Peter Drucker has always advised asking and answering fundamental questions of our organizations and of ourselves before deciding to continue, change, or stop a business practice. Now, as economic hard times affect all sectors, there is an opportunity for organizations to take Drucker’s timely and critical advice:

● It is more important to do what is right than doing things right, and

● We are getting better and better at doing that which should not be done at all.

With funds in short supply, many people and their organizations find themselves cutting corners and scaling back on services and the employees who implement these services. By making such reflexive “quick-fixes” we are ignoring the question posed by Drucker.

Defining an organization’s value added to all stakeholders, both internal and external is critical. Doing so is at the core of “doing what is right” before doing things right.

I have been developing and validating concepts and tools for what I call “Mega thinking and planning” and defining in measurable terms the variables and criteria for societal value-added. Mega thinking and planning employs an “Ideal Vision” which is based on asking people almost world-wide “what kind of world do you want to help create for tomorrow’s child?’ It provides variables, in measurable terms, for thinking, planning, designing, and evaluating. It is ”ideal”, providing such variables as zero loss of life or permanent disabilities from murder, rape, physical abuse, violence, poisons, adulterations, environment and other human caused activities (and their consequences). If one is not intending to move ever-closer to the Ideal Vision, what do they have in mind? Using it can be both practical and ethical.

It is being applied in many places throughout the world, from Australia to Europe, Asia to the subcontinent, South America to Mexico in private and social sector organizations. One large-scale application use Mega thinking and planning to provide the core driver for the Sonora Institute of Technology (ITSON) in Mexico whose vision is:

VISION

ITSON is part of an integrated social system that provides a sustainable quality of life to its citizens by producing value-added contributions to a global knowledge-based society and economy

When applied with objectivity, as it is at ITSON, it provides the basis for identifying what an organization does that could be continued, modified, changed, or discontinued. For example, at ITSON all funding opportunities, new courses, projects, activities, and initiatives are first examined before approval to determine the extent to which they will add measurable value within and external—to ecosystems—to the university. ITSON has recently caught the positive attention of Ernst & Young as one of two innovative Mexican universities and of two Mexican presidents. Mega thinking and planning can answer the key question of “if my organization is the solution, what’s the problem?”

Each and every organization, in order to survive and thrive best adds value to all internal and external stakeholders. It should be done formally and have measurable performance terms so that organizations can plan, design, develop, implement and continually improve based on valid criteria. If so, we can act on the two Drucker principles noted above.

About Roger Kaufman, Ph.D, CPT. Mr. Kaufman is a Distinguished Research Professor at Sonora (Mexico) Institute of Technology and Professor Emeritus, at Florida State University. Change, Choices, and Consequences: A Guide to Mega Thinking and Planning, The Assessment Book: Applied Strategic Thinking and Performance Improvement Through Self-Assessments and Thirty Seconds That Can Change Your Life are three of thirty-nine books that Mr. Kaufman has written in this area.

“Life has an odd way of throwing me curveballs,” I thought a decade ago. Just as I had decided to write Guiding Growth, it was hard to imagine that I was writing about something I had never believed in only a few years earlier.

Through the 1980s and well into the ‘90s, I was telling the world of my hard-core cynicism about the need for organizations to have a vision. The curmudgeonly cynic of management fads and all things that even smelled like a craze, I saw vision as ripe for the picking. Atheism is probably a better word to describe my attitude then, given the zealousness of the believers.

But by the back-end of the 1990s, I found myself transformed into a veritable believer. I saw how a well-articulated and fully-implemented vision could positively impact organizational performance, often profoundly.

After conducting two major research projects I effectively disproved my hypothesis of the meaninglessness of visions, it was time to eat crow. It was a stunning realization for me, and I published the results originally in MIT's Sloan Management Review. Executives who read the piece were asking for even more information about how to develop and implement a vision. Weaving together research linking vision and successful organizational growth, along with consulting experiences that laid-bare the process for helping CEOs and executive groups articulate and implement visions seemed like the book I wanted to read. To my surprise, in spite of the veracity of vision, no one had written it. The Guiding Growth project was born.

While there may be unanimity in the belief that organizations need vision, there’s agreement that we’re doing a lousy job at it. As The Conference Board releases the results of their annual study involving 700 global CEOs each year from the for-profit, non-profit and government sectors, the CEOs continue to rank "engaging employees in the vision" as one of the top management and marketplace issues with which they struggle. They really believe in vision, but unfortunately they have a difficult time developing a growth vision and executing against it.

I’ve seen personally in my own work that it’s exceedingly difficult for them to stretch their thinking toward the future. They're highly "grounded," realistic people. They are drawn towards missions, which describe what an organization does now, rather than vision, which describes why an organization engages in these activities. Visions, therefore, must describe the desired long-term future of the organization and how it plans to change something in the world. It’s a future that is typically not quite achievable but not so fantastic as to seem like a ridiculous pipedream.

