Core Promise: A Simple Driver of Healthy, Resilient, High-Performance

Core Promise™A Simple Driver of Healthy, Resilient, High-Performance Be part of the solution for radically better use of organizational resources © The BestWork® People 2012

Design is an essential organizational disciplineWith increasing competition for relevance to key audiences, andincreasing pressure from relentless change as well as diminishingresources,The ability to design superior value with minimal investment –quickly – has become mission-critical for reliable performanceThese pages invite you to a new approach to organizationalachievement: applying the power of new design thinking toStrategic Planning and Organizational Design2 © The BestWork® People 2012

START BY CONSIDERING EVERY PLAYER IN YOUR ECOSYSTEM A STAKEHOLDER © The BestWork® People 20123

Who assesses the value of your business? Customers Volunteers Municipalities Regulators Online Communities Referral Sources Investors Strategic Allies Suppliers Employees4 © The BestWork® People 2012

Generating benefit for all of those Stakeholders is the game to be wonTake a fresh look at yourvalue exchangewith each one What do you promise? What do they promise? What’s explicit and what’s implied?5 © The BestWork® People 2012

What do they count on you for ? What do you want them to count on you for?6 © The BestWork® People 2012

What if – instead of multiple diffuse exchanges – you could focus your resources on one compelling promise to all of your Stakeholders?7 © The BestWork® People 2012

And design your entire business around it8 © The BestWork® People 2012

What is Core Promise?An enterprise is a network of commitments: nothing more, nothinglessCommitments are social acts: promises among parties to delivercertain tangibles and intangiblesCore Promise is a social contract – the heart of a resiliententerprise:Articulating who you are committed to, and how you will servethemFueling a business model that powers strong Stakeholderrelationships, and provides a solid foundation for planning9 © The BestWork® People 2012

A Core Promise galvanizes StakeholdersThe impact of a promise isinnate: it’s a powerful social act.Because human beings haveevolved through the advantageof cooperating, our brains areorganized to keep us focusedon the merits of potentialinteractions with others.A clear Core Promise fuels thesocial connection at the heartof every exchange, naturallyenergizing the organization 10 © The BestWork® People 2012

Examples of Core Promises(They’re proprietary; they can serve a division or an entire enterprise.Those below are intentionally obscured)We ensure that every Bank transaction is safe for all partiesWe serve communities with good merchandise at fair prices to bothcustomers and suppliers, favorable work environments, and minimalenvironmental impactWe provide personal, convenient, affordable, environmentally soundtransportationWe illuminate and assign the costs – financial and environmental – ofevery printed documentWe strengthen communities by growing women entrepreneurs, who inturn educate their children and expand the middle class11 © The BestWork® People 2012

How is Core Promise different from Mission? A mission is statement of intent, eg “To help people with disabilities find the opportunity to work” “To deliver the best mousetrap” A Core Promise focuses commitment for value to all Stakeholders, eg “We provide affordable, skilled workers, strengthening the viability of families, communities, and enterprises” “We ensure that families, businesses, and institutions are safe from vermin”A Core Promise greatly improves both organizational cohesion and responsiveness to changes in Stakeholder concerns12 © The BestWork® People 2012

How does Core Promise fit with Values, Vision and Purpose? Core Promise is the embodiment of your organizational Values It operationalizes your Purpose And serves as a beacon when change appears to challenge your VisionFor example, how would you serve your Stakeholders in the event of an epidemic or emergency? Your Vision might shift; your Core Promise would remain foundational.13 © The BestWork® People 2012

Examples of results driven by Core PromiseA major bank won regulators approval, relieving limits to growth byacquisitionManagement teams in Fortune 100, midsize, small business, and non-profitboards stepped into alignment to drive growth and reduce costsDivisions of matrixed Fortune 500 moved beyond gridlock to developprofitable strategies and products, and exceed revenue goals year after yearResistant managers in Fortune 100 and small business embraced culturalchange, driving new practices and developing new competences, wideningthe gap facing competitorsSuppliers and distributors adopted new performance standards, boostingprofitability all around © The BestWork® People 2012

IF CORE PROMISE IS SO POWERFUL, WHY ARE SO FEW EXECUTIVES EMPLOYING IT? © The BestWork® People 201215

Core Promise requires new abilities and practices Stepping outside your own business and observing the ecosystem of which your Stakeholders are a part – systematically, repeatedly – and visible to your entire workforce Identifying the culture and competencies that will enable your people to do their best work fulfilling the promise16 © The BestWork® People 2012

No matter what your current prioritiesChange is not going to slow down;Stakeholders’ concerns will continueto shiftDesigning metrics, strategies, andactions from Core Promise drivesfocus, reduces ambiguity about whatto let go, and builds trustAs the world re-morphs, you canrespond quickly to new requirements,while maintaining integrity anddeepening important relationships 17 © The BestWork® People 2012

Amplify enterprise strength, resilience and integrityOperating from a clear Core Promise builds trust by clarifyingwhat to rely on you forDesigning metrics and strategies that drive performance against itstreamlines resources and inspires best work, yielding competitiveadvantageA clear Core Promise gets you ready to boost your identityThough it may seem like a slow way to start, it will reduce the timerequired for planning by a factor of 5 – 1018 © The BestWork® People 2012

