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Symbiont Performance Group, Inc.
 
March 2011
 In This Issue 

 

A Model for Organizational Performance

 

Self-Confidence - What Is It Really? 

 

Your Persuasive Edge

 

 

Pat Iannuzzi

Pat Iannuzzi

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Greetings!   

Welcome to this month's edition of Insights. Our goal is to offer proven tools and techniques to help potential into measurable results for yourself, your team and your organization. I hope you will find it interesting and that you will pick up a thought or two that you will find useful.

If you know of anyone else who you think might be interested in receiving Insights, please on.

As always, I would be very interested and appreciative of your feedback.

Pat Iannuzzi

article1A MODEL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

The overall level of an organization's performance can be described in basic terms as the cumulative impact of three general operational components; people, processes, and strategy on an organization's critical business assets. In order for an organization to enjoy sustainable success each of these three operational components needs to be aligned in a manner that is supportive of the organization's critical business assets and makes them complementary to each other. The model below graphically represents this ideal relationship.

Model for Organizational Performance

Critical Business Assets

An organization's critical business assets comprise the primary means or resources employed to develop and deliver the products and services that customers buy. Examples of critical business assets can include tangible elements such as raw materials, equipment, buildings and natural resources as well as intangible assets, often referred to as intellectual capital, such as proprietary technology, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other specialized knowledge. Critical business assets usually define the very nature of a business. They are to be leveraged through expert professional management by individuals who are specialists in the specific critical assets of a particular enterprise. An organization's strategy, processes and people capabilities must be effectively designed and developed to take maximum advantage of an organization's critical business assets.

People

The contributions of the people at all levels who run an organization are central to determining an organization's overall productivity. The capabilities demonstrated by an organization's workers are reflected by the sum total of their inherent attributes plus the knowledge, skills and attitudes that workers bring to a position or develop on the job. The abilities of workers can be categorized as an organization's human capital and are the source of an organization's creativity and innovation. Human capital is usually considered to be an intangible asset to organizations because it is difficult to evaluate and quantify, so it never appears as a line item on a financial statement. As a result, it is often undervalued and ineffectively managed, much to the detriment of overall organizational performance.

Processes

An organizational process consists of a series of tasks, operations and functions through which and within which work activities are carried out in organizations. Processes focus specifically on how work is done within organizations and encompass both formal and informal policies, procedures, and practices pertaining to specific organizational functions. Processes can be organized into five general categories:
  • Operational Processes - processes that describe an organized series of progressive steps, tasks and actions required for the execution of core organizational functions and jobs (e.g., a manufacturing process).
  • Business Processes - processes that describe the policies and procedures for how an organization interacts with customers (e.g., sales, order processing).
  • Leadership Processes - processes that govern the implementation of activities relating to an organizations leadership and the management of its people (e.g., strategic planning, reporting structures, and human resource policies and procedures).
  • Support Processes - processes that provide organizational support services for the overall effective operation of an organization (e.g., accounting, training, information technology services).
  • Cultural Processes - usually informal processes consisting of collections of values, beliefs and behavioral standards shared by people within an organization, that govern the way they interact with one another and with outside stakeholders.
Processes, whether integral to a particular job or ancillary to it, that are not properly organized and managed to support optimum worker performance can be significant contributing factors to sub-standard organizational results.

Strategy

Strategy can be defined as the effective application of a limited set of resources in a clearly defined manner through specific activities to achieve organizational goals. Strategy defines what an organization aims to achieve vision and the manner and approach it will employ to achieve it mission. It may also include elements relating to organizational values and behavioral norms.

Strategic behavior generally involves doing different things than competitors or doing similar things in a different way to gain a competitive advantage. It is usually viewed within the context of outperforming the competition but can also be applied to overcoming obstacles of a non-competitive nature that stand in the way of success (e.g., avoiding a potentially costly union strike). An effective strategy is critical to organizational productivity because it articulates an organization's plan for overcoming the challenges presented by external factors such as competitive activity, market characteristics, economic conditions and government regulations. Additionally, effective strategy defines the aims and focuses of all organizational activities and embodies the attitudes and values of its people.


the role of performance consulting in improving organizational productivity  

 

 

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 article2SELF-CONFIDENCE - WHAT IS IT REALLY?

Self-confidence is the state or condition of having trust or belief in one's capabilities. People who display self-confidence know they have what it takes to do something well and are ready and willing to take on challenges because they know they can master difficult situations. Self-confidence is an attitude we hold about our self and is a critical factor for achieving success in a particular field, situation or area of endeavor because it shapes our expectations. High self-confidence leads to high expectations. Low self-confidence leads to low expectations, and what we expect goes a long way in actually determining what we can do.

     

The Role of the Subconscious Mind

Our subconscious mind caries memories of our past successes and past failures, and these memories directly influence our conscious behavior in the present. Positive past experiences unconsciously motivate us to repeat the behaviors corresponding to those experiences because we subconsciously desire to once again experience the pleasurable feelings associated with these previous successes. Negative past experiences on the other hand, can unconsciously undermine or inhibit future behaviors because we associate them with the pain of past negative results which we subconsciously desire to avoid.

