Harnessing Discretionary Performance (Written by H. G. Buschang, HGB Associates) Leaders of high performing organizations are especially adept at creating an environment that helps people feel good about doing a good job. The basic elements characterizing high performing organizations are deceptively simple. They are easy to understand and are almost intuitive. However, their implementation and institutionalization require forethought, planning and effort, and in most cases, significant changes in behavior. To harness Discretionary Performance, the following model may be helpful. D irection Can Perform A bility C competence O pportunity M easures F eedback WWant to Perform (Motivation)_ C onsequences Let’s briefly look at each of these in a bit more detail. “Can Perform” – The following elements are necessary for people to know “what” to do and to create the capacity for them to do it. D – Direction – If you are unaware of the expectations, you may not perform as expected. Also, if the direction is not clear, confusion can result. You may not draft a report if you did not know it was expected, you may not perform as expected if there are three conflicting priorities or unstated interpretations of ‘doing a quality job’ (such as customer responsiveness, speed and accuracy). Common elements may include: · Clarity of shared Vision, Mission, Principles/Values · Articulation and alignment of Strategy, Initiatives, Goals and Objectives A – Ability - This refers to the physical capability or ability to perform the tasks required by the change. You cannot run a 2-minute mile, you cannot have concurrent meetings in two locations, you cannot climb 40 stairs with heavy equipment if you have a broken leg. C – Competence – Does the organization have the Technical, Interpersonal, Work Management and Leadership skills necessary to achieve the Vision of the organization? If you were switched to a new software application or hardware platform, if you are expected to lead a project or team or if you asked to present to a large audience, you might lack the skills or knowledge required to successfully meet the new demands. O – Opportunity – There are many dimensions that relate to this item. You may not have the time or resources (people, materials or funds), or you may not have the processes, information or authority to adopt the new changes. In this case, perception may be as strong a resistance point as reality. Another way to think about “Opportunity” is to consider whether people have the necessary resources and support to accomplish their goals. “Want to Perform” (Motivation) – The following elements are necessary for to create an environment in which people “want to” perform at high levels. Leaders have the responsibility to create an environment in which people want to do their best every day. Once you have the direction, ability, competence and opportunity you still might not have the interest or drive to do your best. You do not see the W-I- ...

1. Harnessing Discretionary Performance
(Written by H. G. Buschang, HGB Associates)
Leaders of high performing organizations are especially adept at
creating an environment that helps people feel good about doing
a good job. The basic elements characterizing high performing
organizations are deceptively simple. They are easy to
understand and are almost intuitive. However, their
implementation and institutionalization require forethought,
planning and effort, and in most cases, significant changes in
behavior. To harness Discretionary Performance, the following
model may be helpful.
D irection
Can Perform
A bility
C competence
O pportunity
M easures
F eedback
WWant to Perform
(Motivation)_
C onsequences
Let’s briefly look at each of these in a bit more detail.
“Can Perform” – The following elements are necessary for
people to know “what” to do and to create the capacity for them
to do it.
D – Direction – If you are unaware of the expectations, you may
not perform as expected. Also, if the direction is not clear,
confusion can result. You may not draft a report if you did not

2. know it was expected, you may not perform as expected if there
are three conflicting priorities or unstated interpretations of
‘doing a quality job’ (such as customer responsiveness, speed
and accuracy). Common elements may include:
· Clarity of shared Vision, Mission, Principles/Values
· Articulation and alignment of Strategy, Initiatives, Goals and
Objectives
A – Ability - This refers to the physical capability or ability to
perform the tasks required by the change. You cannot run a 2-
minute mile, you cannot have concurrent meetings in two
locations, you cannot climb 40 stairs with heavy equipment if
you have a broken leg.
C – Competence – Does the organization have the Technical,
Interpersonal, Work Management and Leadership skills
necessary to achieve the Vision of the organization? If you were
switched to a new software application or hardware platform, if
you are expected to lead a project or team or if you asked to
present to a large audience, you might lack the skills or
knowledge required to successfully meet the new demands.
O – Opportunity – There are many dimensions that relate to this
item. You may not have the time or resources (people, materials
or funds), or you may not have the processes, information or
authority to adopt the new changes. In this case, perception may
be as strong a resistance point as reality. Another way to think
about “Opportunity” is to consider whether people have the
necessary resources and support to accomplish their goals.
“Want to Perform” (Motivation) – The following elements are
necessary for to create an environment in which people “want
to” perform at high levels. Leaders have the responsibility to
create an environment in which people want to do their best
every day. Once you have the direction, ability, competence and
opportunity you still might not have the interest or drive to do
your best. You do not see the W-I-I-F-M (What’s in it for Me?).
Motivation is the most important of the five characteristics
because it can help accommodate deficiencies in any of the

3. other four elements. Highly motivated people will find the time,
will learn the skills, will seek direction, will take chances.
Motivation is the main factor that determines whether the
change is sustained or not. Key elements of Motivation include:
M – Measures – Does the organization have timely, credible
ways to measure both the desired business results as well as the
behaviors (what people do) to achieve the results? Are the
measures used to properly align performance? Are they
meaningful and easily accessible to the performers, and most
importantly, is the performance that is measures truly in the
control of the performer? It is important to have clarity on what
will be measures, how frequently, by whom, and how the data
will be used. Measures form the basis for effective feedback.
F – Feedback – One of the most important leadership skills is to
provide data-based feedback.Feedback is knowledge about
performance. Good feedback is knowledge about performance
that is timely and specific enough to allow performance to
change. A few characteristics about good feedback is that it is
specific and data-based, timely, understandable and active.
Feedback should only be offered with the purpose of helping the
recipient of feedback become successful in what they are doing.
C – Consequences – What people do (behaviors) is a function of
the consequences they experience (or expect to experience)
when they do it. The effectiveness of what leaders do is
determined by how they use behavioral consequences. While
most leaders believe that consequences are in place, experience
has shown that the consequences that are typically used are
often ineffective in either maintaining desirable action or in
stopping undesirable actions. Daniels, pg. 97)
Conclusion
Leaders of high performing organizations embody a consistent,
systematic way to help people understand how what they do on
a day-to-day basis contributes to the success of the
organization. They ensure that people have the necessary
abilities, skills and knowledge and remove real (and perceived)

