OPD theory merely applies this exact concept to business. Identify the actions needed to get the result (the KPI), ensure the person has the skills to do it, then guide direct on-the-job application by assisting the person develop the professional frame of mind to deliver the agreed ideal actions to the agreed standard. In effect, the team leader is equivalent to the tennis or golf coach, for both the skills and for the mental application.

Developing your mind so that it is fully focused on the

actions needed to get the result, without distraction, is key skill

that will likely have the greatest impact on your immediate

performance.

With OPD theory the steps needed by the team leader to coach a team member are very, very clear, causal and direct. Let’s call these leadership steps the ‘levers’ to be used in guiding development of the appropriate frame of mind in the team member. One of those levers is making clear to the person the choices they have… this has already been discussed in detail.

Only via our minds do we get the best out of ourselves, the start point being us wanting to get the best out of ourselves.

The principle will work in all minds, every time. It is not statistical, but direct; it is causal, based on a very simple and very clear theory that links results with the state of mind of the person who has agreed to deliver the actions that produce the results. The focus in the theory is on the team member-team leader relationship, the causal and direct interaction, behavioral

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management process, one-on-one whereby the team leader guides the person in developing and focusing their mind to get the best out of themselves. If the team leader does not want to get the best out of their team members then they should be released, if the team member does not want to get the best out of themselves then they too should be released.

In figure 8 above, the link between HR input and results consists of two precise steps, first the extent actual behavior can be made closer to the ideal actions needed; second, the link between ideal action and the result. The first step is the increase in human performance the second step is the OPD profit profile link.

The link between the ideal actions and the result is similar to a bunker shot in golf and the final result. Imagine a weak bunker shot, it takes an extra 2 shots to get out, so six on a par four. Then imagine a good bunker shot; there is no loss of shot due the bunker. The bunker shot is then worth 2 strokes within the game of golf.

Assume par is 72 strokes. Then we take 2 as a percentage of 72, which is 2.7%. We can project that the bunker shot is worth 2.7% reduction in the average score when in a bunker, that this is a relationship between an ideal action of the game, the bunker shot, and performance, as measured in the final score. We could then use this estimate to gauge the improvement in our game arising from improving our bunker shot.

The OPD profit profile link (OPDPPL) is of the same quality. It is an estimate of the link between the ideal actions and result. It is a number that links the impact on the result of delivery of the ideal actions to standard. The impact of ideal

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actions on results will vary between industries, potentially between business in the same industry and the same business in different regions.

I have no a priori method of assessing the OPDPPL, with the current estimates arising from work with clients. On current evidence the OPDPPL for sales sits in range 0.3% to 0.4% increase, for operating costs in range 0.2% to 0.3% reduction, and for administration in range 0.1% to 0.2% reduction.

The two steps are then put together, for example, assume that human performance can be increased 10% that is the percentage actual staff behavior can guided to more closely match ideal actions. Then if we have OPDPPL for sales of 0.35, operating costs, or direct costs of 0.25, and overhead of 0.1, we calculate the OPD profit improvement factors (OPDPIF) for sales 3.5% (0.35x10), direct costs 2.5% (0,25x10), and overhead 1%. (0.1x10).

It is very important to understand that these changes 3.5% increase in sales, and reductions of 2.5% for direct costs and 1.0% for overheads are projected to arise from improved human performance alone, no other factor is bought to account. So for example, it does not include new marketing initiatives, or a new piece of equipment, or improved software to manage inventory.

From figure 9 we then apply these profit improvement factors to calculate that implementing OPD-SHRM projects profit gains of 40%. The large increase in profits arises because profits are a small number derived by taking the difference between to very much larger numbers so any quite small

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change in either of the larger numbers can have a very large impact on the profits.

The greatest potential for profit increase lies in people.

The team climate or team cultural audit

Improved financial results follow improved human performance. Therefore auditing the level of human performance provides an early warning indicator of future profitability or at least the stability of current profitability assuming economic conditions remain similar.

The aim of the OPD cultural audit is to assess the average strength of the performance frame in the mind of team members.

The audit covers five key factors of team performance; four relate to the mind set of team members, the fifth is business processes108. The five factors are summarized below.

1. Focus: Do people know the KPIs expected to be achieved in the roles assigned them?

2. Accuracy: Do people know the ideal actions from each of the KPIs needed to achieve the KPI?

3. Commitment: Are people willing to deliver the ideal actions to standard?

4. Team leader support: Do people feel supported by their team leader in their striving for success?

5. Usefulness of business processes: Do people feel the business processes in the team assist and support them to do a good job?

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There are also two critical aspects of the structure of the audit. Each audit factor is asked several times and the system ignores the highest and lowest and then averages the middle four scores. If the spread of scores (called internal constancy) is too high it means people did not take the questions seriously, or did not understand, high internal consistency invalidates the audit.

The second structural factor is the spread; this is the spread of scores between team members. For example, one scored a factor 5 and the other 8. This can mean they have different scoring patterns, it also can mean they see the situation very differently. High spread does not invalidate the audit, but does mean the team leader needs to be very cautious when doing team discussions since different team members may be interpreting the discussion very differently. A team leader in touch with their team should not be surprised if a high spread occurs in team audit scores, they should already know about such variation in the opinion of team members.

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Graphing team climate or cultural audit results

Graph 1 relates scores on a 1-10 scale to the emotional response in the person. The graph was researched 25 years ago109.

Imagine you score some topic 6, this is positive for you, if only just positive. Now imagine you score it 4, this is negative for you, if only just negative. Now imagine scoring it 7, this is higher than 6, but you were positive anyway, and it is not a large change, just better. Same for 8, 9, and 10 although 10 is different, 10 is perfect and few people use 10 in such grading although they understand 10 exists and is to be strived for. Similar features emerge when rating things 3, not 4, then 2 and 1, people use 1, which is as negative as they can be, whereas they often do not use 10.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Neutral 50:50

C: 4.8

B: 7.5

A: 9.4 Excellent 9.3

and over

Mean scores on 1 to 10 scale against emotional response.

Good, 8.5

to 9.2

S atisfactory 6.6 to 8.4

Marginal 5.5 to 6.5

Poor below 5.5

Graph 1

Positive emotions

Negative emotions

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The shape of the graph that emerges is perhaps exaggerated in the scale, but it carries the chief point, namely the action in the graph occurs between 4 and 6, with a change from negative emotions to positive emotions. The graph flattens somewhat at the top (6-10) and bottom (4-1). The ratings of poor to excellent are then structured along the graph and arose from practice and experience and have no fundamental a priori validity.

The audit graph reflects the resilience of team performance

Imagine a ball sitting on the graph which is a bit sticky, behind the ball is a chock. The chock stops the ball rolling back. The stickiness makes it hard to push the ball up the graph and slows the ball when it rolls back.

Now imagine the management make a mistake, this is equivalent to removing the chock, the ball immediately rolls back. The steeper the slope the further back the ball rolls. Hence marginal is where the score is 5.5 to 6.5, the slope is beginning to increase markedly, if the ball is at 4.9, then it could roll all the way back to 3 before the stickiness of the graph slows it to a stop.

I am sure the imagery is clear; the graph reflects the resilience of the people.

Now imagine getting a team to 9.5. The graph is sticky, and although the slope is low, it demands a great deal of effective team leader effort supported by the broader executive leadership as the background to reach this level – this is definitely born out in practice.

What happens if management make a mistake when the team is at score of 9.5, then with such a gently slope the team

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slips to 8.5 (still extremely positive) and steady’s, and with management being aware enough to get to 9.5 in first place, then management will quickly deal with their errors and not make that mistake again so that team quickly moves back to 9.5.

The financial impact of high resilience

A high team audit score results in high resilience and responsiveness, and high level of performance satisfaction, all of these are borne out in practice with clients110. High resilience alone is strong enough reason to work hard to build to a high audit score, but there are also strong financial reasons.

Review graph 1, and imagine companies with audit scores at A 9.4, B 7.5 and C 4.8.

‘A’ People will be very responsive. Management mistakes and missteps will be walked past quickly (although still it would not pay to make too many of them, or leave them linger too long and become a serious irritant). There will be least pressure on the leadership, and overall this will be an enjoyable place to work with lots of recognition and success. People will be proud to say they worked here. The business will show downturn in economic slumps, but will come up more quickly than competitors due staff response and their willingness to think and get on with it. The company will be at the top end of best practice111 in its industry, if not industry leader.

‘B’ a solid ‘average’ audit score. Management and mistakes and missteps will have a noticeable impact on morale and on cafeteria chat. There will be firm and

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consistent pressure on management to make it work and drive the business. Success will be steady; the business will be industry average profit to sales or bit below average. There will always be that striving to reach up for budget which never is as close as it should be. A sense of under achievement will pervade opinion (“we are better than this”, “if we could just get our act together”).

‘C’ a weak audit result meaning weak responsiveness. Management mistakes and missteps will have a major impact on morale and on cafeteria chat (“here we go again”, “when will those ass-holes get anything right”). People will be evasive when admitting they work there. There will be extensive and constant pressure on the leadership to drive results and budgets are always too far away. The profit to sales will be so below industry best practice that the measure is not used. Likely, unless things change, the company would not survive a serious downturn or will only do so with significant capital injection.

Normalization of cultural team audit scores against the

profit and loss

Within OPD theory normalization of audit results is done within each company.

The initial112 understanding of the relationship between audit score and financial result is in graph 2.

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The graph approaches the vertical axis in asymptotically crossing the axis at the optimum of perfect human performance (cultural audit score if 10). The process of normalization plots this graph, so the senior executive can chart the gap between current result from current human performance and the potential result with perfect human performance, assuming such a result is available from the market. The nagging question is with better human performance will the market allow better results.

Graph 2

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People can and will manipulate the results; therefore it is essential that audit scores are compared against actual dollar results. The graph is shown above, graph 2. If the audit score is high but results not, then this needs to be immediately examined by people equipped to judge what is going on: I have had two examples, both involving branch based businesses.

First example was manipulation of the result by the people in the branch, this came to fore when audit scores were being reviewed against budget results, all were sensibly in line, except one, with a very high score of over 9, and only 75% of budget being achieved, this relationship was outstandingly different from the other 11 branches. On careful research from senior executives it was uncovered that the branch manager was having an affair with the senior person in the branch, this

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resulted in high audit scores not matched to high financial results. The manager and staff member were both dismissed.

Second was a downturn in the market in a particular rural town. The branch results slumped but showed very high audit scores. The branch stated a downturn in the local market, this was carefully investigated to confirm that in the market served by the branch two major customers had left the town and the market was down to two thirds what it had been. Branch staff had in fact done a remarkable job increasing market share holding the highest market share of any branch nationally. The branch was closed, there were six in the branch; three decided to stay in the rural town the other three were promoted.

Imagine your current staff performance as it generates a solid if not spectacular profit to sales ratio with an audit score of 8.0. Now imagine investment in OPD design specification etc, so that the audit score went to 8.8 a realistic increase of 10% improvement in human performance. In a market that was able to respond to improvement in staff behavior this would then be multiplied by the OPD profit profile link (OPDPPL); an increase in audit scores can result in a substantial increase in financial results.

The ROI of HR in OPD theory

There is a necessary investment to move audit scores from 8.0 to 8.8. Using audit graph which normalizes audits scores against the financial results the improved audit score can be translated in a projected gain in financial results. The expenditure to achieve the shift in audit score is then related to the gain in results to provide the projected ROI on HR investment.

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The project is then undertaken and the investment compared to the improvement in audit scores and to the improved financial result, this data further consolidating insight into the relationship between human performance, management investment and the market response to increased human effort.

The OPD-SHRMIS113 system

The model of human capital can be summarized as the standing factor of the quality of definition of the architecture and its encapsulation in the OPD-SHRMIS system with supporting policy and operational guidelines; and the dynamic factor of how well the leadership guide people to deliver the behavioral structure as embodied in the standing factor.

The point is an OPD-SHRIS system is the essence of the learning firm, the encapsulation of the collective judgment of successive leadership into the behavioral best practice for achieving the greatest result.

HRIS systems are not OPD-SHRMIS systems; they administer HR and do not deliver or capture the necessary factors that result in an effective SHRM system.

The key aspects of the OPD-SHRMIS system contain all HR processes: internal and external audits, performance management, record architecture, leadership project management, profit improvement management, coaching and assessment, OPD balanced score card (see later section) and reminders to team leaders, etc; integrate all the processes; and are based on a clearly defined and causal model of the link between results and staff behavior.

Currently, globally, the OPD-SHRM system is the only one meeting these criteria.

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The greater the quality of the OPD-SHRMIS system the more the team leadership has reflected and got accurate the ideal actions, if that is then supported by the commitment of team leaders to see the ideal actions implemented profits will improve.

Predicting the future stability of current profitability

The OPD approach to a balanced score card is to balance internal, human capital value with external, customer satisfaction audits as follows.