Our enterprises beg for radical improvement in the way resources are deployedOrganizations have a huge role in creating a world we can safely pass to our grandchildren. But people working long hours, multi-tasking, answering emails at 2 am, cannot do their best work, much less innovate. The brain does not generate new thinking when stressedIf your people are working more than 42 hours a week, your model is part of the problemThese pages offer a new way of leveraging design thinking to forge far more effective and efficient – thriving – enterprisesI hope you’ll use them to become a bigger part of the solution.19 © The BestWork® People 2012

HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE BENEFITS OF CORE PROMISE © The BestWork® People 201220

Implementation StepsOne Identify your StakeholdersTwo Articulate your Core PromiseThree Define your MetricsFour Design your Strategies21 © The BestWork® People 2012

STEP ONE: IDENTIFY YOUR STAKEHOLDERS © The BestWork® People 201222

Who are your Stakeholders? Customers Volunteers Municipalities Regulators Online Communities Referral Sources Strategic Allies Investors Suppliers Employees List all of them – those central to your business model and those more peripheral – and what you do for them23 © The BestWork® People 2012

Consider mapping your EcosystemRevealing which Stakeholders are central, how they all relateto each other, and how you add value24 © The BestWork® People 2012

STEP TWO: ARTICULATE YOUR CORE PROMISE © The BestWork® People 201225

Ask a sample of Stakeholders what they rely on you forListenLet them illuminate howyou serve various partiesLearn from their viewsand the language they use26 © The BestWork® People 2012

Articulate what everyone can count on you for – no matter what Core Promise shifts organizational focus From “What we do” to “Who we serve”, naturally inspiring Stakeholders and generating their best work With Core Promise in place, you’re ready to begin planning and design27 © The BestWork® People 2012

Core Promise provides a strong, resilient foundation for planning and design28 © The BestWork® People 2012

STEP THREE: DEFINE YOUR METRICS Identify key performance indicators (Yes, do this before developing strategies) © The BestWork® People 201229

Re-define enterprise performance How are you performing against Core Promise in the four key Balanced Scorecard areas?30 © The BestWork® People 2012

Note where value is generated and where it’s realized Financial Results Outcome Stakeholder Outcome Assessments Operations: Driver Internal Process Organizational Driver Capacity Source: Balanced Scorecard Institute31 © The BestWork® People 2012

Establishing metrics in all four areas provides the benefit of both leading and lagging indicators Financial ResultsWhile every enterprise Two outcomes: laggingseeks the outcomesat the ‘top’, Stakeholder ExperienceValue is driven by Operations: Internalorganizational Processcapacity and Two drivers: leadingoperations at the‘bottom’ Organizational Capacity 32 © The BestWork® People 2012

Examples of leading and lagging metrics Leading LaggingOperations Finance – Returns due to product flaws – Revenue from new strategic – Employees involving their partnerships families in Wellness programs – Net cost/savings from Green and Wellness initiativesOrganization – Managers taking full Stakeholder Experience vacations, not checking email – Online communities actively – Employees generating desired tracking results of new brand experience within six products weeks of on-boarding – Website customer support required 33 © The BestWork® People 2012

STEP FOUR: INVENT STRATEGIES TOACHIEVE TARGETED METRICS Remember where value is driven and where it’s realized © The BestWork® People 201234

Consider how your Core Promise can increase the value of Stakeholders to each otherCore Promise serves as acontext and a currency,driving consistency ofexperienceProviding another viewfor getting criticalrelationships rightAnd increasing the valueof the entire ecosystem 37 © The BestWork® People 2012

Dashboard for a young not-for-profit: ready for actionDomain Metrics Strategies • Total revenue (in-kind • Track value of in-kind donationsFinance included) • Operating reserves • How often are reports shared • Provide quarterly reports of eachStakeholder • Percentage of students who student’s progressAssessments become mentors • Provide video clips with permission to donors to share • Number of students who • Build partnerships with tech succeed in building community companies for collaborative andOperations jobs training software • Time required to recruit and • After piloting content and process, orient create electronic learning process • Focus Culture on value of everyOrganizational • Number of skilled volunteers exchange with StakeholdersCapacity • Number of students funded • Provide training to staff and volunteers re creating rich exchanges 40 © The BestWork® People 2012

Build a healthy, resilient, high performing enterpriseCore Promise is a transparent social contract, buildingtrust among StakeholdersIt’s a context for putting people at their best: generatingvalue and strengthening relationshipsIt’s a call to action in your organization and yourecosystemI invite you to become a bigger part of the solution.41 © The BestWork® People 2012

With gratitude for the thinkers, teachers, and researchers who illuminated the path Marsha Shenk is one of the pioneers of Business Anthropology. Her models have empowered business leaders for more than three decades. Synthesizing insights from Neuroscience, Linguistics, Somatics, and business, her work simplifies the complex cultural, biological, and historical forces that determine the success of modern enterprises. www.BestWork.biz http://twitter.com/marshashenk © The BestWork® People 201242

Core Promise: A Simple Driver of Healthy, Resilient, High-Performance

by marsha shenk on Jun 01, 2012

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