Page 74 - Performance Leadership

Chapter 4 Performance Leadership Framework • 63

model. The values dimension does the opposite from the social dimen-
sion. It presents the “inside-out view.” Different organizations have dif-
ferent cultures, values, and missions. Things that make business
initiatives successful in one organization can be a complete failure in
another organization. The traditional business case, based on the oper-
ational and analytical dimension, will not reveal that.
The social and values dimensions are often at odds with each other.
The market may ask for a different approach to the products and serv-
ices the organization sells than the values prescribe. The organization
may value quality, while the market is asking for low prices. Organiza-
tional cultures may contain elements that you would be less proud of,
such as a touch of opportunism or greed, that you wouldn’t like to share
with the outside world. An organization’s mission may be noble, but it
may not always be recognized by the outside world in daily behaviors.
This can lead to dysfunctional behaviors such as “tricking the system”
to do “the right thing” (or the wrong thing for that matter) despite what
procedures and processes state. It could also lead to wrong decisions,
where—despite a glowing business case—a new business initiative that
looked good on paper fails. In any event, failure to understand the con-
text of the social and values dimension, leads to unanticipated or badly
understood behaviors. The performance leadership framework
improves organizational behavior.
What becomes clear, when going through the four dimensions, is
that our current performance management processes only take two of
the four dimensions into account: the operational and analytical
dimensions. We run the day-to-day processes in our organization, and
once in a while take a step back and see if we are still doing the right
things—that is, if we can agree on what the right things are. What is
missing in traditional performance management methodologies is guid-
ance on what the right things are. The performance leadership frame-
work does not replace other methodologies, such as the balanced
scorecard, value-based management, or beyond budgeting. In fact,
these methodologies are perfect to manage the operational and ana-
lytical dimensions of the business. However, traditional performance
management needs the overlay of the social and values dimensions of
the business. Usually these are missing, or at best, they’re assumed to
be known to the organization. This may be true, but practice shows