Internal: Any company which loses touch with the hearts and minds of its staff will be less profitable than it could be. More technically, if a company allows the value of its human capital as defined in this article to fall, then in due course profits will fall regardless of economic conditions.

External: Any company which loses touch with the hearts and minds of its customers will be less profitable than it could be.

There will be a lag, some time after the internal or external cultural audit or customer satisfaction audit figures drop then financial results will fall. The key to sustainable high profits is to maintain a high human capital value and high current customer satisfaction.

Build or lease

The crucial role of the HR Department is to oversee the accuracy and quality of the standing human capital value throughout the organization, and guide team leaders in ensuring their teams are delivering the agreed behavioral structure in their teams.

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No organization today would build its own accounting system. This accounting system is exactly parallel the SHRM IT system which performs an equally crucial role in ensuring the greatest sustainable success.

Leasing (via the license fee) the SHRM IT system ensures maintenance in line with IT technical progress, upgrades based on broader learning about effective SHRM than from within a single company, and more appropriate application of capital and resource.

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Professionalism

The key question is how people approach their job; the model of the relationship of a person with their job is well known and is visible every day on the TV sports channel. I call it ‘professionalism’, that is sports professional approach the task of their sport with a certain detachment, once in the game they do not allow any other thoughts to be in mind as they strive to deliver the actions needed to win. Words such as focus, clarity, self-discipline typify the mind set of the professional sports person. They are competitive, with most of that competitiveness focused back onto their own mind to control and moderate internal thoughts and emotions that have the potential to interfere with the delivery of the ideal actions they know needed to give themselves greatest chance of success. They are creative in the moment, and within the bounds of the game, but well understand that in the next game or one after, they will do largely the same things they did in the last game. They also practice and practice to hone their skills at the key actions they know are the essential basics.

The essential principle is people ‘approach’ their roles in an objective but committed manner, called professionalism. Within OPD theory professionalism is the only way to succeed. This leads to the insight that there is only one culture for any organization, namely a professional culture with people focused and striving for the best possible shot each time.

Building the focus on performance

A very important consequence of the OPD theory is that performance is only related to that part of people necessary to achieve the results.

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For example, to continue the analogy with sports; if a sports person is thinking, for example, of family when in the game, their performance will be eroded by those thoughts, since their mind will not be on the game.

There is little dispute that this is so in sport, but within OPD theory the relationship between sports performance and commercial or organizational performance is exactly the same. That is an objective approach to delivery of those action judged as needed to achieve the greatest result.

Therefore if someone does not have the mind on the delivery of the ideal actions needed to get results in business then their performance will be eroded to that extent.

This means that HR in organizations does not deal with the ‘whole’ person, and one of the key factors in guiding improved delivery in the OPD theory is people being encouraged to focus, and a critical aspect of that is to leave at home those things that are not pertinent to delivery of the ideal actions at work114.

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Implementation: Redesigning the

organization

The aim of OPD-SHRM is to establish ideal actions as habit in which all people in the organization find flow on a daily basis.

The team leader is in the best position to work with the team member and guide development of the team member’s professional frame of mind to achieve improved delivery of the agreed ideal actions115. However after several years116 of client involvement we have learned that sustainable implementation requires more than merely focusing on the one-on-one team member-team leader relationship.

Only by harmonizing our thinking can we successful

harmonize working together to achieve a common goal.

The critical choice for people under OPD theory is to accept that they are expected to approach their assigned role in the exact same emotional manner as they would approach a sport.

Delivery of the assigned ideal actions is to be approached as a professional task and accepted as a personal responsibility. Once these choices are made by the person, the role of the team leader is to provide support and feedback and guidance of the person to be as successful as they then choose to be.

Key benchmarks of implementation

1. The Directors make a conscious governance decision to implement the OPD theory as the organization design specification117.

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2. The CEO sees delivery of ideal actions as his critical focus118.

3. Overview for senior executives and Directors.

4. Team leaders from senior executive delegated responsibility for implementation in their teams.

5. Restructure and alignment of HR systems and processes119.

6. Agree admin processes for OPD-SHRM.

7. Review the role structure and reporting. Agree key summary strategic statement used as start point of the goal cascade. Agree goals/KPIs in each role. Draft architecture with a role specification for every role with clear processes needed to ensure efficient internal work flow and quality internal and external customer service.

8. Workshop for all team leaders120.

9. Time budgeting workshop for all staff121.

10. Monthly consolidation workshops with all team leaders for 12-18 months on the tools for improved team results.

11. As appropriate train internal HR resources in the maintenance of OPD-SHRM.

The OPD theory applies to any sized organization, from 2 to 200,000. The need for systemization of minds is hidden in small business by more intimate relationships.

OPD theory applies in each mind and performance will

always improve from improved thinking.

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The behavioral management process

The core OPD-SHRM process is via one-on-one meetings each month between team leader and team member. This one-on-one process is called the behavioral management process.

The central question addressed at the one-on-one meetings is: Are the ideal actions still apt, are they being fully delivered

and how can we improve them and their delivery?

The meetings should be no more than half an hour per role per month including preparation. Team leaders with 10 staff and 20 roles (two roles for each staff member) need commit 10 hours of leadership time each month. This time commitment needed applies to all team leaders from CEO to the lowest level supervision122. The emotional tone of the meetings is objective, it is a discussion between a more experienced person, the team leaders, with the person who has agreed to accept the role and agreed the ideal actions are the best way to achieve success in the role. It is a professional discussion about professional behavior.

Every person is given the choice of being successful in their

chosen job and then they have the choice to conduct themselves

according to the ideal actions they helped determine.

Should the person choose not to align their minds to achieve the work success, choose not to work/cooperate with the team leader, or if they prove to lack integrity in relation to their stated choice of striving being successful in their work life, then it is recommended the organization release them.

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Engagement, motivation and link between a

role and the person

From OPD theory there emerges very clear distinction between engaging people with their work and background factors that could cause dissatisfaction. This distinction which is intrinsic to the OPD theory marries precisely with the Hertzberg hygiene and motivation factors, and this terminology will be adopted since it is a precise fit and is well understood.

Hertzberg hygiene and motivator factors123

Hygiene and motivation factors have separate impact on people. A person can enjoy the work, be very happy and fully in flow, yet can be quite dissatisfied with the background platform of hygiene factors. The hygiene factors are the package of platform of factors aimed to reduce ‘dissatisfaction’. The motivation factors are the full OPD-SHRM system124. The two sets of factors are summarized below.

Motivator Factors

Achievement

Recognition

Work Itself

Responsibility

Promotion

Growth

Hygiene Factors

Pay and Benefits

Company Policy and Administration

Relationships with co-workers

Supervision

Status

Job Security

Working Conditions

Personal life

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Building the hygiene framework

Hygiene factors are important in providing the framework within which people apply themselves to their assigned game plans. There must be a strong framework of Hygiene factors if the organization is to retain people long term and to be able to recruit people, especially if the market for skills is competitive.

In construction the hygiene factors platform the following need to be taken into account.

1. People are made dissatisfied by a bad environment, but they are seldom made satisfied by a good environment.

2. The prevention of dissatisfaction is just as important as encouragement by motivation.

3. Hygiene factors operate independently of motivation factors. An individual can be highly motivated in his work and be dissatisfied with his work environment.

4. All hygiene factors are equally important, although their frequency of occurrence differs considerably.

5. Hygiene improvements have short-term affects. Any improvements result in a short-term removal of, or prevention of, dissatisfaction.

6. Hygiene needs are cyclical in nature and come back to a starting point. This leads to the "What have you done for me lately?" syndrome.

7. Hygiene needs have an escalating zero point and no final answer. (That is if people went to Hawaii last year, they think they should go to the Seychelles this year.)

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8. Wages and salaries must be competitive.

9. The company must offer expected cultural practices, for example special cultural holidays, or death of family. For example, if a company in a Western liberal democracy does not offer a place for Muslims to pray or does not recognize this is very important to them, then that company is unlikely to recruit many Muslims, especially if some in other company such cultural practices are taken to account in the structure of hygiene factors offered. In providing this hygiene structure then the company may well need to work through how existing employees who do not have this particular cultural demand are served so as not to feel aggrieved.

10. Company Policy and Administration must be fair and balanced, preferably in writing. HR policy drafted so that it gives as much as it demands, so is a ‘bill of rights’ falling on all employees. Signed and available in the cafeteria.

11. Relationships with management and co-workers are ‘professional’ with clear team leadership relationship and reporting.

12. There are clear processes and guidelines in relation to performance which provides an objective basis for performance assessment and job security.

13. Working conditions need to be to a competitive standard.

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The motivation factors

Under OPD, motivators are successful delivery of the game plan, engagement with the ideal actions, the opportunity to work on the ideal actions being applied, the reward and recognition from success at delivery of the ideal actions, etc.

Success for the individual is the delivery of the agreed actions judged to offer greatest chance of greatest success.

People are asked to accept responsibility for their behavior at work.

People are not asked to accept responsibility for the numbers or other measures of success, which intrinsically are ‘owned’ more by the team leader, the team leader’s team leader and finally the CEO of the organization who is finally accountable for the roll out of strategy.

People are offered:

1. Choice and then gently but firmly held to account for their choices.

2. Recognition for acceptance of responsibility for self.

3. Opportunity to be creative and contribute to development and refinement of the ideal actions and so work on the very structure of the job.

4. Engagement of mind via visualization of the ideal actions.

5. Recognition of achievement in successful delivery of the ideal actions each day at work.

6. Respect for the effort in delivery of their share of the team effort, the delivery of their game plan to standard each day.

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7. Personal growth through learning how to lead self, be more professional, improve ideal actions, business processes, and integrate with other teams and roles.

8. Promotion depending on professionalism and success in delivery of ideal actions assigned.

Flow

Flow was researched and analyzed by Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi125 and are the moments of greatest happiness when people lose themselves within an activity.

Csíkszentmihályi identifies the following ten factors as accompanying an experience of flow

1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one's skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.

2. Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).

3. A loss of the feeling of self-conscious, the merging of action and awareness...

4. Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered.

5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).

6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).

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7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.

8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.

9. A lack of awareness of bodily needs (to the extent that one can reach a point of great hunger or fatigue without realizing it)

10. Absorption into the activity, narrowing of the focus of awareness down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.

Not all the above are needed for flow to be experienced.

An integrated motivation strategy

The aim of the integrated motivation and performance strategy is to provide a competitive platform of hygiene factors within which the person is guided to find flow within their ideal actions in the roles assigned them.

1. Construct the ‘hygiene’ framework to moderate/minimize dissatisfaction to the level accepted by the executive and governance in relation cost and to the target employee profile.

2. Apply the OPD design specification to fully engage people in the work guiding them to find flow in their assigned ideal actions on a regular basis, if not daily.

‘Good job today’

Imagine a sales person grafting away on the telephone chasing sales opportunities. They did all the right things, they were committed, they changed tact several times and they persisted, and persisted. But, they did not find one immediate

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sales lead. How will they feel? How will they go home? What sort of emotional state will they be in when they arrive tomorrow to do it again?

All business is repetitive. Ideal actions the best judge of how to get the best success. But other factors impact that success, such as the economy, and finding the sales opportunity ready to close now, etc.

The team leader can have a very powerful impact on people by congratulating them on committed delivery of the agreed actions. Recognition of effort from the team leader can have a significant impact on people’s feelings enabling them to go home satisfied in their work even though the ideal actions they delivered did not succeed that day.

One senior sales person in a client spoke of the personal lift it gave them it lifted their spirits and they came in next day willing and ready to do it again, because they knew ‘ideal actions do not work every time, but they are the way to succeed and only by keeping doing them will I succeed’.

Go out and find the people doing the ideal actions to

standard then congratulate them.

Engagement

The idea of ‘engagement’ is as a ‘bond’ between the person and the organization, with this bond leading to improved staff effort, increased engagement results in increased performance.

In the current global HR model engagement is effectively that measured in an engagement survey126, with no underlying and clear orientating theory as to what engagement actually ‘is’. As discussed above, if any theory or model does not define

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the causal mechanisms then the only recourse is to attempt to assess and manage the relationship between inputs and outputs statistically. Hence with no definite and causal theory of engagement then it can only be defined in terms of results from an engagement survey. Second, the typical list of actions to improve engagement is the type of group inputs illustrated in figure 3 which represents the necessary intellectual structure because there is no causal model.

Within OPD theory, the notion of engagement as it is currently understood is split between hygiene factors, and motivation factors. If the level of hygiene factors is too low, then the organization would have unresolved issues of dissatisfaction. For example, wages uncompetitive then if people can go to another similar job under the same team environment, then they will leave. Staff and team relations are included under the ‘hygiene factors’ and all staff are expected to exhibit ‘professional respect and courtesy’ to all other staff at all times; these factors should be introduced at recruitment and induction, and the core of the team and organization social environment spelled out very clearly.