The vision-development process is therefore quite a balancing act. It requires imagination, a mental capacity for synthesis, and a trust in one’s intuition. Visions need to challenge people, evoke a feeling that draws people towards wanting to be a part of something quite special. When a vision is framed as something that is achievable within a set amount of years, then it falls into the terrain of a strategic plan.

I, personally, get motivated by challenging visions that reach out to the future and give me a beacon for organizational direction. Strategic plans don't turn me on; they don't turn most people on, but they are necessary. And the data we’ve collected over the past fifteen years is quite clear about the relationship of vision and strategic planning: those plans have a highly significant probability of being achieved only if there is an over-arching vision guiding them.

Seven years after Guiding Growth was published, I now reflect back on it for insight to why founders of non-profits find it so hard to let go. The program I direct at my university for non-profit CEOs who are following the founder of their organization helps the new CEO consider ways to lead more effectively in the shadow of the founder – whether the founder has remained in some capacity or has physically left. Regardless, founders still cast a long shadow.

Our experience with “Following the Founder” – now working with our third cohort of CEOs – indicates that one of the biggest challenges for the new CEO is to bring their own “voice” to the organization’s vision. One reason for the success of these non-profits was the aspirational vision articulated by the founder and the passion with which he or she was able to convey it. Over time, the vision and founder can become inextricably linked in the eyes of others and, while the founder is no longer the formal CEO, the “eyes” are still on the originator of the vision.

The vision process is hard. Leadership transition in founder-based non-profits is hard. But when vision is seen as both the challenge and opportunity for successful succession, we have seen eyes open wide to creative possibilities for the new leader to tweak the vision as a means for successful transition. Fine-tuning the vision can keep the organization vibrant, ready for its next stage of life, and can be a central force for letting the “child” become independent.

Mark Lipton, Ph.D. is Professor of Management and Director of the Tenenbaum Leadership Initiative at Milano: The New School for Management and Urban Policy, in New York City.

Watch Mark Lipton's Leadership Dialogue on VISION.

"The WBE Hall of Fame recognizes exemplary achievement and leadership in business, government, volunteerism and citizenship. Individuals recognized will have clearly demonstrated a passion for excellence and are true role models for other women to emulate." Congratulations Susan!

In Saturday's OpEd in the New York Times, Tom Friedman wrote, "We need to get millions of American kids, not just the geniuses, excited about innovation and entrepreneurship again."

In 2001, Frances Hesselbein, founding President of The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, now the Leader to Leader Institute wrote "When the Roll is Called in 2010," "To meet the challenges and opportunities of the years to come requires hard work..." In the article, Frances listed a detailed checklist, "not just for survival, but for a successful journey to 2010." One piece of advice was to "Develop the leadership mind-set that embraces innovation as a life force, not as a technological improvement. Adopting Peter Drucker's definition: Innovation is change that creates a new dimension of performance." 

Tom Friedman's OpEd prompted Donna Fenn, on the Inc. blog to write "The Entrepreneurial Generation" and Ms. Fenn actually describes meeting Frances Hesselbein:

"Last month, I had the incredible privilege of having tea with Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts, founder of the Leader to Leader Institute, and now the Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point (she’s the first woman appointee and the first non-graduate of West Point to hold the position). Ms. Hesselbein, who Peter Drucker described as one of the greatest leaders he had ever met, knows leadership when she sees it. And she told me with great enthusiasm that she views the current generation of cadets at West Point as the most promising group of future leaders she has ever met. Why? “They understand the importance of service,” she said. And she wasn’t talking just about service to one’s country, but to communities in general. “The first thing they want to tell you about is the volunteer work they’re doing,” she said. I found the same to be to be true among the young entrepreneurs I interviewed for my book: 70% said their companies had a social mission. But make no mistake: they’re laser-focused on the bottom line as well and they understand why growing a profitable, sustainable company that creates jobs is a social good in and of itself. It’s pretty clear to me: this is a generation worth investing in."

In Frances Hesselbein's words: "To serve is to live."  

In a challenging business climate, enterprises look to their leaders. Some situations call for drastic change, while others require the fortitude to stay the course. Who better to help today's leaders than a who's who of the greatest leadership thinkers of our time? The AMA Handbook of Leadership, to which I am a contributing author, features insights from best-of-the-best thought leaders and executive leadership coaches around the world. Packed with exclusive, never-before-published articles and full case studies, the book covers a wide range of leadership challenges such as sustainability, competitive advantage through leadership, leading across cultures, succession, diversity, and countless other issues critical to current and future business leaders. 

Order the AMA Handbook of Leadership, eds Marshall Goldsmith, John Baldoni, and Sarah McArthur here.

