Solutions for business and government through  Strategic Planning  Process Thinking  Leadership Development PO Box 2013, South Melbourne, Victoria, Lionel J Boxer CD MBA BTech(IE) INTERGON This entire presentation is copyright © Intergon 2003 Positioning Achieving planned action by aligning the social order Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why?

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Topics of Discussion Lack of appropriate social order:  Why this is a problem  How to fix the problem Defining social order. How social order affects action. Discourse and positioning. Social order required for action. Discourse shows existing social order. Altering discourse to resolve gap between required and actual social order.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Lack of Appropriate Social Order Social order is invisible. It can only be observed in social dynamics of discourse. Planned action can be obstructed if the social order is inappropriate. Planned action = change

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Planned Action May Not Occur Due to: Wrong strategy. Poor project management. Poor change management. Poor knowledge management. Wrong systems and structures. Poor performance measurement. Misaligned social order.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 These days … …strategy is generally well crafted and project management is grounded in sound methodology. Furthermore, change management is well integrated into all plans for change and organizations are able to draw on repositories of knowledge that are managed to enable data mining. Systems and structures have been put in place and performance measurement has been established. But what of the social order?

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 While sound planning has occurred … … often the social order is misaligned with the planned action. That is, rather than enabling plans to occur, aspects of social order obstruct implementation. But what is social order ?

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Social Order is … One factor to help you to ensure that plans will be implemented. Social order can be summarised as:  Cultural norms.  Rules of interaction with other people.  Work atmosphere or environment. Far too often realistic and achievable plans fail to be implemented because the social order is not aligned to plans. Aligning the social order can ensure successful implementation.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Social Order is … … an interaction of culture, values and knowledge within an organization. Social order is composed of: Rights; Duties; Morals; and Actions.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 How Social Order Affects Action People are affected by the social order in their organization When people meet they engage in discourse as influenced by the components of the social order:  Rights;  Duties;  Morals; and  Actions.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 What are Rights, Duties, Morals and Actions? Social Order Rights Duties Morals Actions SOCIAL FLUX Duties are what people believe they are required to do. Rights are what people believe they should be able to do. Actions made by people reinforce the social order. Morals provide the foundation on which people base their values.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Social Order can be Good or Bad If the outcome of the social order (the social flux) enables planned actions that is good. If the social flux obstructs change then that is bad.  This requires the social order to be realigned so that the social flux enables planned action.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Misaligned Social Order Undermines the Best … Strategy; Project management; Change management; Knowledge management; Systems and structures; and Performance management. To avoid failure realign social order.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 To Align Social Order 4 steps to align the social order: 1. Determine required social order 2. Measure existing social order 3. Define the gap 4. Take corrective action to eliminate the gap

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Social Order Influences Discourse The social order influences everything in an organization including discourse. Positioning theory provides a way to measure the discourse. As such, to measure the social order. What is positioning theory about?

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 What is Positioning? Positioning is the discursive production of selves In simple terms discourse or discursive action is conversation People position themselves and others each time they engage in conversation Differs from role, in that role is static and position is dynamic Positioning is a function of social order

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Understanding Social Order via Discourse Discourse is affected by social order Discourse is composed of:  Positions of people talking  Story lines  Speech acts Discursive data can be arranged in terms of social order PositionStory-line Speech Acts Discursive Action

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 How Social Order Affects Action Rights Duties Morals Actions SOCIAL FLUX Social Order Position Self Position Others PositionStory-line Speech Acts Discursive Action

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Revisiting the 4 steps 4 steps to align the social order: 1. Determine required social order 2. Measure existing social order 3. Define the gap 4. Take corrective action to eliminate the gap

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Determining Required Social Order for Action Action requires a social order that is conducive to what is planned. Required social order can be defined in terms of:  Rights;  Duties;  Morals; and  Actions.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Required Social Order for Action Rights Duties Morals Actions Examples of Discursive data relating to the Local System of Rights required for action Examples of Discursive data relating to the Duties and Obligations required for action Examples of Discursive data relating to the Local Moral Order required for action Examples of Discursive data Relating to the Public and Private Acts required for action I expect my work mates will support plans. We cannot continue doing what we have been doing. Learning helps me do new things. The standards in place to help us work properly. We have to fight against the inertia that causes complacency.. Our people ensure they are aware of the issues. We need to work at the levels that enable plans to be implemented. I was the line manager directly responsible for that. People recognize that this plan has to be supported. We persist in promoting the new way of doing things. I see the manager doing things that match what is expected. I am here to listen to people and help them achieve plans.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Observing Existing Social Order Listening to people talk about their experiences provides discursive data for analysis. That discursive data is used to define the social order in terms of:  Rights;  Duties;  Morals; and  Actions.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Existing Social Order Rights Duties Morals Actions Examples of Discursive data relating to the Local System of Rights existing now Examples of Discursive data relating to the Duties and Obligations existing now Examples of Discursive data relating to the Local Moral Order existing now Examples of Discursive data Relating to the Public and Private Acts existing now Many people here think they can continue doing things their way. I won’t make an effort; this new way will eventually be forgotten. This guy is ensuring the pilot will fail so they old way is kept. Standards around here are for show. Our strength is reliability and doing things as we always have. Wiz-kids come and go with their plans; we never follow them. I cannot help that people have problems with the new way. Someone else will resolve that problem when they find it. The plan is top managements, if don’t drive it I won’t.. I am too busy to get involved, that is for the technical guys. The manager tells us to do things his way, but he never does it. That department has their own policy regarding things.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Dealing with Gap Senior managers who achieve action deal with the gap between required and actual social order Confront individuals and groups that are not compliant Encourage corrective action in the social order

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 In Summary Implementation of planned action can be obstructed by a misaligned social order. Implementation of planned action will only occur if the social order is aligned to enable the planned action to occur. Aligning the social order can be achieved by the approach introduced here.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 What This Means Action can occur as planned if the social order is conducive. Positioning individuals and teams can alter the social order. Organizations known for achieving action as planned can be seen to successfully deal with the social order.

INTERGON Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Next Steps Familiarise senior managers with positioning and social order Determine required social order Identify parts of organizations that do not achieve planned action Audit positioning of non-compliant organizations Identify gaps Deal with gaps How? Because the social order is ignored. Solutions for business and government through  Strategic Planning  Process Thinking  Leadership Development PO Box 2013, South Melbourne, Victoria, Lionel J Boxer CD MBA BTech(IE) INTERGON

Far too many plans fail to be implemented as expected. Why? © Intergon 2003 Deal with Gaps in Social Order by … Senior managers challenging people to accept the need to:  Alter their personal rights and those of others  Accept personal duties and impose duties on others.  Adopt an appropriate morals.  Engage in acts that reinforce rights duties and morals.