Within OPD theory dissatisfaction is not satisfaction, and people can be dissatisfied with some hygiene factors and satisfied with their job and work at the same time. These terms and circumstances are not mutually contradictory, nor mutually exclusive. To understand, think of a specific circumstance, say desk layout, this is hygiene, it is cramped. But, the person is involved with all aspects of their work, they are very good at it and enjoy it, and gain a lot of success. They are satisfied with work but wish the cramped conditions could be improved. Of course if the cramped conditions get too bad, then they may

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leave. But in the mean time it is very possible that the cramped conditions have no impact whatsoever on the performance of the person.

Bring to account the theory of psychology, frames, what is on a frame, the emotions attached, with the strength of attached emotions setting the priority of the frame in the mind of the person. They are dissatisfied when they think of some things and satisfied when they think of others, and the things that generate satisfaction are of higher priority than the things that generate dissatisfaction. It has to do with what is on the frame, the emotions attached to the frame, with the strength of those emotions setting the priority of the factors within the psyche of the individual.

Definition of engagement within OPD theory

The set of hygiene factors must be sufficient to attract and retain the caliber of staff necessary for the organization to achieve the results. Within OPD theory this is separated from engagement and presented as an essential element in an integrated recruitment, retention and motivation strategy, with these factors being a core of the organizations HR Policy statement that is available to all staff, in the lunch rooms for example, and distributed and discussed with staff during induction.

OPD theory is focused very firmly on results and the performance needed to achieve the result. The OPD-SHRM system is the set of processes to manage behavior such that staff performance enables the greatest possible result.

The decision within OPD theory is then to define engagement as a core factor in the delivery of performance, not

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in a broad and general manner as is done at moment which is covered in OPD theory by hygiene factors, but to make engagement as the central aspect of the delivery of the ideal actions to the highest standard possible.

Consider the relationship between the person and the role they are assigned with OPD-SHRM. Within the role there are well defined ideal actions that need to be implemented if the KPIs, derived from strategy, are to be achieved. In accepting the role, and choosing to be successful within the role, the person agrees to deliver the ideal actions to standard.

Given the understanding of psychology, we can now detail the structure of the professional frame of mind the person must build if they are to achieve as they have agreed to achieve. First, they must have a core frame of reference which carries their commitment to be successful at work. Positive emotions typically attached to this frame. This frame then contains nested within it all other frames related to ‘me at work’. It is essential to understand that this is a very deliberate psychological construction within the mind of the person… we can manage our minds, the only person with access to our mind is ourselves, and if someone chooses not manage their mind then it is strongly recommended they are not recruited and/or not retained in the organization, since they will be a constant emotional drain on the leadership and they will always disappoint in their performance.

Within the nest of frames on work, there must be one with a memorized list of ideal actions. People cannot do that which they do not know, therefore if they do not know what the ideal actions are then they are not able to do them. The team leader

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can also assist get the ideal actions into a performance priority, since inevitably some ideal actions drive straight at numbers, others are ‘admin and stuff’. Over emphasis on ‘stuff’ will erode results.

People must have the skills to act out ideal actions, but assuming this basic, they need to be comfortable with doing the ideal actions, so that when they think of themselves doing ideal actions to standard, they have positive and determined feelings. Determination is crucial, since to achieve the results may require doing things that people do not necessarily ‘like’. This is exactly the issue of Brad Thorn ‘I hate training, but it is what you do’. Brad’s goal was to be a very good footballer, international class. He knew that he needed to train to achieve this goal. He knew training was tough, and he knew tougher the training the more likely he was to succeed in achieving his goal. I have never asked Brad, but I suspect he did not sit at home and think ‘oh wonderful, I have to train and train hard

until I hurt, I will really enjoy that’. I suspect he said with some steely resolve to himself ‘come-on old son, get of ass, it’s

time to train’. I also suspect once he got into it, he was sufficiently committed to his overall goal that he was able to lose himself in the training event… he would get into flow of training since it was the right direction, and he was fully at spiritual peace with his goal and direction he was taking to achieve it.

No point sitting about awaiting inspiration. Motivation comes after the disciplined kick start, if after the disciplined kick start you do not find flow, then likely in your heart you sense you have selected the wrong goal and/or the wrong direction to achieve that goal.

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The final stage of top performance is being able to visualize oneself doing it and feel great about that. Visualization is known to work in sports, and few if any sports people do not use visualization today. Work is exactly like sport, people expected to get on a playing field, ‘work’, and deliver quite precise actions to achieve the result, the agreed ideal actions arising from careful leadership judgment.

Visualization will enable peak performance of preexisting skills. No matter the skill level, by visualizing self doing them the performance will be improved. Visualization is essential core to draw greatest performance from oneself.

When someone can visualize themselves doing ideal actions and to hold positive emotions about that, then they can be said to be engaged with what they have to do. So now we have frames on which there are images of self doing the things needed to get the result to which they agreed in the role, and these visualization frames nested within the frame of reference where they are seeking to be personally successful in their work life, so the visualized frames are then associated with positive emotions, satisfaction arises from delivering ideal actions to standard, and then reinforced when the goals achieved. The stronger the emotional support for these frames the stronger the performance.

This argument leads to the definition of engagement within OPD theory ‘engagement as visualization’. Visualization is after the ideal actions identified, after leadership judgment, visualization is the final crucial consolidation of leadership effectiveness in guiding delivery of ideal action to the highest standard.

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The emotional structure of work

To find flow, people must be in touch with aspects of their core emotional structure.

The OPD insight is that sales and operation roles are fundamentally emotionally different.

1. A sales person starts each day with an empty piece of paper and has a great day when they fill it.

2. An operations person starts each day with a full piece of paper and has a great day when they empty it.

Flow will not occur unless the emotional structures of the person are consistent with the inherent emotional structure of the role.

The leadership of the organization must understand the emotional structure of the roles, and to guide people to be aware of the inherent emotional demand of a role. Just because a person does not immediately have the emotional structure consistent with the intrinsic emotional demand of the role does not mean they will not be able to do the ideal actions to a high standard, people may choose to press growth on themselves by deliberately stretching themselves. I refer to this as the personal issue of choosing ‘I hate training but it is what you do’ and pushing themselves to adopt and adapt and develop. Under these circumstances, the person may not reach the standard of a ‘natural’, but may still reach an extremely high standard of delivery of the ideal actions involved.

The emotional aim of leadership is to guide people achieve

flow in their assigned role thereby making work life as

enjoyable as it can be.

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Awareness in the role

One important factor in OPD is awareness while delivering ideal actions. For example, imagine a golfer that has a level of awareness that enabled them to stop their golf swing mid way, step back and begin again. Or, a rugby captain able to change the game plan mid way into the second half because what was agreed was not working. Shifting game plans while engaged with delivery of a game plan can be facilitated in OPD by having variations to a set of ideal actions depending on the exact circumstance that emerges: such as having several scripts for gaining sales appointments. People are then guided to retain awareness of effort-result, and to change ideal actions as judged appropriate. The imagery is of ‘seeing’ professional behavior as like rail tracks, and the person can swap to another set of tracks if the one they are on is not working for them on that day.

This is important creative effort directly involving delivery of daily ideal actions.

The impact of work satisfaction

Karl was the manager of a service team of twelve. He had been operating the OPD-SHRM system for eighteen months, and results were exceptional, with his unit the best in the country, and one of the very best in the industry. The people had a national industry wide reputation.

One senior customer service and planning person was offered a job in another company on very much more salary. They approached Karl, who listened carefully with increasing nervousness to their story knowing he could not match the salary being offered by the competitor. Karl stated as much.

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The senior person smiled and told Karl not to be concerned, they had no intention of leaving, they had done some research on the nature of the culture in the other business and had decided it did not offer anywhere near the same scope or satisfaction. The person then said ‘thanks’ to Karl for giving them such scope, such opportunity and such daily satisfaction in at work, and that they had learned so much.

The organization culture

People are expected to be professional and guided to be more professional. Hence all organizations have a culture of ‘professionalism’. Professionalism begins with each person assuming responsibility for their own conduct at work, and understanding that they are expected to adopt an objective deliberate approach to the delivery of the ideal actions assigned to them.

Organization may differ in style, so in one there is mufti Mondays or formal suit and ties or not, etc. Style is just that, style, and is not the core cultural emphasis which is professionalism.

The organization mission

The idea of ‘business mission’ does not arise in OPD theory replaced by ‘strategic summary’ which is a quite succinct and focused statement of what the organizations aims to do, for whom, and the expected return by when. The strategic summary is the statement from which the goal cascade begins and hence from which the behavioral structure is identified.

Within the broader ethical situation of the community in which the organization is embedded the organization has the mission of doing better what it does thereby staying in business

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and building the base of sustainable wages, salaries and expenses it spends in the community thereby providing a sustainable economic base for the community.

The organization values127

There are four types of organization values.

Interpersonal relationships: All staffs no matter rank or level are expected to treat all other staff with professional respect and common courtesy; this needs to be exhibited by all team leaders and insisted upon by team leaders in their teams. If anyone does not know what the term ‘professional respect and common courtesy’ means then they are perhaps best not recruited.

Corporate cultural values: The organization is separate from people; therefore it can have a relationship with staff independent of the staff member’s team leader.

Corporate cultural values are intrinsic in how the organization will treat staff members and can be codified in the HR policy statement which can be best seen as a statement of the ‘bill of rights’ of staff regardless of their relationship with their manager: Such items as leave, cultural special leave or practices, absenteeism, sickness, availability of crèche, etc. HR policy defines much of the hygiene factor cultural platform available to staff and aimed at moderating staff dissatisfaction.

Broader social cultural sensitivity: OPD theory is applicable in all cultures and all social situations and only requires appropriate awareness of potentially sensitive issues such as: Take account of social cultural sensitivities when dealing with different cultural groups; aware of communication and language barriers; and in particular ensuring the platform

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of hygiene factors accounts for all cultural factors which if mishandled have the potential to cause dissatisfaction.

Corporate community values: The manner in which the governance of the organization conducts the organization as a ‘good citizen’. Ethical and moral issues embedded in corporate community values are discussed more fully in a later section. For now, corporate community values are able to be measured in the extent the organization delivers on its community mission of doing better at what it does, staying in business and thereby increasing the sustainable wealth base of the community. Corporate community values are then an aspect of the overriding value of the organization derived from the founders to be successful128.

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Why does OPD theory get applied?

Because it makes sense to people (build a sound game plan and turn up and deliver on it). Team leaders ‘get it’, and see immediately that it will add to the performance of the team. People ‘get it’ and see immediately it will enable personal success. It is easy to apply. It is what people do, it just makes it sharper and that much more effective and so take very little time. The techniques are realistic and very useful and helpful; they are real and apply in all life. People feel more supported by their team leader in achieving their work success. People learn about their own professionalism develop it, and apply it else where which is delivery of agreed ideal actions. It makes a big difference in achieving better results. It makes work life more successful and more satisfying. People feel better about themselves and their work success.

Learning experience

From client experiences to date several key issues have emerged.

It is harder than it looks to move from understanding to

doing as matter of habit: A CEO will ‘see’ the correctness of the model and logic of it, but it is very difficult to shift from the understanding to have them acting each day consistent with that understanding. The change in behavior takes much longer than would appear.

The role of the CEO is crucial129. The role of the CEO is to ensure the team leaders are applying the processes. The second crucial aspect is to ensure team leaders understand that the CEO retains full responsibility for the aptness of ideal actions and the CEO has merely delegated the daily management of

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that to the team leader. The CEO in effect signs off every set of ideal actions in every team… and we have found it is important for team leaders to feel this steady consistent pressure.

Implementation of the OPD design specification in every

team is not negotiable under directive from the CEO. Then HR aligns itself as the HR strategic performance partner with every team leader as the crucial resource of insight and skill in applying the system to achieve greater results than the team leader could otherwise achieve.

Senior executive teams typically do not drive it through on

their own: A team of senior executives will also ‘see’ the method, and will implement it to a point. One key client achieved a level about 40% above what is regarded as very good industry standard, the CEO became preoccupied with a new venture, and results slipped to about 20% above industry benchmark. At a recent strategic performance review of the system, the CEO said “I could go away and drop in a couple of afternoons each week and the team will get me good profit to sales … but to get very good or higher then I need pay attention to their leadership of their teams… so my worth as leader is about $500,000 in annual profits. They do not get that extra on their own”. It is the extra drive and intensity of the CEO that gets the extra result. Typically the CEO has this drive and is why they are CEO. This does raise the question of a ‘number one’ being born with that edge, that difference, and it is hard to learn, with a ‘number two’ being a number two.

Aligning the HR department is crucial and harder than it

looks130: Where HR departments are involved it is crucial the department is realigned with the model and its consequences.

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This is much more difficult than it appears; the difficult part is people grasping the extent of the difference when they think they are doing much of it now with job descriptions, engagement audits leadership training and cultural audits. The theory aligns every HR action and every leadership action to ensure they all contribute to better delivery of better ideal actions so results improve.

The OPD-SHRM focus and methodology is the only

‘leadership’ training required. The nature of team leadership is exactly the same from top to bottom.

