Healthy Practices

Some believe it's possible to assess organizational health by looking at the numbers. They have dozens of "performance indicators," which they track diligently. Perhaps some of these data streams are helpful, but assessing organizational health by analyzing numerical data alone is a risky approach.

For example, I like to visit facilities in mid-afternoon and smell the air in the office and cubicle spaces. If I can't detect the odor of cold pizza, I begin to think that people are taking lunch breaks, spending time together in the cafeteria or at nearby restaurants. They aren't meeting over lunch, or responding to email from their desks, or racing to meet unreasonable deadlines between sandwiches and coffee.

All from the absence of old pizza smell. But it isn't the freshness of the air that's important; it's what the smell tells us about the behavior of the organization's people. Here are some other behaviors that suggest organizational health.

When things go wrong

When a failure happens, those whose actions contributed to the result acknowledge their contributions perhaps with some embarrassment, but definitely without fear. When people suspect that a problem might appear, they surface it immediately, rather than waiting until it's too late, all the while hoping the problem will go away.

When things go right

People share credit for successes. Supervisors credit their subordinates rather than claiming (or accepting) credit for themselves. When a team succeeds, instead of canonizing individuals, we honor the team as a team.

People look forward to retrospectives

We conduct retrospectives (also known as post mortems and after-action reviews). They're real opportunities to learn, rather than painful blamefests. We learn just as much from retrospectives when things go right as we do when things go wrong.

When we're in financial trouble

When a failure happens, those
who contributed to the result
acknowledge their contributions
perhaps with some embarrassment,
but definitely without fear

When we're in the financial soup, we do reduce expenses, but we recognize that cost-cutting tactics aren't enough. We know that growth and investment are the only long-term answers, and we find ways to grow — with new approaches, new products, new services, and new capabilities. In our search, we listen to everyone — customers, ex-customers, consultants, and employees at all levels.

When we disagree

We recognize that our relationships must survive our debates. When we disagree with each other, we do so respectfully, because we acknowledge the possibility that people on any side of the question can be wrong. In fact, people on every side of the question can be wrong. And they can be right, too — you never know.

Most important, we have a commitment to our people. We want them to develop to their full potential. That means monitoring and mentoring; rotating assignments; holding everyone accountable for failures, and rewarding success with more challenging responsibilities. It means not only training, but ongoing education. Learning — and teaching — is part of the job.

Do you work in a place like this? If not, what can you do about it?  Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Time Management in a Hurry

Many of us own books on time management. Here are five tips on time management for those of us who don't have time to read the time management books we've already bought.

Working Lunches

To save time, or to find a time everyone has free, we sometimes meet during lunch. It seems like a good idea, but there are some hidden costs.

This Is the Only Job

You have a job. Even though you liked it once, those days are long past, and a return is improbable. If you could, you'd hop to another job immediately, but economic conditions in your field make that unlikely. How can you deal with this misery?

Guidelines for Sharing "Resources"

Often, team members belong to several different teams. The leaders of teams whose members have divided responsibilities must sometimes contend with each other for the efforts and energies of the people they share. Here are some suggestions for sharing people effectively.

The Tyranny of Singular Nouns

When groups try to reach decisions, and the issue in question has a name that suggests a unitary concept, such as "policy," they sometimes collectively assume that they're required to find a one-size-fits-all solution. This assumption leads to poor decisions when one-size-fits-all isn't actually required.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming April 2: Mitigating the Trauma of Being Laid Off

Trauma is an emotional response to horrible events — accidents, crimes, disasters, physical abuse, emotional abuse, gross injustices — and layoffs. Layoff trauma is real. Employers know how to execute layoffs with compassion, but some act out of cruelty. Know how to defend yourself. Available here and by RSS on April 2.

And on April 9: Defining Workplace Bullying

When we set out to control the incidence of workplace bullying, problem number one is defining bullying behavior. We know much more about bullying in children than we do about adult bullying, and more about adult bullying than we know about workplace bullying. Available here and by RSS on April 9.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrentSgXnAlNVWlhxNIJner@ChacAtZoEYrrmofzZnjPoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info