It's really all about mindset. Up until 1954, no runner in the recorded history of sports had ever run a mile in less than four minutes, and it was generally accepted that such a feat was out of the realm of possibility for human beings. That year Roger Bannister became the first man to run a mile in less than four minutes, and this accomplishment was widely applauded as an incredible achievement. Within weeks however, another runner broke the four minute barrier, and in the following months many others did as well. These were the same runners who had previously run in the same races as Roger Bannister and were unable to break the four minute mile barrier. Why did so many runners suddenly accomplish what none of them seemed to be able to do only a few months before?

Before Roger Bannister did it, none of them really thought it was possible, except Roger Bannister that is. As a result, they didn't have the self-confidence that they could do it, and their bodies responded accordingly. But after Roger Bannister did it, they knew it was possible and developed the confidence that if he could do it, so could they.

Becoming More Self-Confident

To break the spell of negative inertia and frustration associated with negative past experiences (real or imagined), it is necessary to condition our minds to erase negative, subconscious memories of past failures which act as roadblocks to success and replace them with positive images of future accomplishments. In other words, we need to create a state of mind that will drive us to ACT AS IF IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL. This is the essence of self-confidence, and it can be systematically developed.

But first the root cause of a person's lack of self-confidence must be identified and raised to the conscious level of thought. Then one should answer the question; "What would I need to become better at in order to behave more confidently in this situation?" The next step is to work to fulfill the identified developmental need.

Creative Visualization

Visualization is the technique of using mental imagery to see yourself as already having what you want to have, be or accomplish. It involves changing your thoughts by imagining something to be true over and over until you actually change the mental images residing in your subconscious mind. Thoughts, if powerful enough, are accepted as truth by our subconscious mind, and this changes our mindset accordingly. We develop new, more positive expectations about our abilities which then influence our habits and actions to actually bring about what our mind believes to be real.

Affirmations

Affirmations are positive statements that describe a desired outcome such as "I will lose 20 pounds during the next year." They work in the same manner as creative visualization by programming our minds much as commands and scripts program a computer. When repeated over and over, affirmations build mental images in the conscious mind corresponding to the stated affirmation, and these mental images eventually become embedded in our subconscious mind. These images then influence our behavior causing it to automatically strive to attain that which we desire.

In the words of Earl Nightingale, "We are what we think about."

more about developing self-confidence
 
more about creative visualization and affirmations

 

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article3YOUR PERSUASIVE EDGE

People sometimes associate the topic of persuasion primarily with the concept of selling, but the importance of effective persuasion skills really pertains to every one of us regardless of our individual vocation. Every day each of us is involved to some degree in influencing the thoughts and actions of others. In fact, the path to success in life lies to a very large extent in gaining the cooperation of others. Beginning with this edition of Insights, we will be including an ongoing segment dedicated to the topic of persuasion.


When we seek to persuade, we use words and actions to attempt to bridge an attitudinal gap that exists between ourselves and one or more other people. If no such attitudinal difference existed, persuasion would be unnecessary. One of the ways in which we can gain the cooperation of others is by helping them get what they want. Therefore, we should focus on other people's needs and wants and strive to connect what they want with what we want. By getting others to come to the realization that we are genuinely interested in helping them achieve their desires in life, they will be much more receptive to cooperating with us when we need their help in achieving ours.

This principle is often referred to as the law of reciprocity which states that when you do something for someone, he or she will feel a compelling urge to reciprocate. Obliviously this law can be applied either positively or negatively, but in the context of effective persuasion, we are clearly approaching it from a positive perspective. We are not talking here about situational or transactional reciprocity where by agreement you do something in exchange for another person doing something else. Rather, we are talking about giving something of perceived value away without any obligation attached. Such behavior induces reciprocity in others, an attitude of wanting to return the favor, which can help us influence them at some point in the future.

While the law of reciprocity can be successfully applied directly toward an individual person in a specific situation, it can be much more effective when demonstrated in a person's everyday approach toward people in general. Since one never knows who may be the one to provide assistance and cooperation at a given moment, we should continually be on the lookout for ways in which we may directly or indirectly, be able to help others without regard to whether or not they will be disposed to help us in return.

In his book Achieving Success Through Social Capital (Jossey-Bass), Wayne Baker states; "The lesson is that we cannot pursue the power of reciprocity. When we try to invoke reciprocity directly, we lose sight of the reason for it: helping others. Paradoxically, it is in helping others without expecting reciprocity in return that we invoke the power of reciprocity. The path to reciprocity is indirect: this law of love in the workplace is described as the "law of reciprocity."

Being mindful of the law of reciprocity can provide us with an important tool for increasing our persuasive ability as well as our interpersonal effectiveness overall.

 

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I hope you have enjoyed what you've read. As always, we value your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to email us with comments or suggestions, visit our website for more information, or .
Sincerely,
 

Pat Iannuzzi
Symbiont Performance Group