Competence with the technical aspects of the work is

essential. When technical competence is in place, and OPD-SHRM leadership system then implemented, results can increase by near 100%.

There is no business where OPD-SHRM is not applicable and that will not benefit by better management of human performance as a strategic factor in the profit and loss. If it works in one person, it will work in all people, if and only if they choose to apply it. Similarly, the OPD theory is independent of social culture.

Note that better management of human performance is ‘business speak’ for better management of minds throughout the organization guided by every team leader, and quietly but firmly driven by the CEO.

Corporate management is separate from the individual

development: Individual development is the application of the processes to individuals by team leaders. Corporate management is monitored via HR overseeing the OPD-

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SHRMIS combined with normal monitoring of financial results.

HR must become the ‘technical’ partner for every team

leader. HR must emerge as the key source of insight and skill and applying the OPD-SHRM technology.

The talent system identifies people who can apply the

processes to a team and get excellent results. While it is systematised, it is like tennis, which is systematised, but there are always those who can play better by instinct.

Talent development is then the process of ensuring the person has the intellectual capacity and breadth to step up to roles more demanding of reflective thinking and creativity. Currently there are no sure ways of assessing either IQ or EQ, and talent development reduces to guided exercises on projects and giving the person steadily increasing roles of greater complexity and judgment.

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Emergent corporate ethics131

Science consists of variables and their relationships. Ethics consists of choices. Science is objective with the aim of clarifying mechanisms enabling more effective management of our physical and social worlds. Ethics is normative and I interpret as having the aim of clarifying how we treat one another so that both enjoy greater success and satisfaction in life. Now perhaps my aim for ethics is naive, the key point being that in moving from science to ethics we move from objectivity to advice, from variables to values of those variables, from science to opinion.

All ethical discussion is opinion no matter how couched. It is the intellectual structure that defines ethical (and moral) discussions as opinion, since they deal with values of variables, not the variables themselves. Empirical research on ethics can only ever explore two issues: First, how clear are any group on their ethical choices and consequences of those choices; second, how consistent and deliberate are people in acting out their ethical choices132.

It may seem odd to have an ethical discussion in a management book, but all management deals with several sets of relationships, all with what I call ethical implications in that by using our best judgment we can explore these relationship and begin to define the best manner in which management need act to elicit the sort of response that will best serve the organization. Ethics is exploring the practical behavioral options for managers to secure the best possible support and cooperation from people in the organization.

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I have already made assumptions which could be inferred as initial ethical choices; first I have assumed that management action is aimed at improving organizational results. Second, I have assumed ‘management’ is the initiator. I do not intend to explore these choices in detail since I think they are self-evident. I merely make one observation, if we take ‘management’ as those people in our society who occupies ‘middle management up’ and directs the actions of others, then almost everyone reports to ‘management’. We have a very important group of people with social power, who if they collectively adopted certain ethical standards toward society then society would change; the critical mass is large enough!

If management adopts options inconsistent with those that engage the community then the community can hardly be blamed for being cynical and unresponsive. Historically protests against actions judged unethical have changed the very shape and nature of society133.

The behavioral structure of society

The argument goes: For every goal there are actions needed if the goal is to be achieved. Organizations are collections of goals; therefore they have a 'behavioral structure' derived from these goals that people need to act out if the organization is to succeed. The economy is the core of community wealth, and the organization the core of the economy. It follows that if the community is to be wealthy and hence healthy (housing, medical, schooling, policing...etc) the collective set of the behavioral structure of all organizations needs to be acted out. The collective set of ideal actions underlying each organizations strategy constitutes the behavioral structure of

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the society. In short, unless the community makes its organizations successful by delivering the actions needed then the community will suffer.

Everybody knows that in a small tribal subsistence society unless a given number of hours were spent gathering food every day then the village would starve. This action each day is a quite intense discipline and this behavior with perhaps some others represents the behavioral structure of those simple societies.

Our modern society is exactly the same with a behavioral structure that must be enacted, it is merely more difficult to see because the action of one person has a reduced impact, but the exact same principles apply. Community success depends on everyone doing their ‘bit’. In a tribal society if someone would not go and get food then they likely did not have food to eat. These simple but fundamental ethical accountabilities have been lost, but they still apply under this social theory. Perhaps we can see it by imagining that if 15% of the population goofs off, no problem, but if 65% goof off…?

Finding fairness and equality in wealth distribution

Society to become wealthy and hence healthy needs its behavioral structure enacted with commitment and discipline. Europe, for example, and New Zealand has lived beyond its means for decades, primarily due to a ‘socialist’ philosophy drawn from the works of Marx that everyone was due a living condition. This work dismisses the intellectual position of Marx as inadequate, completely lacking in intellectual foundation. The theory cannot of itself determine on ethical questions, but it does bring them to the fore, we do face the

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question of where do we draw the line between community wealth and health and living conditions: With this question raising the issue of wealth distribution; which in turn raises the question of balancing social creativity, encouraged in circumstances of no rules and essential for creating community wealth, with social equality where people can live with dignity.

We need wealth creation, and governments are not able to do it. Wealth is built by individual effort, courage, and risk. Individual minds build wealth. Should the person who creates the wealth enjoy more of it? Which raises the other side of the question, namely if someone does not put pressure on themselves, does not make themselves learn, and develop skills, and manage their attitude, for whatever the reason, since the only person with access to their mind is them, they are fully accountable for their mind hence their conduct, the result is they are ill equipped in the community, what share of community wealth due them? In simple tribal communities, where the demands of the communities behavioral structure stands in sharp, stark clarity, where one person not pulling their weight is one to many, the decision remains but is made more simple by circumstance. Our modern society needs the behavioral structure enacted just as much as in any tribal society… current bankrupt economies in the Western world testify to that reality.

Wages, salaries and expenses not profits

The crucial aspect of the organization from the community point of view is not profits, but wages, salaries and expenses. Profits belong to the organization, and are essential if the organization is going to grow and be sustainable, it is the

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wages and salaries and expenses that provide the economic base of the community. The argument immediately leads on to key issues of ethical accountability, such as if the community commits to the organization to make it successful should the organizations need to commit back, for example, and not do what Fisher and Paykel134 did by taking the jobs off shore...? In this instance did, for example, F&P fail their ethical obligation to the community, under this theory the answer is yes.

The relationships embedded in OPD theory

There are five core relationships embedded in OPD theory.

The relationship between the person and the organization

and the relationship between the person and the role: These are the primary topic of OPD theory and the scientific-normative boundary has been explored and noted throughout the discussion and will not be considered further.

The relationship between the person and their team leader: These have been considered in the discussion and will not be considered further.

The relationships between a person and other organization

members: These have also been considered in the discussion and will not be considered further.

The relationship between the organization and the

community in which it is embedded: I have previously classified the relationships falling under this umbrella as ‘corporate ethics’, and it is this set of relationships I will now consider in more detail.

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Modern corporate ethics

In the context of this discussion ethics is about the issue ‘if you treat someone like such and such then you can reasonably expect they will react with this or that’. Corporate ethics are specifically about the relationship between the organization and the community. This relationship is moderated by the governance of the organization, the board of directors.

The emergence of corporate ethics as a crucial aspect of governance within OPD theory is as follows.

1. The OPD theory places HR at the center of the roll out of strategy, making HR crucial in organization success, this can be summarized: HR success –affects- organization

success (OPD theory).

This summary relationship states that HR success using OPD theory is an ultimate effect in relation to the success of the organization, that is greater the HR success in the form of the delivery of ideal actions to standard the greater the organization success in the form of achievement of the organization strategy.

2. In society, the economy consists of organizations, it follow that the greater organizational success the stronger the economy. This relationship is summarized: Organization success –affects- economic success.

3. It is economic success that drives community wealth, summarized as: Economic success-affects- community

wealth.

4. Finally, it is community wealth that drives community health that is without wealth there is not enough water,

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education, health, policing, and food; and there is poor quality housing. This relationship is summarized Community wealth –affects- community health.

Steps 1 to 4 can now be summarized: HR success –affects-

community wealth and hence health.

This diagram of ultimate affects states that HR success in the organization has an ultimate effect on the state of community health in the first instance via economics.

There is also a major secondary impact of OPD theory on community health. The bulk of people work in organizations; imagine people being offered training and development that impacted their level of emotional intelligence, insight and skills in improved professional focus and conduct, moderated attitudes in offering professional respect and common courtesy to other people even when they are unknown, merely co-workers in the organization. That these psychological structures are developed and reinforced by monthly meetings with the direct team leader, and reinforced by senior executives and corporate PR. With this secondary impact, then OPD theory is directly an ultimate effect on community mental health.

By implementing OPD theory through the organizations in the economy then ‘management’ is acting as a social change agent introducing quite important and far reaching skills and attitudes into a critical mass of the community such as to potentially moderate the very nature of that community. This logic is based on a modern insight into society, economics, social causality and how to influence and shape social attitudes and conduct. The argument in the statements of ultimate affects

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1-4, culminating in 5, are inescapable, it is the logical analysis of key modern society links using the tools of the new social science developed and presented in argument form in this book.

But… there are significant issues of ethics.

The problem of ethical governance

A crucial factor underlying this discussion is that profits belong to the organizations, and to those who own the capital of the organization. The community is served by the wages, salaries and expenses that go into the community. The collective expenses are likely 8-9 times larger than profits, yet it is profits that get the focus; this attitude needs to shift and for all to realize that without employment, then communities decline very fast. I had this fact hammered home when I was consulting in a small rural town that had just lost the beef slaughtering works. I experienced it again recently when conducting workshops with team leaders in a company of all Polynesians. I began to talk about the issue of employment and its relationship to community well being, and was surprised when they all got it immediately, everyone in the room (there were 18) could relate to a family member or friend who was right at that moment in crisis on their island when the copra factory or the fishing factory or tourist goods factory left the island. On an island of a few hundred to few thousand inhabitants loss of 100 jobs is devastating.

There are significant emergent ethical135 issues implicated in steps 1-5 above. For example: Does asking people to ‘commit’ and ‘turn up’ imply an ethical quid pro quo so that ownership does not enable a company to, for example, shift offshore as

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and when governance determines? That is, does the organization seeking commitment have a return ethical obligation to support the community? And does the governance have the authority to shift the organization to an offshore location with lower wages? And if the current community know that is possible, will this erode their commitment to turn up? And should this be codified?

I summarize the role of governance by inserting it into the ultimate effect relation as: HR success -affects- (ownership and

governance) –affects- community wealth and health

The ultimate effect relationship above now says that HR success impacts community wealth and health but is moderated by the actions of those who own the organization and those who govern the organization. The insertion of governance poses a question about the current concept of ‘ownership’ and the power of corporate governance in relation to the current rather simple concept of shareholder ownership.

At the center of this discussion is a fundamental ethical question: Is the community in service of the organization or is

the organization in the service of the community136?

That is how do we expect those governing the organization to act as a member of the community? And in those actions what does the governance of the organization then expect people in the community to do in return? These are questions that exactly fit the definition of ethics given above and so such questions are crucial to long standing tensions between commercial organizations and the community.

Below is the discussion from the book The last leadership

book you ever need read, that chart the sort of considerations

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that arise from OPD theory, and which modern corporations and those who govern them are likely going to have to face in the foreseeable future137.

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Working brief on our community ethics and the basis of

those ethics

We are committed to a social philosophy of individual freedom and democracy.

Freedom to operate our business depends on these core social philosophies.

Community success depends on commercial organizations maintaining sustainable profits that satisfy stakeholders and ensure business continuity and growth.

Profits belong to the business and must be sufficient to facilitate growth to enable increased employment to match population growth.

The wages and services sustain the community.

The business must be a ‘good’ citizen.

Sustainable profitability serves countries, communities, and people.

Those in charge of business must always act to protect the sustainability of the business within the bounds of ‘corporate good citizenship’.

That effective SHRM processes are appropriate investment in human capital to sustain superior performance and results.

People expected to commit to personal work success and hence job success through professional delivery of ideal actions in the roles they are assigned. (This is contrary to the philosophy of much current legislation.)

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Employees need consolidated influence and power to ensure they receive their due share of business success and moderate excesses. (Via say unions. Associations, or supportive legislation, etc.)

Executives expected to commit to ethical conduct.

The business itself represents the creative ability of the community within which the business founded and within which it initially grew.

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Ethical questions under consideration and not yet resolved

If the community depends on the wages and expenses, and if the organization represents the creative energy of the community, can a business remove itself from the community and under what circumstances?

The business needs to satisfy stakeholders, its own growth, new opportunities, etc, what does this mean in terms of a responsible profit level? Who defines this level…does the community have any right…?

The organization management level does imply complexity, and the level demands more skill etc…what is a responsible multiple by which income increased from the bottom to the top of the organization…?

Where should we position our wages and salaries policy in the market? How much should be fixed, and how much in relation to delivery of the ideal actions …and how much in relation to the success of those actions… should the community in terms of the staff share the risks, especially if much of that risk is trading in global markets?

