21 Posts Found

Purpose defines our core reason for being and the positive impact we have on the world. It shapes our strategy, inspires our people, engages our customers and community, steers choices at moments of truth, and is fully embedded in our culture. Whether we are reappraising an existing purpose or designing one for the first time, we need to wrestle with challenging questions such as the … [ Read more ]

Authors: Arne Gast, Bill Schaninger, Bruce Simpson, Nina Probst, Pablo Illanes | Source: Purpose: Shifting from Why to How | Subjects: Management Questions, Mission / Vision / Values, Organization Questions

1. Direction. Do leaders communicate a clear and compelling vision of where the organization is headed, how to get there, and what it means for people?
2. Accountability. Do leaders in the organization ensure individuals understand what is expected of them, have sufficient authority and feel accountable for delivering results?
3. Coordination & Control. Do leaders consistently measure and manage business and risk, and act to address problems when

… [ Read more ]

Source: Organizational Health Index | Subject: Organization Questions

Collaborating effectively requires helping others. And helping others requires compassion, which in turn means learning about who they are and what they want. So in order to help my clients, at the start of each relationship, I devote two or three hours to asking the following questions:

• What are your proudest accomplishments and biggest disappointments?
• Which activities energize you and which drain you?
• How do other people

… [ Read more ]

Author: Susan Cramm | Source: What’s Love Got to Do with Business? | Subject: Organization Questions

The fundamental task of organization design is, as it always has been, helping a leader move from defining strategy to putting in place an organization that enables the strategy to be executed predictably. An effective organization design model guides a manager in answering five fundamental questions in a thoughtful and well-integrated way.

1. What is the business’s value proposition and it sources of competitive advantage?
2. Which organizational

… [ Read more ]

Author: John Beeson | Source: Five Questions Every Leader Should Ask About Organizational Design | Subject: Organization Questions

The unspoken beliefs that wield the most influence over business behavior are the metaphors that people use to envision the following major aspects of the work experience:

1. What is business all about?
2. What is a corporation all about?
3. What is management all about?
4. What role do employees play?
5. What really motivates people?
6. What is the nature of change?
7. What’s the role of technology?
8. What is the essential nature of work?

The answers to … [ Read more ]

Author: Geoffrey James | Source: Make Your Company Smarter | Subject: Organization Questions

BCG has identified four aspects of innovation culture on which companies often focus: what successes you celebrate, how you create, how you lead, and how you team. Importantly, these aspects either add—or destroy—value, depending on how your teams work together. Each aspect, when framed as a question, can help you determine what route to pursue to bolster your company’s innovation culture.

1. What do you celebrate? What

… [ Read more ]

Authors: David Blanchard, Deborah Lovich, Hannah Lu Schmitt, Johann D. Harnoss, Justin Manly, Robert Werner | Source: An Innovation Culture That Gets Results | Subjects: Innovation Questions, Organization Questions

Ask yourself these questions about your organization:

1. Do your values have relevance for your customers?
2. Do your customers experience your values in some way?
3. Do your values differentiate you within your industry?

Authors: Nate Dvorak, Ryan Pendell | Source: Culture Wins by Making You Stand Out to Your Customers | Subject: Organization Questions

Bring the Future to Life

1. Case for Change. Have we convinced the organization that the status quo is unacceptable?
2. Compelling Intent. Is our story of the future meaningful to our people and securing emotional buy-in at all levels?
3. Credible Solutions. Are the proposed solutions appealing so the organization, and will they work in our culture?

