Patrick Lencioni’s newest work, Silos, Politics and Turf Wars may as well have been written as a sales collateral for PositiveWare. From the concept of thematic goal to defining objectives to standard operating objectives, the book articulates themes that are reflected in PositiveWare architecture.

The book, developed as fiction like Lencioni’s other works, makes the point that because of the silos, politics and turf wars that exist in organizations, these organizations stuggle to succeed, retain employees, and stay viable. Breaking down these barriers is as simple as uniting executives and staff under a thematic goal and identifying the defining objectives that define success for this goal. By identifying the standard operating objectives for the business as well, all relevant goals for the firm are identified.

The mechanism for identifying the goal is as simple as asking an executive team questions like: “ What is the one thing that has to happen for this business to be successful over the next (quarter, year.) Achieving agreement on this goal as well as the defining objectives then sets a clear path forward that the entire organization can follow.

In this example I have used PositiveWare’s configurable terminology to show exactly how PositiveWare can be used to implement the ideas in the book. The specific example is from Case Study #1 in the book, regarding the merger of two pharmaceutical firms.

Thanks to Jim Franklin of Decisioneering for bringing this book to our attention.

A friend send me a copy of an email sent by Bill Gates to, well, the whole world probably. The email subject was “Beyond Business Intelligence: Delivering a Comprehensive Approach to Enterprise Information Management”. Featured prominently is the following quote:

“Information fatigue is one inevitable result of information overload. We are working to develop tools that help information workers prioritize their work and focus on the tasks that are truly important.”

Welcome to the party, Mr. Gates.

Allow me to declare my desire to start the Curt Coffman Fan Club. Why, you ask? Well, for starters Coffman is co-author of First, Break All The Rules, a 1999 classic that is one of the bases for PositiveWare. Curt also was kind enough to have lunch with me yesterday at the Blue Bonnet in Denver. Over enchiladas we talked about the challenges of making leaders believe in the importance of workforce engagement. And while signing my copy, he shared with me his belief that as labor markets tighten for all types of workers, workforce engagement will become the leading concern of business leaders.

In another book, Follow This Path, Coffman talks about the importance of the customer interaction as the new focal point for quality, and how hiring practices need to step up to this new paradigm. But while Coffman is an in demand speaker for bluest of blue chip corporations, he is a down to earth guy out of the University of Nebraska with a simple, compelling message for anyone who is wise enough to listen.

My thanks to Professor Len Greenhalgh at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business for perfectly describing the need for PositiveWare.

In a recent Wall Street Journal column by Jared Sandberg, Professor Greenhalgh is quoted as saying “One of the problem’s with management is the sheer invisibility of consequences. You put in a whole day’s work and what do you have to show for it?”

Which is exactly why PositiveWare exists. By capturing the plan and continually aligning everyone to the plan, measuring performance and providing feedback, the consequences of management, both good and bad, are made clear.

Sometimes when we talk to companies we find that they are only willing to pay lip service to the idea of engaging their employees in their work. A new video at Despair.com may provide a possible explanation. Put your coffee down before you start watching.

The March 13, 2006 Wall Street Journal column In The Lead by Carol Hymowitz pits the choice in management as one of either micromanagement at one end of the spectrum or abject neglect at the other end.

In the article, Scott Flanders of Freedom Communications is said to believe that “managers who spend most of their time coaching employees on how to do their jobs are wasting their talents.” The article goes on to describe a process where as an employee gets into trouble, intervention occurs in various forms.

Saying the employee should know what they are doing or what they are supposed to be doing is nothing more then admitting you have no idea how to manage. Setting clear expectations and providing regular feedback is the only way to manage, in any situation. If you are not doing this, you are a manager in name only. Worse, you are probably creating a soul-sucking workplace where people are dying to leave.

The most recent edition of the Berkshire Hathaway letter to shareholders from Warren Buffet features a great quote on the role of management in any company, as follows.