We – the organization – requires, even expects, disciplined commitment in delivery of ideal actions, to get what we want, what do we offer back …? To the individual, to the community…?

However, the people who work for us are the community, so can the organization expect their commitment, and what exactly does this mean …?

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What levels of profit are acceptable while retaining the community links, thereby meeting our obligations in relation to community wealth?

What is expected executive ethical conduct…?

If the community has concerns, such as energy use, or generation of wastewater or chemicals, or heat discharge, and if some group attacks us on that, how should we respond…? What are our obligations, given the intimate link between our success, the community and the very wealth base of the community…?

If someone is better at tennis, no issue, but if someone is a better thinker, then offence often taken, so how do we find the quality of thought for the organization…? How do we pay for quality thinking and not offend some people or groups, especially in transparency, and where people think their view and vision is as good as anyone’s?

Freedom is everyone being self first, everyone having their say, how is this reconciled with the need for quality thinking…where some think, others do and follow…?

A business is not a democracy, but must operate in one, how…? How does the organization walk the line …?

Few boards of directors deliver the ethical standard of governance that is implied and stated here.

The scientific OPD theory cannot decide on such questions, they are not science, they are value questions, but they emerge from the first thorough scientific theory of the link between an organization and people.

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It is theory, not model or opinion, with me as author merely the voice of the logic of the intellectual structure that results by applying the tools. From the logic there emerges very important questions of what I call ethics, crucial decisions about the role of the organization in successful communities, the ethics of the governance and ownership as it manages the organization to the benefit of itself and the wealthy who provided the capital or on behalf of the broader community who provided the opportunity for the organization to exist at all. I suggest that should these question not be voluntarily addressed, then legislation could well emerge that forces on governance rules and regulation based on this much more scientific view of communities, economy, organizations and the essential relationships between them. Such is the potential power of a theoretical social science to match theoretical physics.

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Conclusion

To achieve the level of human performance, engagement and results the executive must implement in their organization the OPD theory or some equivalent system138.

The system must provide similar quality, scientifically sound processes, offering clearly defined reproducible inputs that achieve reproducible improvements in results.

HR must then partner those managers in achieving consistent and sustainable improved human performance in their team.

When done then ‘management’ as a significant ‘power block’ in society will enable the betterment of the society through increased wealth and by increased depth of satisfaction and mental health since the mechanism of both are the same and are moderated by the same one-on-one development of professionalism.

A better future can only be found by building and harmonizing our minds to enable for us that which we all seek: Wealthier and healthier communities.

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Appendix

Scoping the research task

Background fact: Globally there is no clear scientific and causal link between strategy and staff behavior.

Proposition: If we had such a link team leaders could be guided to use it to achieve superior sustainable staff performance.

Action: Begin the search for an improved theory that resolves the issues and offers team leaders clear and unequivocal guidelines for achieving improved human performance. Use the intellectual tools of the new social science to create a clear direct link between strategy and staff behavior.

Aim: To create a theory of the relationship between the minds of staff and the organization strategy that leads to practical social technology that team leaders can apply to achieve sustainable behavior in the team that enables perfect roll out of strategy.

Constraint: The solution had to be of the status of ‘theory’, not another ‘model’, which meant it had to resolve all relevant underlying intellectual issues (first things first). Second, the solution must be intrinsic to HR as a discipline so that senior HR practitioners are on the Executive Team due the technology, and their personal general business skill and acumen becomes a bonus.

Reality check: The practical manager does not need to know the underlying science, but does need to know how important it is, and that in any future solution they may

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be offered needs to understand that unless the underlying intellectual issues are fully dealt with then what is offered in not theory merely another opinion that will be lucky to last ten years before being replaced by the next opinion.

Practicality: Above all, any solution had to be able to be easily applied and used, therefore regardless of any underlying complexity, the solution had to reflect the sort of practical simplicity on the ‘other side of complexity’ that would have made Oliver Wendell Holmes proud139.

The process to be applied in seeking a solution

The following steps were adopted in creating OPD theory.

1. Develop new social science tools enabling improved conceptualization of theory where link between variables is clearly defined.

2. Resolve the issues that need resolved first to enable scientific discussion of HR topics. These prior issues are: General theories of cause, psychology, knowledge and application of the theory of cause to social systems.

3. Apply the science to the question: What exactly is the causal link between strategy and staff behavior?

4. Derive the theory the solution to the question.

5. Derive the technology from the theory.

6. Implement the technology in organizations by coaching team leaders in the theory so they ‘see’ the team/organization structure via the theory and then apply the technology derived from the theory.

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7. Monitor to see if clients get a better result.

8. When completed to sufficient standard, write the book and promote the solution.

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Testimonial on OPD theory

Department of Management and Marketing

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I have been closely involved in the analysis of the OPD theory which contextualises current thinking on the human resources discipline. After a recent workshop in which I participated the theory was reviewed, as the culmination of years of development and refinement. As a result I conclude as follows:

1. I acknowledge that the global academic community is in the process of re-conceptualising the HR discipline, which has been going on for the last few years.

2. The OPD theory, based on the research of Dr. Graham Little, is a solution to the HR questions being raised and is probably of the most logical and thorough intellectual development currently available in the HR field.

3. Given the current intellectual development which culminated in the OPD theory, it is noteworthy that the theory has been proven with clients in New Zealand who adopted it, since 2008. It is therefore apparent that the

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OPD approach also entails practical solutions and is probably 10 years ahead of current thinking in this field.

The overall conclusion I have reached is that this OPD theory and system is an idea whose time has come in the challenging times currently facing businesses globally.

Dr. P. S. Nel Professor of Human Resources Management Unitec New Zealand Auckland E mail: pnel@unitec.ac.nz

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Academic background

Dr Pieter Nel, Professor and Head of Human Resources at Unitec in Auckland, is the global academic spokesman for OPD-model and leads co-authoring the academic publications the first of which were published in early 2010.

Nel and Little An Integrated Strategic Human Resources

Model to Achieve Organizational Objectives http://websearch.usq.edu.au/search?sa.x=12&sa.y=8&q=nel+and+little&entqr=0&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&client=default_frontend&ud=1&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&site=default_collection

Nel and Little, Sustainable leadership: The fundamental

solution to lasting superior staff performance http://www.uunz.ac.nz/pdf/journal/edition1/Journal_part4.pdf.

G R Little, 2011, Advancing impact and status of HR. http://www.opdcoach.com/Advancing_impact_and_status_of_HR.pdf

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Author’s comments

It took decades, but I had developed an intellectual system of social science that was very different from that accepted and being applied. In an exchange with Karl Popper he suggested I needed to apply the ideas to real problems and prove they work. I looked to organizations, to the social problem of how do we make our organizations work more successfully in relation to people and the communities in which the organization is embedded. This book is the application of a new intellectual platform to the question of making organizations work better then they do now.

But the intellectual platform is bigger than just organizations, proving the theories to improve organization then is a first crucial step to proving the intellectual platform itself.

Thank you to those people who have assisted in the emergence of this intellectual position and its application to organizations.

First a special thank you to Pieter Nel, Professor of HR at Unitec in Auckland. He has been sounding board and is a strategic partner as global academic spokesman on the OPD theory; he drafted my words into academic language and then guided peer review publication. In an early discussion when Pieter was orientating himself to the theory and its background, he made a comment after a week of reflection on the issues. He asked ‘Can God create a ball He cannot pick up?’ meaning that with my strategic intellectual structure of science, and in fact underlying all serious intellectual endeavor, an enormous amount of work is required to then fully, thoroughly and

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ethically address any issue. Pieter’s chosen focus is on the OPD theory of organizations with the fully developed intellectual base well established.

Others who have contributed: Neville Atchison, CEO of his own recruiting company, and a Development Manager at Auckland University, a patient friend who spent many afternoons over a wine listening as I talked through yet another detail. Richard Webster, a global leading new age author, who supported me with much advice on writing. Grant Vincent, CEO of Hyundai dealership in Auckland, an early client of the OPD system, who sensed something in it, and supported it patiently, and who commented recently, ‘got there Graham, but we have been down a few dead-ends together’. John MacKinlay, CEO of BMW dealership in Auckland, who manfully read very, very early treatises on the system and application and provided much valuable feedback at getting it sharper and apt for managers. Vern Whitehead, CEO and founder of Automedia in Auckland, a most loyal friend who never wavered in his support and belief that I would get there. Elizabeth Blaikie, a professional counselor who guided me to consider more carefully the spiritual and self-esteem aspects of the theory of psychology that underlies the OPD theory. Finally, Gail Wright St Clair, PR consultant and senior executive whose enthusiasm has lifted my spirits often when things seemed to drag and whose insight has been invaluable.

Rollout is an end and a beginning.

Introduction to the redesign of the organization book series

The books present the OPD theory from different points of view, and work through applying the theory from the point of

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view of CEO, team leader, manager and of HR. Volume 6, Building community wealth and health examines the OPD theory from point of view of the link between organizational success, economic success and the wealth and health of our communities.

Books one and two are the suggested beginning, Rollout is the overview of the intellectual base of OPD theory. After that, then select the books to read that best match your interests/position.

1. Executive pocket guidebook: Summary of state of art

ideas in making organizations more successful (Redesigning the organization volume 7). A short and easily read link between what has been traditional and typical of global HR thinking and the new, improved ideas in the OPD theory and the technology derived from it. Book 7 in the series, but the one best read first as the easiest introduction linking current global received wisdom on organizations to the new wisdom from the OPD theory.

2. Time budgeting: Getting the best result in the time available. (Redesigning the organization volume 2). Managing one’s mind to enabling greatest chance of greatest success. Application of the ideas on improved performance at the lowest level, first on oneself.

3. Rollout: Improving rollout of business strategy (Redesigning the organization foundation book). The crucial intellectual foundation of the new way of leading in organizations. This is the most intellectually challenging book of the series but all other books are derived from the platform outlined in Rollout. Reading Rollout can be

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delayed to the last book if you are more comfortable.

4. The last leadership book you will ever need to read: The

guide to achieving results and satisfaction in a business. (Redesigning the organization volume 1). An easily read overview from the point of view of senior executives in the organizations. The last leadership book presents an overview of the key ideas from the perspective of different executive functions, CEO, CFO, Vice President (VP) Human Resources, Operations and Sales.

5. Modern team leadership to achieve results and

satisfaction in a team (Redesigning the organization volume 3). From the point of view of the first line team leader, what it means, what do they do, and how they need to implement the new ideas.

6. The role of human resources management in the modern

organization: Making human resources the driver of success. (Redesigning the organization volume 4). Exactly as the title suggests, the OPD theory worked through in detail from the point of view of the Vice President Human Resources.

7. The mind of the CEO: Thinking habits of the successful CEO. (Redesigning the organization volume 5). A derailed discussion of what the new ideas mean of the CEO, the shift in CEO priorities and how they need to think in order to follow and fulfil the logic of the new theory of ensuring the business they lead has greatest chance of greatest success.

8. Building community wealth and health: Achieving a

wealthier and fairer society. (Redesigning the

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organization volume 6). The economy consists of commercial organizations. The strength of the economy determines the wealth of the community. Therefore any theory that presents how to improve organizational success must deal also with the link between that success and community success. Building community wealth present unique and insightful linkages between business success and a fair and balanced distribution of that wealth to ensure all in the community enjoy the benefit of their efforts.

Redesign of the organization books are on G R Little author page on Amazon, www.amazon.com/author/grahamlittle

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References and notes

1 Nel, P (2010) Private communication. “I acknowledge that

the global academic community is in the process of re-

conceptualising the HR discipline, which has been going on for

the last few years. The OPD model, based on the research of

Dr. Graham Little, is a solution to the HR questions being

raised and is probably of the most logical and thorough

intellectual development currently available in the HR field.

Given the current intellectual development which culminated in

the OPD model, it is noteworthy that the model has been

proven with clients in New Zealand who adopted it, since 2008.

It is therefore apparent that the OPD approach also entails

practical solutions and is probably 10 years ahead of current

thinking in this field. The overall conclusion I have reached is

that this OPD model and system is an idea whose time has

come in the challenging times currently facing businesses

globally”. 2 This information is on the credibility and understanding of

strategic HR, and is part of the OPD Human Performance and Organizational Capability Audit. This particular data is from 12 surveys in Auckland from 2004 to 2006, average of 4 members of the executive team, and two senior team leaders per company. Surveys since have shown no significant change. Companies from retail, service, and manufacturing, eight companies in range 120-370 staff, 3 in range 550-800 staff and I over 1500 staff. The data was thin when subdivided, but indications are that there is no noticeable variation between

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industry type, company size or management level; This we interpreted as indicating management understanding drawn from the current global understanding of HR and leadership to achieve greatest human performance, and is independent of industry or company size.

3 These questions are closely related to a much more difficult and deeper issue, namely that theoretical physics is a respected discipline, yet theoretical social science is almost a joke. My position is that the issue in social science is lack of clarity on issues such as cause and effect, and lack of clear and definite tools for theory creation, both of these issues have been resolved, see www.grlphilosophy.co.;nz.