Inspire Deep Commitment

4. Aligned Top Team. Do we have the right top team? Is

… [ Read more ]

Subjects: Change Management Questions, Management Questions, Organization Questions

If you’re involved in activities that you’re already naturally inclined to do well, your attitude toward work is different and you contribute more to your workplace compared with someone who may have similar skills but less natural ability. Doing what you do best is essential to being a star performer at work. As an employee, you should ask yourself these questions:

• Do I know what I

… [ Read more ]

Subjects: Human Resources Questions, Leadership Questions, Management Questions, Organization Questions

As organizations consider candidates for collaborative leadership roles, they should ask the following six questions:

1. Can this leader achieve results by influencing rather than directing?
2. Can this leader share ownership, even if it means sharing credit and rewards?
3. Can this leader delegate and let others deliver results?
4. Has this leader demonstrated the ability to motivate groups of diverse individuals who may not share her viewpoints or perspectives?
5. Has this leader

… [ Read more ]

Subjects: Human Resources Questions, Leadership Questions, Organization Questions

• What should our business model look like in three to five years as the implications of our business strategy play out?
• What balance do we need on the spectrum of centralization vs. a distributed network of business entities? How should we be structured to best support our business strategy: by geography, product, function, customer-or a hybrid arrangement?
• Do we have the right organization design in place to

… [ Read more ]

Subjects: Management Questions, Organization Questions

Schoorman and Ballinger developed seven “trust items” that were tested with notable validity. For leaders interested in testing the trust waters in their organization, these seven questions provide a useful framework or litmus test to determine whether there is a need for further examination of the extent to which trust is present or absent in an organization. On a scale of one to five, with … [ Read more ]

Subjects: Management Questions, Organization Questions

• Do we pay attention to each stakeholder as an individual?
• Do we respect each person’s views and interests?
• Are we honest?
• Do we keep promises?
• Do we seek to “do good while doing well?”
• Do we create innovative solutions to important, unmet human needs?
• Do we look for validation of ideas in customer and end-user acceptance?
• Do we put the interests of all stakeholders on a par with each other?
• Do we

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Organization Questions

1. How do your customers view your organization?
2. How do your suppliers view your organization?
3. How do your employees view your organization?
4. Has your organization’s strategy been articulated and communicated?
5. Does this strategy make sense given the current and anticipated external threats and opportunities?
6. Where are the gaps in terms of internal strengths and capabilities?
7. Have the desired outputs of the firm and the level of

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Organization Questions

• To what extent is the organization thinking about its future and about the larger implications of its behavior?
• What are people rewarded, recognized, fired and/or promoted for?

Source:
The decisiondriven organization
by Paul Rogers
Bain & Company

Subject: Organization Questions

• What are our unifying values? What have we stood for over time? The ability to provide context and meaning for the work people do is key.
• How do you organize your time? Is it spent on what you say is important? If you want to know if you’re really adding value, look at your calendar.
• Whom do you depend on? Your real work team

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Organization Questions

• What about the current structure helps or hinders the organization in achieving its strategy?
• What roles and responsibilities are clear or not clear?
• Are the organizational goals clear or is there confusion?
• Which customer needs are being satisfied or not met?
• Which people skills exist or are missing?
• Which work flows are efficient and effective? Or not?
• Which informal processes support organizational goals? Or work against them?
• What aspects of

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Organization Questions

Dave Anderson, author of “No-Nonsense Leadership: Real World Strategies to Maximize Personal & Corporate Potential” (Learn to Lead Press, 2001), offers an eight-point reality check to help you determine whether entitlement is still alive and well in your organization:

1. You base promotions and job retention on tenure, not performance.
2. You give bonuses, whether or not people have earned them.
3. Employees get raises regardless of

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Organization Questions

1. Mind-engaging work
   When was the last time you got so caught up in interesting work that you lost track of time? What were you doing? What was it — about the work itself, how you were going about it, its connection to a greater good — that made this such a wonderfully consuming activity?
2. Seeing the fruits of your labor
   When you want to see the

… [ Read more ]

Subject: Organization Questions

• Where are you going? (preferred future)
• What do you believe in? (principles)
• Why do you exist? (purpose)

Source:
Who Are You and What Do You Want?
by Jim Clemmer
The CEO Refresher

Subject: Organization Questions