making the impossible possible

MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE

Applying Heliotropic Abundance for creating Program and Project Management processes

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Making the Impossible Possible, Kim Cameron and Marc Lavine, 2006

Lessons learned from the cleanup of America’s most

dangerous Nuclear Weapons Plan

Abundance Principle of Management

Strive for positive deviance, pursuing the best of the

human condition and working to fulfill the highest

potential of the organization.

Focuses on:

Resilience

Flourishing

Vitality

Extraordinarily positive individual and organizational

outcomes

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The Ordinary Approach to Change†

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Identify and define the problem accurately.

Generate alternate solutions to the problem based

on root causes so that convergence on a solution is

not premature.

Focus on evaluating and selecting the best

alternative.

Implement the chosen alternative solution and follow

up to ensure that the problem or obstacle is

resolved.† Leading Change, John Kotter Harvard Business School Press, 1996

Organization Change: Theory and Practice, W. W. Burke, Sage, 2002

A Primer on Decision Making: How Decisions Happen, J. G. March, Free Press, 1994

Smart Thinking for Crazy Times: The Art of Solving the Right Problems, I. I. Mitroff, Berrett–Koehler, 1998

The Abundance Approach6

Abundance is not a substitute for ordinary

management – it is a supplement for the problem

solving approach.

Abundance focuses on:

Closing the gaps between acceptable performance

and spectacular performance.

Emphasizes positively deviant accomplishments rather

than normal or expected accomplishments.

Positive possibilities rather than deficits.

Conventional Principles versus Abundance

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Conventional Principles Abundance Principles

General Leadership Principles

Problem solving and deficit gaps Virtuousness and abundance gaps

A single heroic leader Multiple leaders playing multiple roles

One leader from the beginning to end A continuity of leaders

Congruence and consistency Paradox and contradiction

Principles Related to Visionary and Symbolic Leadership

Logical, rational, and sensible visions – with

SMART goals

Symbolic, emotional, and meaningful –

with profound purpose

Consistency, stability, and predictability Revolution and positive deviance

Personal benefits and advantages Meaningfulness beyond personal benefits

Organizations absorb the risks of failure

and benefits of success

Employees share the risks of failure and

rewards for success


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Careful, Clear, and Controlled Leadership

Organizational change at the expense of

the people

Organizational change for the benefit of

the people

Commitments and priorities based on

environmental demands

Unalterable commitments and integrity at

all costs

Managing the contract, attaching resources

to performance

Managing the contract and ensuring stable

funding

Ultimate responsibility and accountability

for measureable success at the top

Responsibility and accountability for

measureable success for everyone


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Collaboration, Engagement, and Participation

Building on and reinforcing the current

culture

Introducing challenges that the culture

cannot address

Decision making and leadership at the top

Employee and management in

partnerships in planning, decision making,

training, evaluation, and discipline

Need–to–know information sharing and

physical separation

Early, frequent, and abundant information

sharing with colocation

Long–term employment, personal

relations, and use of specialist

Long–employability, professional relations,

and retraining


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Rigorous, uncompromising, and results oriented leaderhip

Managing external communications Openness of all message through early and

often communications

Keeping critics at a distance Making critics stakeholders, building

relationships, and using positive strategies

Clear, stable performance targets that

meet standard coming from the top

Escalating performance, virtuousness, and

positive deviance targets from multiple

sources

Organizational financial benefit from

outstanding success

Financial generosity and benevolence with

employees

Four Quadrants of Improvement Guided by the Abundance Approach

Collaborate Create

Control Compete

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Collaborate

Relationships, Human Capital, and Collaboration

Develop talent, build strong relationships, and foster

trust between all parties based on:

Culture

Collaboration

Credibility

Human capital and social relationships

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Create

Vision, Innovation, and Symbolic Leadership

Articulate and reinforce a motivating vision of what

could be in contrast of what occurred in the past.

Forge a clear and shared vision of the future.

Symbolic leadership in support of changing mission.

Innovative and creative ideas about work.

New sense of meaning and importance to pursued tasks.

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Control

Stability, Discipline, and Process Control

Grounded in virtuousness, extending beyond just

doing well, but developing mechanisms for

producing extraordinary results

Goal clarity

Agreements between producers and suppliers

Planning and objective measures and accountability

Stable support and funding for work efforts

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Compete

Incentives and Rigorous Performance Standards

Aggressive actions, external constituents, market

forces, performance incentives, and obtaining

measureable results

External stakeholder agreements

Managing external relationships

Taking bold action

Incentives for measureable progress

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Long Term Flexibility for Change New

Inte

rna

l M

ain

ten

an

ce

Culture Type: CLAN Culture Type: ADHOCRACYE

xte

rna

l Po

sitio

nin

g

Orientation: COLLOABORATE Orientation: CREATE

Leader Type: Facilitator

Mentor

Team builder

Leader Type: Innovator

Entrepreneur

Visionary

Value Drivers: Commitment

Communication

Development

Value Drivers: Innovative outputs

Transformational

Agility

Theory of

Effectiveness:

Human development

and high commitment

produce effectiveness

Theory of

Effectiveness:

Innovativeness, vision,

and constant change


Culture Type: HEIRARCHY Culture Type: MARKET

Orientation: CONTROL Orientation: COMPETE

Leader Type: Coordinator

Monitor

Organizer

Leader Type: Hard driver

Competitor

Producer

Value Drivers: Efficiency

Timeliness

Consistency and

Uniformity

Value Drivers: Market share

Goal achievement

Profitability

Theory of

Effectiveness:

Control and efficiency

with capable processes


Theory of

Effectiveness:

Aggressively competing

and customer focus


Incremental Stability Control Fast

This is What DONE Looks Like

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