4 Little (2005). 5 This is the ‘first things first’ issue as it arises in relation to

HR theory. An example is the work of Karl Marx, who discussed evolution of society via various stages, yet at no time does he seriously address the intellectual questions of causality in social systems and the link between individual psychology and social groupings. Therefore for his work to have full intellectual integrity he needed to state ”…in the absence of a general theory of cause and of psychology, which have the potential to impact any solutions on social development, I hereby speculate that societies develop as follows…”. I suggest had his work been prefaced in this manner, it may not have had the impact and appeal it did, and the globe may have avoided a lengthy and costly digression.

6 There are several good questions relating to the use of mathematics in physics, for example, why does the universe follow our mathematical processes? And while E=mc² was

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written before found to be a physical relationship, is mathematics now pushed too far as a tool for leading the conceptualization process in physics.

7 Diagram developed by Professor Pieter Nel, Professor of HR at Unitec, presented in private communication.

8 This rule of first things first is quite ruthless. For example, the works of Marx, Freud, Jung, behaviorism of Skinner, and sociology Levi-Strauss are all dismissed as no more than speculation without thorough intellectual foundation. This is unkind, but if we are to fit rules of engagement to our intellectual efforts to build a thorough social science then the works of these prominent writers must be seen as purely historical with no modern significance.

9 Little, G R (1999) The summary of the alternative social science structure. Perception and a general theory of knowledge, http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper2.htm, accessed August 31, 2011.

10 Ashby, W Ross (1960) Design for a brain, Chapman Hall, London.

11 Little, G R (2000) A model of knowledge and tools for theory creation, http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper3.htm accessed October 10, 2011

12 Little (2000) 13 The same caution needs to be applied to particle physics.

All we have are changes on measuring devices. All such devices no matter how complex or sophisticated are merely devices for converting changes in Reality – see papers in Little 1999-2005 for the definition - and hence perceptual fields that

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cannot impact our perceptual mechanisms into changes that can. This circumstance is the most ‘pure’ instance of ‘variables’ and their relations I can conceive. All we have are the communication channels whereby change in one variable generates change in another; hence all the cautions of interpretation apply, especially of interpretation of the physical mechanisms derived from the direction of change as specified in the relations between variables.

14 Calitz, P (2010), page 10, The felt leadership bootleg transcripts, BIOSS Southern Africa, Johannesburg.

15 The proposition that people and organizations are separate depends on many underlying issues, theory of cause, theory of psychology, and model of knowledge, and is a specific example of a more general proposition that ideas are causal in human mood and conduct. Also, at the centre of the of ontology of organizations are the arguments by Karl Popper on the existence of knowledge (ideas) independent of the knower, so organizations exist independent of the knower, and definitely independent of the creator of the organization. See papers and references at www.grlphilosophy.co.nz. The statement that ideas are causal in human mood and conduct is only valid within the new social science outlined at the web site.

16 Little G R (2001) Paper 5: Why we do what we do, the outline of a general theory of psychology. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper5.htm accessed September 19, 2011. This is a full discussion of the intellectual structure from which the comments are drawn.

17 Ibid. Little G R (2001)

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18 Little, G R (2004) Paper 7: The tension between cause

and free will – the fundamental o fall human experience. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper7.htm. Accessed September 18, 2011.

19 There are a number of definitions of entropy; all refer to the same phenomenon, namely the tendency of the universe of flow to the least energetic state, which is why a broken plate will stay broken. In this context I prefer the definition of entropy as the tendency of any system to flow to the lowest energy state available to it.

20 So in the brain, the neural flow will follow lines of least resistance, typically those will be the habituated flows as illustrated in de Bono model of the brain as a jelly, and by pouring hot water on it so grooves are carved, and then more hot water flows down the groves so deepening them exactly as habits are deepened and consolidated.

21 Little G R (2000) A model of knowledge and tools for theory creation. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper3.htm#_Toc495405836 accessed September 16 2011. Under my theory of knowledge, knowledge is not continuous and exists in domains, with some domains being the underlying mechanisms for others. A key issue is the understanding of coherent variables that is variables not able to be ‘reduced’ to more fundamental variables. Coherent variables define unique domains of science, hence in the case of the body-mind one unique domain is he brain and neurological events, the other is mind and mental events, mind is the result of the mechanism in the brain, but ideas cannot so easily be reduced to neural events without loss of

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understanding of the idea and its import within the psychology of the person.

22 It was Einstein who said ‘we become what we think most of the time’.

23 Little, G.R. (2003a) Paper 6: How ideas exist. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper6.htm. Access November 15 2011.

24 Little (1999-2005) for discussion on the intellectual background to this comment, and the full solution to the body-mind problem.

25 Little, G. R. (2003b). Conceptualization and Ryle’s Regress. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/conceptualization.htm. Accessed December 10 2011.

26 See Little (1999-2005) for the definition of an event as ‘a change in the environment generating change in the perceptual process of the observer and able to be noted by the observer’, which in turn leads to the definition of an idea as ‘classification of events according to their properties’.

27 Little (1999-2005) for definition of events and hence definition of ideas and then how ideas exist in mind.

28 Classification of Thought is not part of the general theory; it did not emerge in the logical analysis using the variables and the tools. The interpretation is that the classification of Thought is of human concern not of theoretical concern, hence the exact distribution of Thought as belief and values is unique to each person and is a function of the psyche structure of the person and the links between Thought, emotion and behavior in that

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person. That being so, then there is no human values intrinsic to humankind, and discussions on morals or ethics can never be supported by empirical evidence, since there will always be evidence to support any ethical or moral position, since all positions are likely to be exhibited somewhere in the world. Discussions of ethics and moral are then discussions of standards of conduct and values to which we may then aspire, they are ideas argued that if implemented and allowed to shape our mood and conduct are a better state of grace than we may exhibit now.

29 Consciousness within the theory of psychology is a function of the developed ability to conceptualize and the attention mechanism. We are an object of our own conceptual structures like any other object. Consciousness arises from and is the supreme end result of evolution. See Paper 1: A theory of perception, http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper1.htm for a discussion on the necessity of a differentiated perceptual field for perception to be possible. This cognitive structure is an aspect of the environment as much as distance or existence of objects and physical dangers. Evolution then drives species development to the greatest use of environmental features to enable species survival. It follows that consciousness is an inevitable and natural end result of evolution in driving species development to produce a species that was most attuned to all aspects of the natural environment including cognitive, with the ability to generate and use ideas [defined in Little (1999-2005)] and so be able to predict the environment offering the greatest survival opportunity. The species with highly developed cognition which necessarily includes consciousness will always be the top species; And given the complexity and

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length of time to evolve such a quality as the ability to conceptualize and apply the ideas generated, likely there will only be one such species which once evolved will rapidly (in evolutionary terms) gain dominance.

30 Little (2001). 31 Anderson, R.C. and Prichert, J.W. Recall of previously

un-recallable information following a shift in perspective. J.Verb.Learn.Verb.Behav.1978, 17, 1-12 for an interesting account of how attitude alters perception. They asked 50 people to examine a house with view to buying it, and then asked another 50 to examine the house with view top burgling it. They then asked each group to list what they remembered about the house. The lists were totally different. I have used the example of 'what you see when you look at a house to buy or burgle' in dozens of workshops to make the point of how attitude can shape what one sees, and business and personal opportunity begins with our attitude. Hence within the model is crucial that people are clear on the roles in their jobs, clear on the KPIs in each role, and clear on the ideal actions offering greatest chance of greatest success in each role, and clear on how to distribute their time across the roles and across the ideal actions. ‘Buy’ and ‘burgle’ are then specific aspects of conscious thought I call ‘frames’ as a power point frame. People can then use that understanding to create their own internal frame structure in relation to work and delivery of ideal actions. This effort I refer to as ‘professionalism’. 32 The term ‘conceptual template’ is interchangeable with ‘conceptual model’ or ‘theory’ or just ‘model’.

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33 ‘Buy’ and ‘burgle’ are then specific aspects of conscious

thought I call ‘frames’ as a power point frame. Imagine a set of power point transparencies just behind our forehead, when we think burgle so up pops the one with burgle and that is what we ‘see’, buy, then so we see items related to buying the house. This is a simplified model of our psychology, but useful and enables people to understand how they work. People can then use that understanding to create their own internal frame structure in relation to work and delivery of ideal actions. This effort I refer to as ‘professionalism’.

34 Scientific theories are bound by rules of logic, reproducibility, precision, empirical validity etc. In comparison we could say that our personal theories are bounded by social rules such as complying with the peer-group view and general social views within which we grew and matured, etc. Under this model the level of consciousness of a person is not the ‘internal depth’, as if often suggested, but the extent they ‘see’ all variations of rules on either side of a peer group for example, and then choose to place their own bounds on the personal theories they allow to shape their conduct, it is an internal fight, and demands one stand alone on occasions, but people who have done that, stood alone, are those who most shape the world: Jesus, Mohammed, Einstein, Beethoven, Picasso.

35 A good theory is one that best aids us mange the circumstance to which the theory applies. A better theory is one that enables us manage the circumstance better, hence in this way personal theories are exactly equivalent to scientific theories. However, personal theories must also balance

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accepted ethics and morality, which scientific theories do not. Science refers to our understanding of the universe, creating a better causal explanation of how the mechanisms of the universe work and involves no morality only understanding. It is in application of our understanding, our application of our scientific theories where science meets morality. Moral questions are implicit in OPD theory, and significant moral considerations emerge upon application of the theory, these are discussed in later sections.

36 Refer to Karl Popper, his classification of worlds I, II, and III. World II is the subjective world of personal thought.

37 For a more developed discussion on private and public knowledge of ourselves, see the Johari window an initial introduction is at http://www.businessballs.com/johariwindowmodel.htm accessed January 25, 2012.

38 See Karl Popper’s World II, the world of subjective thought.

39 Note that mental sets can involve just emotions, without thought. But only conceptualization, that is the creation of thought can we tract the source of such emotions, in this general theory of psychology this circumstance is equivalent to Freudian search for the ‘unconscious’ self. See Little, G. R. (2003) Mapping existing therapy approaches into the process

model. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/comparative.htm. Accessed December 10 2011.

40 Little, G.R. (2004a) Paper 7: The tension between cause and freewill, the fundamental of all human existence. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/paper7.htm. And Little, G.R.

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(2005a). The final dismissal of the homunculus. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/Final%20dismissal.htm. Both accessed November 15, 18 2011.

41 This intellectual position is exactly opposite to that of Bertrand Russell in his majestic essay A Freeman’s Worship where consciousness was seen as overpowered by omnipotent physical forces. Consciousness with understanding can outwit blind mechanisms.

42 Within this intellectual framework the suggestion of ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ problems of consciousness is rejected. Imagine we had an apt general theory of psychology that fully explained the ‘easy’ problem of consciousness that is the mechanisms of consciousness as it applies to one person. Now, imagine we inserted the data into the theory relating to two people talking. Then what would we have? We insert the data for person 1 we have ‘what it is like to be them’, and then insert the data for person 2 we get ‘what it is like to be person 2’. ‘What it is like to be’ is the so called hard problem of consciousness; it is not a scientific problem at all it is an issue of living experience. The general theory captures the common structure of that experience and data relating to any individual then offers insight into the living experience as grasped by the variables and their relationships in the theory. Literature is all about ‘what it is like to be’ …Richard the Third, or Mitch Rapp, or Lady Chatterley … that is a person in some circumstance at some point in time. Every person is a unique example of consciousness; every person is finally and fully alone in mind with their experience of consciousness. We can share words of what it is like to be me, but that is only sharing ideas that describe ‘what it is like to be me’ and for you it is

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merely description of my experience that you may or may not relate to. See Little, Note on easy and hard problems of consciousness. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/note2.htm. And Little, Note on what it is to be human. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/ResponseHumanNature1.htm. It is not possible or at least is intellectually nonsense to seek to find a trend or a unifying central focus for a set of unique data points. Each data point stands alone, and must be considered as such. This makes the whole field of phenomenology intellectual nonsense. See Little, Critique on phenomenology, http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/Phenomenology.pdf.

43 Little (2001 and 2004). 44 The idea of losing oneself in the activity, where time and

self awareness are lost in the moment, and we are at our happiest. Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1996), Finding Flow: The

Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life, Basic Books. 45 Team leader references: See such works as: Bryman, A,

(1992). Charisma and leadership in organizations. London: Sage. Gerstner, C.R. and Day, D.V. (1997), “Meta-analytic review of leader-member exchange theory: correlates and construct issues,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 827-844. Klimoski, R.J., & Hayes, M.J. (1980). Leader behavior and subordinate motivation. Personnel Psychology. 33, 543-564. Howell, J.M. & Frost, P.J. (1989). A laboratory study of charismatic leadership. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 43, 243-269. Overall the clear research message is that the team leader-team member relationship if not the most important in the organization is one of the most important and has a very strong influence on performance.