View video footage from Drucker Centennial Week:

• Hear Frances Hesselbein—former CEO of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. and the person who Peter Drucker said “could manage any company in America”—on “The crucible generation: Hope of the future.”
• Watch Ken Blanchard—author of more than 30 books on management and regarded by many as one of the most influential leadership experts in the world—speak on “Leading at a higher level.”
• Listen to Pastor Rick Warren discuss Drucker's insights about leadership and personal integrity.

By Frances Hesselbein 

In writing my latest Leader to Leader journal column “A Time to Remember”, I shared the following: “I will always remember 2009, the richness of the encounters, the celebration of the lives and contributions of great thought leaders in our country, and globally.”

As we enter a new year, I would like to share with you some of the highlights of 2009.

• Celebrating Peter Drucker’s Centennial, led by A.G. Lafley, and speaking at the Drucker Graduate School CEO Forum, all of us sharing the significance of our moments with Peter, as students, faculty, leaders in all three sectors. We came from all over the world to celebrate the 100th Birthday of “the man who invented modern management.”

• Celebrating the Drucker Centennial Events in Beijing, Nanchang, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China. Rarely have I been so inspired—with warm, responsive audiences, with an outpouring of love and appreciation of Peter Drucker from Chinese students, faculty, business leaders, philanthropists, philosophers, community, organization leaders, who are devoted to Peter Drucker, his philosophy and his works. Never a down moment. Speaking in Nanchang on “The Leader of the Future—Imperatives of Leadership,” to the Drucker Forum. From Nanchang to Shanghai for a keynote to the China Executive Leadership Academy. Being awarded the first China Drucker Fellow Award presented by Bright China Group’s founder, Chairman, Shao Ming Lo. Spending time with the Girl Guides of Hong Kong, first with their Executive Committee, then with their members and even a chorus of five year old Daisies. As they sang they did little dance steps. My hosts told me that we had reached 5,000 people in these four cities, by the end of our journey.

• Hosting our fourth annual Leader of the Future Award Celebration and honoring General Eric K. Shinseki, now Secretary for Veteran’s Affairs, in President Obama’s Cabinet. General Shinseki, U.S. Army (Ret.) was the former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and one of our great principled, ethical, effective leaders, with a long and inspiring leadership history. My tribute to General Shinseki and his moving response are on our website here. Guests included our first honoree, Leader of the Future Awardee 2005, Alan Mulally, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company. He, his wife and daughter hosted the Ford table next to General Shinseki’s.

• Attending Linkage’s Women in Leadership Summit where I presented The Frances Hesselbein Excellence in Leadership Award to Laureen Seeger, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, McKesson Corporation.

• Visiting Claremont where the Drucker Graduate School again had a jubilant celebration of Peter Drucker’s Centennial, again several speeches, including one with students. I could share with them the significance of the same celebration in Asia, just two weeks earlier.

• Being at West Point for the Military Child Education Coalition annual session for the Student2Student Program. The history of West Point, founded in 1802, and its current recognition as Forbes “2009 Best College and Business School in America” provided great inspiration. Add working with gifted faculty, sessions with Cadets, and the Military Child Education Coalition team, and you have a never to be forgotten week for these fortunate Student2Students. The six values our students distilled are: “Potential, Unity, Respect, Progress, Leadership, Excellence.” They found that the values spell “purple”; so we now have a purple t-shirt. On the front: “FHSLP 2009 West Point, New York Student 2 Student”On the back, the six values to live by.

• My first session with a class of Cadets at West Point as The Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership. This is a two-year appointment, and every six weeks I will go to West Point. In the future, I plan to take with me a great thought leader from all three sectors, and we will engage the cadets in a Leadership Dialogue. All the time I was on those hallowed grounds with the inspiring young Cadets and their devoted faculty, my belief, “To serve is to live,” was even more passionate.

As I mentioned in the Journal, this article comes through as more of a travelogue, but I wanted to share with you how all of us are part of the Drucker Foundation/Leader to Leader Institute global family with common philosophy, common language, common values, sharing Peter’s message.

Tony Hsieh, chief executive officer of Zappos.com discussed enduring times when his organization teetered on the brink of destruction with Leadership Dialogues producer, host and chief strategist Mark Thompson.

Today, the New York Times published an interview with Tony about the core Zappos values.

Some organizations have had the courage to ask, "How do we move from 'good to great'?" These organizations acknowledge they are good, but moving from "good to great" is the powerful challenge, requiring commitment, innovation, managerial courage, responsible governance, with passion for transformation. It is daily, hard, and invigorating work.

This Edward Jones advertisement is just one visible action step we have seen lately from the corporate world. In the new year, we should all ask "What are we doing today, in our own organization, that will build trust in this institution tomorrow?"

Marion Conway, leadership consultant and writer, compiled advice from nonprofit experts on community building, communication and networking, relationship and advocacy building and operation. 

Susan Phillips Bari, Leader to Leader President and CEO, weighs in on strategic planning.