Thoughts on Values, Goals and Strategy
- Lynn McCain
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
Organizations do not have values, but individuals within organizations do, and as a collective, have agreed-upon values for the organization (Hultman & Gellermann, 2002). These values support the purpose of the organization. Goals help define how one will achieve the organization’s vision, and objectives are measurable actions specifying how these goals will be reached (Aguilera et al., 2024). Strategy is needed to pull it all together. “Strategy is about focus, strategy making is about focusing arguments and agreements on what matters” (Ackermann & Eden, 2011, p. 11).
For strategy to be effective, “it must be practical and politically feasible to be implemented” (Ackermann & Eden, 2011, p. 11). As such, leaders must understand the constraints of the organization, whether that be resource (money, personnel, supplies, etc.), time (deadline rigidity vs flexibility), quality (level of variance allowed), scope (does it fall within the mission, vision, values, goals, and objectives), benefit (who and to what extent are benefitted), or risk (internal and external risks, and risk tolerances) constraints (Siegelaub, 2007).
When strategy-making is undertaken using participatory leadership, community can be built. (Ackermann & Eden, 2011). “An increase in participation is desirable for the two reasons of a better decision being made and more commitment being gained (‘buy-in’)” (Ackermann & Eden, 2011, p. 33). However, it is important to remember that “business organizations are not a democracy” (Ackermann & Eden, 2011, p. 33), and neither is following Jesus. Jesus shared His vision, purpose, and plans transparently with followers and encouraged them to join Him in His work. Followers had to choose to either get “on the bus” or “get off the bus” (Collins, 2001, p. 1). In business, if after carefully considering input during the strategy-making process, team members are not willing to buy into the corporate strategic direction, it may be time to help them get “off the bus” (Collins, 2001, p. 1). References cited:
Ackermann, F., & Eden, C. (2011). Making Strategy: Mapping Out Strategic Success (Second Edi). SAGE Publications, Ltd.
Aguilera, R. V., De Massis, A., Fini, R., & Vismara, S. (2024). Organizational Goals, Outcomes, and the Assessment of Performance: Reconceptualizing Success in Management Studies. Journal of Management Studies, 61(1), 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12994
Collins, J. (2001). First who... then what. In Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t (p. 300). Harper Business.
Hultman, K., & Gellermann, B. (2002). Balancing Individual and Organizational Values: Walking the Tightrope to Success (W. J. Rothwell, R. Sullivan, K. Quade, D. Bradford, B. W. Warner, E. W. Seashore, R. Tannenbaum, C. G. Worley, & S. Zhang (Eds.)). Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Siegelaub, J. M. (2007). Six (yes six!) constraints: an enhanced model for project control. Paper Presented at PMI Global Congress 2007 - North America. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/six-constraints-enhanced-model-project-control-7294
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