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46 The formal analysis of cause is the definition: cause is a

relation between classes of relation between classes of events. This can then be translated into more comfortable terms by saying cause is the relationship that immediate affects make with ultimate affects, when the immediate affects can be said to be the cause of the ultimate affects. See: Little (1999).

47 There is a very important issue that will not be explored in this book, that of the idea of ‘reductionism’. For example, the working of our mind is assumed via current ideas to be reducible to the underlying mechanism of our brain. Within the system of variables developed here, there are two types, coherent and in-coherent. Coherent variables are of a single unique property, and cannot be reduced further, incoherent are not and are able to be reduced to more fundamental variables. For example, thought is a coherent variable; it is precisely expressible ideas available to attention. Now while any particular thought can be reduced to more simple components, this is the analysis of a value of the variable the variable itself cannot be so reduced to do so means it is no longer available to attention, and is no longer thought. The effect of coherent variables is to divide knowledge into domains, so that knowledge is not continuous with some sorts of knowledge being the mechanism of other sorts. For example, with thought a coherent variable means psychology is a domain of science. The mechanism of psychology is the brain and neural functioning, but psychology is not reducible to the underlying mechanisms of the brain. The phenomena of mind are the product of the neural functioning of the brain, but not reducible to the neural functioning since to do so is to cross from one domain of knowledge to another.

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Imagine two people, a pygmy in the Congo rain forest, and a

New Yorker. Now imagine at birth, for wherever reason, they are both born with the exact same genetic potential physically, emotionally, intellectually and as expressed in personality. We are not necessarily clear on exactly how genetics impacts and shapes this potential, but let us assume that whatever the process, at birth it is exactly the same in each infant; two human spirits with the exact same genetic structure and potential.

Both infants grew fully within their location, so the Pygmy never left the rain forest and the New Yorker never left greater New York. At forty, will these two people be similar or different? It is hard to imagine any overlap at all; the physical and social environments are so different. They will be very different people.

The exact same neurons can be functioning in both the Pygmy and the New Yorker yet they will be experiencing very different thoughts, and examination of the neural functions offers no insight at all into their psychology. Two different domain of knowledge one the mechanism of the other, with details of brain functioning offering no insight into the likely actions of the person, detailed neural understanding will provide no insight into their psychology.

48 Little G R (2003) Summary of the general theory of cause. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/generaltheory.htm accessed September 16 2011.

49 When a theory is not causal then the only recourse to understanding data is the use of statistics and probability. This exists today for example, in current modern physics, quantum

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theory, treats photon as a point particle, therefore is immediately in breach of this proposition, and is therefore not a causal theory. This proposition directs effort in physics to understand the internal mechanisms of a photon and its links to its environment, then and only then science can progress beyond current probability. This theory of knowledge goes further in that it is projected that ‘there is always a

mechanism’, this is the universal mechanistic postulate, see Little (1999-2005). The result of this postulate is that there is no such thing as ‘science’, it is all technology, since there is always an underlying level of mechanism and insight we do not know nor understand but which we can learn to predict by use of clever statistics.

50 Little, G R (2005), Toward a better standard of judgment than peer review http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/BetterStandardofJudgement.htm, accessed August 31, 2011

51 Little (2000). 52 In archeological studies much of the effort goes into

estimating from remnants the nature of the minds that generated the remnants. A very similar problem remains after any group exercise, for example, the CEO talking to the collective regional staff, the impact on staff may be gleaned by social acclamation such as clapping, but really the detailed analysis of the group response can only be by way of survey of each individual mind.

53 The critical mass is when sufficient people adopt the way of thinking and hence acting as to be able to generalise about the overall group, and the habits are so consolidated in the

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group that people joining the group follow the norms of the group, the problem is if this becomes blind obedience to the norms and loses its reasoned edge, this is managed within OPD-SHRM by building professionalism as a way of life, and the ideal actions the current means whereby the way of life is expressed. Hence the means can and should be changed, but the way of life remains.

54 Little, G R (2005/1) The poverty of sociology: why Marx is not a scientist. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/WhyMarxIsNotScientist.htm This point is crucial, there is no causality in ‘culture’ or society all causality in social system is by individual action: So called ‘social action’ is merely the sum of the action of the members of the group, and the causation of that action can only be analyzed in terms of summing the action of each individual.

55 Technically the postulate states: If A-affects-B denotes a correlation of the universe, that is a set of events E(A) and E(B), that occur with such regularity and similarity as to be classified A and B. For example, the sun rising and setting. And if A-affects- /m B denotes there is no mechanism operative between A, B. And if A-affects-c/ B denotes there is no communication channel between A, B. Then: there exists no A, B such that A-affects- /m B, or A-affects-c/ B or both are ever valid. I call this the universal mechanistic postulate; more simply put, there is always a mechanism. The fact that events seem, to us, to occur without a mechanism or in ways we cannot or are unable to conceive is a statement about our ignorance, more precisely a statement about 'what we left behind' when we classified the events used to explain the system.

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56 This philosophy is very different from that presented by

such as Descartes and Hume, where problems are isolated and resolved one at a time. The argument here is based on the insight that if we are to discuss a topic, then we need deal with any issues not resolved but if resolved could impact the topic. This I call the ‘strategic’ aspects of science, and gives rise to the ethics of first things first. Second, in social science in particular then issues of knowledge depend on a theory of psychology, and cause must be knowledge, therefore depends on theories of knowledge, etc, see Little, Paper 4: The drive to explain, http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/Paper4.htm for a detailed discussion on this circularity.

57 Little G. R. Author page on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8CWJI

58 A movie, Inside Job, on the background to the 2008 global financial crisis showed a senior Harvard Professor of economics, a prominent advisor and public face of deregulation of financial rules, and the Head of Harvard itself, both stating they saw no conflict of interest between being paid to shape popular opinion by promoting deregulation. Here, prestige and privilege used to forge and reassure a public unaware of the intellectual conundrums in the positions being offered, and with no tools or background to judge and thereby accepting pronouncements on the basis that such people of lofty position knew what they were talking about and would have integrity and make it clear when they were making pronouncements of unknown or dubious intellectual standing.

59 Delivery of ideal actions cannot guarantee success since there are always factors outside of the ideal actions that can

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impact the result, for example, the state of the economy, or the caliber of the competition, etc.

60 Social technology is inevitably normative, with this issue often not well assessed in management literature. Within OPD theory science versus normative discussion involves the relationship between variables and the values of those variables.

61 Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1996), Finding Flow: The

Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life, Basic Books, 62 For example, see Wisdom at work, page 59, Lisa Ashton,

Piet Calitz, Rob Solms, Knowres Publishing, Randburg, South Africa, 2009.

63 It is important to grasp this relationship: How we think right now dominates what we can and cannot create; that applies to washing machines, aeroplanes, computers, and organizations. It follows that to research ‘organizations’ cannot tell us anything about ‘organizations’, but only tell us of how we were thinking when that organization was created. To research an organization created 20 years ago is exactly equivalent to researching a computer made 20 years ago which can only tell us the state of our technology back then. Much management and leadership research has fallen into this trap.

64 Rene Descartes lived in mid fifteen hundreds. His work is a foundation of much of Western thinking. He was particularly aware of the mind as the core of judgment. All scientists/thinkers today are indebted to Descartes. However that does not mean we accept all as rote. Some of his principles do not always serve. The principle referred to here is the one of deduction and separation of complex problems into

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components. Where there is overlap of problems or interconnectivity then this is an intellectual device that must be treated with great care lest one ends up in resolving one problem, but the solution does not fit nor match the linked issues in the overall complexity. A modern classic is the Ganzfeld effect where ping pong balls are placed over subject eyes and they experience dissociation of vision from consciousness. This is linked to parapsychology and extra sensory perception. The process is exactly equivalent to clear air white out, and fully accounted for in cybernetics as the effect of having a constant input into some apart of a system and the result being that aspect of the system separates from the whole, that is constant input is exactly the same effect as zero input. The brain is a physical device subject to cybernetics. The modern tendency to separate different schools of academic learning which is partly derived from Descartes ‘divide and rule’, can sometimes cause each school to travel down unrelated paths to the failure of the whole. I did not derive this understanding from any first principles, but from the several years where I tried to resolve questions of a general theory of cause, psychology and knowledge as separate problems, to finally realise they were not separate, and it was only when I began to use more creative/iterative techniques that I began to make progress: In particular the tools of W Ross Ashby and my analysis of variables.

65 One large company I have worked with has had three different performance management systems in seven years. One long serving, grizzled but very effective team leader commented: ‘Yep, here we go again, another lot of stuff I am expected to use that adds nothing to improving performance in

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my team, does not help me much, does little for the people who do not really believe the stuff we are expected to talk about and does not help them, and by and large is just an admin chore needed by some suit we hardly ever see except by memo, in head office sitting behind a desk while we make the money, all the while thinking they are adding value. I will do it of course…but …’

66 Nel and Little (2010/1) An Integrated Strategic Human

Resources Model to Achieve Organizational Objectives http://www.usq.edu.au/~/media/USQ/Business/Journals/NelLittle%20Paper%201.ashx also Nel and Little (2010/2), Sustainable leadership: The fundamental solution to lasting

superior staff performance http://www.uunz.ac.nz/pdf/journal/edition1/Journal_part4.pdf. Also, Little, G. R (2003c) People and Profits: Strategic human resource management to the firm to achieve best possible results, http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/People_and_profits.pdf for a detailed description on creation of the OPD theory by application of the intellectual tools.

67 For full details of the theory see Nel and Little (2010/1 & 2).

68 Little, G. R. (2003). Philosophy writ large. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/shrmnote.htm. Accessed December 15 2011.

69 Nel and Little (2010/2), Sustainable leadership: The fundamental solution to lasting superior staff performance http://www.uunz.ac.nz/pdf/journal/edition1/Journal_part4.pdf.

70 A role is a collection of related or similar KPIs, requiring unique ideal actions if the role result is to be achieved. Often a

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job will consist of two or more roles, for example sales and marketing manager, with each role defined separately. A crucial aspect of defining roles is to ensure the KPIs are similar since if not, then the behavioral structure underlying the roles will be unrealistic broad and not achievable.

71 This is a crucial difference in start point in the OPD analysis. For example, imagine all staff on a bus and the bus crashed and all killed (similar to the Manchester United disaster of the several decades ago). The organization would go on … but what would go on. Within the OPD theory an organization is an idea that influences behavior, but this definition is not possible without a general theory of psychology within which ideas exist and are causal in behavior, but this is not possible without a theory of cause, etc… leading to the essential proposition of ‘first things must be done first’ …

72 The processes are derived from the OPD theory, and are in fact the strategic HR processes that emerge from the theory.

73 Little, G.R (2003/2005) The difference between physical and social sciences. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/socialscience.htm. And: Note on what it is to be human. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/ResponseHumanNature1.htm. And: Note on the easy and hard problems of consciousness. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/note2.htm.

74 The OPD theory has profound consequences for the concept of management and HR. These consequences are now fully unraveled in the series of book Redesigning the organization, available on Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/-

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/e/B001K8CWJI. For specific review of the reorganization and changes in HR focus and priorities then refer The role of human resources management in the modern organization, http://www.amazon.com/resources-management-organization-Resdesigning-ebook/dp/B0050I57BO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

75 Little G R (2011/2) The mind of the CEO. The details of how the CEO needs to think in relation to this model are available on request; the book is in final stages of review.

76 For example, combining sales representative and accounts payable; real example is inbound/outbound telephone customer service, does it sit in sales or operations. The answer lies in careful review of the KPIs/ideal actions and the alignment with divisional strategies.

77 Note that one job may have several roles; a role is a set of attitudes, skills and actions sufficiently unique to be defined separately. In many jobs, a key psychological issue is role transitions. Simple examples are the job of sales and marketing manager, with three roles, sales manager, sales team leader, and marketing manager; or factory manager which in a small unit could have several roles factory team leader, production planner, factory manager, and QA manager.

78 Little G R (2011/3), Time budgeting, Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Time-budgeting-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004VS2MCG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

79 Note the theory does not change with scale, so the exact same theory applies to 1 team member as applies to 1000.

80 Little G R (2011/2).

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81 ‘Turning up’ is much more than being there, it carries the

energy and commitment to achieve the result. It is very evident when a sports team are their but did not ‘turn up’. In sports they are expected to harness their passion and deliver against the agreed game plan. Purpose (winning) meets passion (turning up). These concepts are understood immediately by everyone, it is seen on sports TV every day. Under the OPD theory, the concept is exactly the same in business with the exception of learning to ‘pace oneself’, where ‘turning up’ means delivery of results five or six days each week, eight or ten hours a day. A crucial aspect of this is clarity about ‘moments of truth’ (Jan Carlzon) when people need ‘turn up’ with that extra focus and attention and intensity.

82 OPD-SHRMIS is not HRIS, an organization needs both. OPD-SHRMIS monitors whether or not team leaders are implementing the OPD-SHRM processes and technology in the team, therefore it monitors the team leader is implementing those HR processes that enable greatest success in role out of strategy. HRIS is administration of the staff details, and while useful and necessary, and enabling data that can be used in the OPD-SHRM implementation, it is crucial the two are not confused.