“Every day, in countless ways, the competitive position of each of our businesses grows either weaker or stronger. If we are delighting customers, eliminating unnecessary costs and improving our products and services, we gain strength. But if we treat customers with indifference or tolerate bloat, our businesses will wither. On a daily basis, the effects of our actions are imperceptible; cumulatively, though, their consequences are enormous.

When our long-term competitive position improves as a result of these almost unnoticeable actions, we describe the phenomenon as “widening the moat.” And doing that is essential if we are to have the kind of business we want a decade or two from now. We always, of course, hope to earn more money in the short-term. But when short-term and long-term conflict, widening the moat must take precedence. If a management makes bad decisions in order to hit short-term earnings targets, and consequently gets behind the eight-ball in terms of costs, customer satisfaction or brand strength, no amount of subsequent brilliance will overcome the damage that has been inflicted. Take a look at the dilemmas of managers in the auto and airline industries today as they struggle with the huge problems handed them by their predecessors. Charlie is fond of quoting Ben Franklin’s “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But sometimes no amount of cure will overcome the mistakes of the past.”

The PositiveWare vision is that constant focus, alignment, and feedback create this moat-widening effect.

Some years ago I had the benefit of attending a professional development class at the Kennedy School of Government. Surrounded primarily by non-profit and big government types, I listened to the dulcet tones of Aubrey Daniels as he put forth a comprehensive paradigm for managing people based on some very simple precepts that were very appealing to the engineer in me.

Aubrey’s take on management is based on behavioral science, the description of the Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) model, and the description of reinforcement under the Rplus model. Simply put (perhaps too simply) an antecedent is anything that happens to make a behavior occur the first time. The behavior is the individual’s response to the antecedent. The consequence is the system’s response to the behavior. A positive consequence (or reinforcement) is any consequence that causes the behavior to repeat. A negative consequence is any consequence that causes a behavior to not repeat.

The key insight for me was around unintended consequences. What matters about any reinforcement is not what I think about it, it’s how the recipient reacts. As an example, I used to think public acknowledgement for good performance was a good thing. It turns out that one of my staff basically felt humiliated when acknowledged publicly, and preferred cash. By the same token, money is not a universal positive reinforcement, which explains why profit-sharing programs don’t have the results one would expect.

PositiveWare was built with positive reinforcement in mind, because it is only when behaviors are understood and tracked that an environment for positive reinforcement can be created.

Anyone interested in the topic would be well served by a read of Performance Management by Aubrey Daniels.

Numerous factors and influences converged in the making of PositiveWare. One of the most significant is the entrepreneurial coaching program called Strategic Coach®. Founded by Dan Sullivan and Babs Smith in Toronto in 1982, the program has grown to offer a variety of coaching, and knowledge products geared to entrepreneurs, and executives of entrepreneurial firms.

The program teaches entrepreneurs three core concepts: The Entrepreneurial Time System™ (ETS), The Unique Ability™, and Front Stage/Back Stage™. The ETS is used to teach entrepreneurs that there is more to life then working, and that by dividing and measuring their time carefully they can do more of what they love and less of what they don’t love.

The Unique Ability™ is the concept that every entrepreneur has one thing they love to do more then anything else, and that frequently in running a business the entrepreneur gets trapped into doing things they don’t love, partially because they have not focused enough on what they love.

Finally, the Front Stage/Back Stage is set of tools to help the entrepreneur create more efficient processes throughout their business. Properly done, these processes draw on the Unique Abilities of the entire team and allow the entrepreneur to do more of what they love, leading to improved results for everyone.

PositiveWare was built by Strategic Coach clients by and in part for Strategic Coach clients. The PositiveWare software is ideally suited to implementing the ETS, and for both developing and the executing the Front Stage/Back Stage concept. PositiveWare shares numerous clients with Strategic Coach, and is indebted to Dan Sullivan for articulating these important ideas. For more information about Strategic Coach contact them at 800.387.3206 or at www.strategiccoach.com.