A Tale of Two Hope Machines, 11.2

Next we want to try to get some sort of a handle on UCP’s operating context, first by asking and attempting to answer a set of questions about where the organization is and how it got there — then by doing the same regarding where it wants to go and how it’s going to get there. 'N case you’re keeping score at home, posts related to what’s happened will begin with “11.3.A.” Posts related to what’s coming will begin with “11.3.B.”

The aim of this inquiry? In David Hurst’s words, to develop “a coarse-grained, moving picture of the past, present and potential futures of the organization -- the questions it has to answer and the choices it has to make.” 

The interest here is not in finding and addressing clear-cut, technical sorts of issues that a consultancy like Gartner, Inc. is better suited to address (e.g., how to complete this or that technology-enabled initiative). Instead, it's in having a go at some of the more complex, systemic, and messier questions – questions which may have more than one answer from which to choose. 

The asking I have in mind to do should, ideally, be a communal process (involving UCP stakeholders of all kinds) and be viewed as an opportunity for learning and growth. 

The best I can hope to do on my own, from a distance, is get the ball rolling. 

A Tale of Two Hope Machines, 11.1

A hypothetical: 

You’re newly responsible for the overall well being of United Cerebral Palsy, UCP, one of the US’s largest health-related charities. I’d like to know: How do you intend to piece everything (the dozens--thousands--millions of moving parts) together? What’ll be your particular way of doing things? The landscape looks chaotic: How will you put it into context? 

You won't just wing it, will you?

If it were I in such a position, I think I’d be inclined to at least experiment with the comprehensive management approach David K. Hurst introduces in The New Ecology of Leadership. (Columbia Business School Publishing, 2012)

Mr. Hurst’s approach uses an understanding of natural systems to shed light on the ways in which organizations work, and how they may be managed. Central to it is an ecological mental model that:

• serves as “dynamic filing system and a management toolbox that allows you [managers] to store and retrieve organizational experiences and to employ them in taking effective action” 

• shows how to use Passion, Reason, and Power to keep an organization on course (destination: a sustainable future) and away from perilous traps 

-- which is as clear as mud, I'm sure.

Rather than try to elaborate, I think it’d be better to go straight to trying to apply said model. That’s the only way to learn, ultimately, whether or not it could help UCP become an even better organization than it already is.

Mr. Hurst doesn’t offer one-size-fits-all answers. He tries, instead, to get to the heart of the complex and unique issues that organizations face: "If you can name the pain," he says, "you’re well on the way to resolving them.” Improving the system itself is usually the solution. That all starts with asking questions...

Next.