83 The critical mass is when sufficient people adopt the way of thinking and hence acting as to be able to generalise about the overall group, and the habits are so consolidated in the group that people joining the group follow the norms of the group, the problem is if this becomes blind obedience to the norms and loses its reasoned edge, this is managed within OPD-SHRM by building professionalism as a way of life, and the ideal actions the current means whereby the way of life is

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expressed. Hence the means can and should be changed, but the way of life remains.

84 Little, G R (2005/1) The poverty of sociology: why Marx is not a scientist. http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/WhyMarxIsNotScientist.htm This point is crucial, there is no causality in ‘culture’ or society all causality in social system is by individual action: So called ‘social action’ is merely the sum of the action of the members of the group, and the causation of that action can only be analyzed in terms of summing the action of each individual.

85 ‘Other factors’ by comparison could be a professional golfer thinking about family while seeking to play a perfect shot into the green 150 yards away. People choose to concentrate or choose to allow distractions. Moderating ‘other factors’ can only really occur by people choosing to concentrate: people cannot be made to concentrate, and policy for example to restrict access to the internet, could be self-defeating as people find ways to circumvent the policy.

86 The key to a turnaround for example, is getting people to act in tighter accordance with the actions needed for strategic success. This assumes the strategic decision is apt, if not; no amount of staff discipline on ideal actions will save the business.

87 Nel and Little (2010/1 & 2). 88 Little, G.R. (2011) The mind of the CEO, Self Help

Guides, Amazon Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/mind-CEO-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B005WG8M7K/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

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89 Induction training in OPD theory is very important, and is

the very first initiation of people to the ‘professional’ approach of treating one’s professional conduct as another task to be managed, with objective approach to the assigned ideal actions. Under OPD theory induction training has a crucial role and is much more important than some general overview of the business and its history.

90 Obviously people with the skills for the role need to be recruited, but often there are many in that category. The key is the attitude to personal performance that is evidence somewhere in the persons CV of an objective setting of a goal and then the systematic delivery of the actions needed to achieve the goal even in face of adversity and resistance.

91 Little, G R (2011/1) The role of human resources management in the modern organization, http://www.amazon.com/resources-management-organization-Resdesigning-ebook/dp/B0050I57BO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

92 Little, G. R. Kindle, The role of human resources management in the modern organization, http://www.amazon.com/resources-management-organization-Resdesigning-ebook/dp/B0050I57BO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

93 Little G R (2011/1) The last leadership book you ever need read, Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/last-leadership-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004ZQRS64/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

94 It is key that the team leader understands the goal-action link therefore fully understand that I if they identify apt ideal actions and then guide delivery of those actions they will achieve a better result then they would otherwise.

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95 The model has profound consequences for the concept of

management and HR. These consequences are now fully unraveled in the series of book series Redesigning the organization, available on Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8CWJI. See the appendix in: The last leadership book

you ever need read at the author site for full details and definitions. For specific review of the reorganization and changes in HR focus and priorities then refer The role of human resources management in the modern organization, http://www.amazon.com/resources-management-organization-Resdesigning-ebook/dp/B0050I57BO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

96 Little G R (2011/3) 97 Note, that the effectiveness with which team leaders build

this ‘engagement’ in the mind of team members is measured in the OPD cultural audits. Hence the definition can be monitored and is measurable.

98 Performance management as it emerges in OPD-SHRM is the comparison of actual behavior with the agreed ideal actions. Therefore the identification of those ideal actions is intrinsically part of the process. Every team leader needs to have worked through the concept and OPD-SHRM system, so they know that if they identify apt ideal actions and guide team members to deliver those ideal actions then the team has greatest chance of greatest success.

99 Little G R (2011/3), Time budgeting, Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Time-budgeting-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004VS2MCG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

100 Nel and Little (2010/1), figure 1, where HR policy is shown as an intrinsic ‘value’ of the organization. If people feel

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the organization does not ‘value’ them, as expressed in the written and/or implicit HR policy then as when anyone feels they are not ‘valued’ they leave. It is very important under the model to see written HR policy as a direct relationship between people and the organization, independent of the relationship a person has with their team leader. The person has the rights as spelled out in HR policy, and those rights cannot be removed or short changed by any team leader whose sole responsibility is to fairly and without bias or favor implement those rights toward every employee.

101 ‘Motivation’ and ‘hygiene’ factors are drawn from the work of Hertzberg and have the exact same meaning as used here. This is not as simple as it sounds, and can have profound impact on people, for example and salesperson has been prospecting hard all day, for no result, the sales manager comes across and thanks them and congratulates them for the effort, this can profoundly impact the state the sales person goes home in and even more profoundly impact the state of coming back tomorrow and doing it again. Ideal actions are of that exact quality, those actions that if persisted with lead to eventually success.

102 The gain in results normalized back to 1% gain in human performance. This is to then link OPDPPL to the increase in human performance to give the final potential payback.

103 Little G R (2011/3) Time budgeting, kindle http://www.amazon.com/Time-budgeting-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004VS2MCG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3 and Little, G R (2011/4) Modern team leadership, Kindle

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http://www.amazon.com/Modern-leadership-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004X6U408/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_8

104 If training develops skills, coaching develops intensity of min din relation to the game plan that is the set of ideal actions that need delivered if the result is to be achieved.

105 In New Zealand automotive industry a parts gross profit of 27% is regarded as ‘very good’.

106 For example, imagine a sales manager who was very, very good at managing the sales team and introduced some very effective innovations of policy and prospecting. This would be captured in the OPD-SHRMIS system, and become part of the standing human capital value. When the manager left, the innovations are retained and able to be implemented by the incoming sales manager, in this way to insight, effectiveness on quality of the standing human capital value will increase over time with a positive impact on the profit and loss.

107 A company still needs HRIS which deal with the administration of HR including absenteeism, terminations, salary and wages, holidays etc… SHRM IT or OPD-SHRMIS is a new aspect to HR which arises from with OPD theory.

108 Imagine standing on a table trying to change a light bulb. If the table was shaky, or rotten, then this will dramatically impact your speed and efficiency in changing the bulb. Business processes are to staff performance as changing a light bulb is to the table; both are the platform on which the person must stand to do the task. Business processes are part of OPD-SHRM in the same way that effective team work and effective customer relations are part of human performance requirements

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in any business. Business processes are part of the structure of the organization that people need relate to deal with and manage. Under OPD theory business processes are the conceptualization of how the business is to operate and are determined by senior managers but acted upon and within by team members, hence failure of a business process is the responsible of senior managers not a failure of those doing the work.

109 Researched under direction of G.R Little in period 1987-1990, results applied in the training school then owned and operated by Dr Little.

110 Multiple audits and interpretation with multiple clients over a number of years.

111 Current industry best practice is defined via the current HR and performance models. The OPD theory is expected to redefine those standards over the next decade; hence these comments need be taken with that in mind.

112 This is one of the crucial aspects of the OPD theory that is to be research over the next decade to consolidate this understanding.

113 Also referred to as SHRMIS IT system. 114 Obviously, if someone has a child in ho9spital, then this

is not practical, and the person needs to be given time and opportunity to deal with a significant personal issue. This type of decision can only be made on a case by case basis and is the assessment of the team leader on the amount of leniency afforded the person.

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115 Little G R (2011/3) Time budgeting, kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Time-budgeting-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004VS2MCG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3 and Little, G R (2011/4) Modern team leadership, Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Modern-leadership-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004X6U408/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_8

116 OPD theory was created in period 1999-2001. The web based admin system created 2002-2006. The first client was recruited and begun in 2006. In working with clients we unraveled exactly how the system need to be implemented to achieve the sort of result the theory promised.

117 This book, Rollout, and Little G R (2011/1) The last leadership book you ever need read, Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/last-leadership-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004ZQRS64/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

118 Little, G.R. (2011) The mind of the CEO, Self Help Guides, Amazon Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/mind-CEO-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B005WG8M7K/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

119 Little, G. R. Kindle, The role of human resources management in the modern organization, http://www.amazon.com/resources-management-organization-Resdesigning-ebook/dp/B0050I57BO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

120 Little, G. R. Modern team leadership. http://www.amazon.com/Modern-leadership-Redesigning-organisation-ebook/dp/B004X6U408/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_5

121 Little G R (2011/3) Time budgeting, kindle http://www.amazon.com/Time-budgeting-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004VS2MCG/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

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122 This is very important to understand, the role of team

leader is exactly the same regardless of the level of the organization, namely to identify and guide delivery of the ideal actions that enable greatest success. Hence team leadership training is exactly the same for the CEO as it is for the lowest level supervisor. In fact we recommend that senior team leaders are mixed with junior and are seen to be expected to do the exact same things in their team and are measured the exact same way.

123 Herzberg, Frederick (1959), The Motivation to Work, New York: John Wiley and Sons.

124 Personal growth and development of self-discipline are seen as head and tail of the same coin. With self discipline emerges a sense of personal internal authority and consolidation of self-esteem.

125 Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály (1996), Finding Flow: The

Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life, Basic Books, 126 The Gallup Q12 would be an example. The strength of

such an approach is the depth of statistical comparisons available through the Gallup database. This approach is not wrong, but clearly limited and with an ill defined relationship between input and output. A more accurate theory would enable better definition of the relationship between input and output and hence increase leadership effectiveness and efficiency.

127 Nel and Little (2010/1&2) for a discussion on corporate values and how they arise in OPD theory.

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128 Nel and Little (2010/1&2). The intrinsic value of success

assumed for organizations is a normative factor, where OPD-SHRM crosses a line and ceases to be science.

129 Little, G.R. (2011) The mind of the CEO, Self Help Guides, Amazon Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/mind-CEO-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B005WG8M7K/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

130 Little, G. R. Kindle, The role of human resources management in the modern organization, http://www.amazon.com/resources-management-organization-Resdesigning-ebook/dp/B0050I57BO/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

131 It is crucial to understand that this ethical issue arises from within the theory; it is not imposed as a preference or moral choice. For perhaps the first time ethical considerations arise from thorough scientific analysis based on a fundamental intellectual position. The emergence of the ethical issues is in contrast with the work of say Karl Marx, who tended to impose an ethical framework. These ethical questions related to the link between a commercial organization and the community arising for the OPD theory is currently being explored in the book Building community wealth and health, this book part of the redesigning the organization series. These and related issues are discussed in more depth in Little G R (2011/1) The last leadership book you ever need read, Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/last-leadership-Redesigning-organization-ebook/dp/B004ZQRS64/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

132 The first is clarifying ethical choices identifying the frames of ideas used we can call the ‘ethical frame’ relative to

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the circumstances; the second is clarifying the extent the first shapes actual behavior.

133 Recent civil unrest in several parts of the world protesting excessive salaries and privilege by management are examples of the community reaction to self-serving ethics by ‘management’. The unrest by the Barons in 13th century England that led to the Magna Carta is an exact parallel of a group of citizens seeking to curb unfair and excessive ethical standards being imposed by the ‘management’ of the day, in this instance King John. The Magna Carta was an important document that greatly shaped the power of kings, and influential in the forging constitutional documents such as the United States Constitution. History has made it clear that the general population cannot depend on the good will and generous ethical conduct of those with power, and that issue would appear to remain today.

134 Fisher and Paykel is a New Zealand white ware manufacturer of something over 1 billion revenues, with 3000 employees. They shifted something like 2000 of the jobs offshore to Thailand and Mexico. There will be many other examples, this is merely one with which I am familiar.

135 There is a clear distinction between corporate ethics and cultural ethics. Corporate ethics exist in the relationship an organization makes with its community; corporate ethics are implemented by the governance of the organization. Cultural ethics are how the organization treats people, for example, HR policy (whether written document or implicit) is core ethics in how the organization treats it staff, cultural ethics are implemented by team leaders.

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136 As an example, in 2010 at Pike River Coal mine there

was an explosion that killed 29 miners. If the governance of the mining company had adopted the ethic that it serves the community, and so set policy that the lives of the miners going into the mine were worth more than the coal coming out, no matter the cost, would this have resulted in a different outcome…?

137 These ethical issues and others are the topic of a forthcoming book in the series redesigning the organization

entitled Building community wealth and health. To be published in 2012 on Kindle.

138 Currently the OPD-system is the only one based on the scientific model of the link between strategy and staff behavior.

139 Oliver Wendell Holmes said he would not give a fig for simplicity this side of complexity, but would give his right arm for simplicity that other side of complexity. The immediate and obvious question arising from this quote is how do we know? That is how do we know when we have crossed complexity and have simplicity. This is a difficult question, with the first and most immediate issue being that we must have fully identified and defined the complexity we aim to cross. Then we need create a solution that is simple, yet embraces and resolves all aspects of that complexity. The quote of Oliver Wendell Holmes is then not merely words, but is a guiding intellectual principle to be applied in assessing the result.