4. barriers to success. They provide frequent and honest feedback
on how well the organization, the team and the individuals are
performing. These concepts are surprising simple, yet require
forethought, planning and leadership effort to implement
successfully.
D-A-C-O-M-F-C is an adaptation of DCOM – Characteristics of
High Performing Organizations - unpublished work developed
by James Hillgren and Edward Morse of Continuous Learning
Group. Inc. (CLG), and Unpublished article, Change Leadership
– The Human Side, by J. Foloren, 2000.
Daniels, Aubrey C. and Daniels, James E. (2007). Measure of a
Leader. McGraw-Hill.
Discretionary Effort
Discretionary effort can best be described as the extra level of
performance people (could) give when they want to do
something as opposed to when they feel like they have to
something. People often refer to this as the difference between
commitment (doing it because we want to) and compliance
(doing it because we have to…or else!).
Behaviorally speaking, discretionary performance will occur
only when (the desired) behavior is positively reinforced.
Positive reinforcement can come from sources internal to the
person (we call that intrinsic motivation) as well as from the
environment surrounding him or her. If people do only enough
to avoid experiencing negative consequences, discretionary
performance will not occur.
As leaders, we must ask ourselves, are we creating a work

5. environment where employees “want to” give extra effort? Are
we positively reinforcing those behaviors when we see them? If
the answer to those questions is “yes,” there is a high
probability that we encouraging discretionary effort in the
workplace. (Braksick, 2000)
Braksick, L, Unlock Behavior, Unleash Profits, McGraw-Hill,
2000
Leadership Measures
Measurement
Measurement is both science and art.
Science because it can be qualitative or quantitative and is
based on the rules of statistics.
Art because effective measures are linked to day-to- day
recognition and reinforcement and to longer term rewards for
enhanced performance and results.
Purpose of Measures

6. Basis for aligning performanceBasis for tracking achievement
and assessing progressBasis for objective feedback and
corrective actionBasis for Reinforcement and Rewards
Align
Achieve
Adapt
Purpose of Measuring Leadership
The most significant reason to measure ”leadership” is for the
leader’s own development.
To objectively separate “apparent” effect from “actual” effect
of the leader’s actions.
To assess actual leadership effectiveness Vs. “personality.”
Characteristics of
Effective Measures
Clarity
well defined; easy to understand; indicate what is necessary
day-to-day
Focus
“zeroing” in on what truly needs to be accomplished
Alignment
everyone is working toward same end result
Rallyable
performance improvements are seen; good progress is reflected
by measures that go up rather than down
Line of Sight
measures clearly linked to others units and the organization as a
whole

7. Value Added
assesses what is important; focus is on who value is created;
begins with stakeholder
Accessible
measures are accessible to the performer on a continuous and
timely basis
Performer Control
Performers can influence the outcomes; reflect the activities of
the performers
Consistency
improved work processes enhances performance and measures
Common Errors of
Measurement
Measuring Too Much
Infrequent and Delayed Feedback
Measuring Results Only
Lack of Reinforcement
Measuring the Wrong Things
Common Resistance to Measurement
Common Reasons
Suggested Approaches
“Some jobs can’t be measured”
Measures can be developed for any effort
“Establishing a measurement system is time consumi ng and
expensive”

8. Simple systems have the best chance for success and cost the
least.
“Things beyond our control are being measured”
It is important to measure what the individual can control.
Resistance indicates that people are anticipating a change and
are taking measurement seriously.
“The measures will be used to punish performance”
Measures are used to gauge progress and give guidance. The
focus is on behaviors, not just results.
Measuring the Leader’s Effectiveness
What did the leader accomplish?
How did the followers respond?
What do leaders do (their specific leadership behaviors) to
achieve the above? Covered in Chapters 11 through 18 in
upcoming weeks)
Measuring the Leader’s Accomplishments
Did they grow the enterprise?
Did their organization achieve some level of prominence?
Did the leader leave a positive legacy?
Measuring Follower Response
How many followers respond to the leader’s call?
How does it take for the followers to take action?
How closely do the followers’ behaviors match the leader’s
priorities?

9. How many people can relate their efforts to the leader’s vision?
How many people can relate an example of the leader’s values?
How many people meet their commitments?
How many individuals assist their peers?
How many units actively assist other units?
How many suggestions are made in support of the visions?
How often do followers take responsibility for their mistakes?
How often do followers seek the leaders advice?
How many followers become leaders?
Leadership Behaviors
What Leaders “Do” to Achieve Desired Outcomes
Provide Direction: Align expectations throughout the
organization
Develop Competence: Ensure that people have the skills and
knowledge to achieve the vision
Enable Followers: Provide the necessary resources to achi eve
the vision
Measure Performance: Create a system of objective and timely
measures for both outcomes and supporting behaviors
Provide Feedback: Let people know how they are doing
Motivate Followers: Be an effective consequence provider
Leadership Measurement Options
Counts Objective
Behavior Anchored Scales
Ratings
Rankings Subjective

10. Summary Thoughts
Leadership effectiveness is not random. It is governed by the
laws of human behavior.
Leaders provide clarity on the behaviors they need peopl e to
engage in . . to achieve the mission of their organization.
Leaders utilize measure for their own development.
The role of leaders is to become effective consequence
providers.