Are you working through things or
are things working through you?
It is easy to perform when everything
is going well. Rules tell us what is right and wrong.
Rules require duty and obedience. These
are duly rewarded when the whole is progressing as it should in an orderly
fashion. Life is predictable. It is all good.
But everything doesn’t always go
well. Rules no longer work.
Duty and obedience are rewarded with
injustice. Chaos and confusion rule. Life is no longer predictable. It is not so
good.
What to do?
Winston Churchill offered this
advice
"Destiny
is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice;
it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
Most of us choose to achieve. Most
of us are willing to work hard for our destiny. Yet hard work is not enough.
We need to know how to find the path
through the chaos and confusion that will eventually arrive at our door.
In order to understand the future of our
choice, we must first understand those who made the right choice in not so pleasant
past times.
Many great men and women have spoken
to us about integrity. It is a well worn and time proven path to success.
Integrity is defined as wholeness,
unfolding and objectivity. It is doing the right thing, doing the next right
thing and doing things right.
It makes sense in theory but what
about practice?
When viewed as an integrated whole,
there are at least 4 types of integrity (personal, process, system, structure)
that impact the bottom line.
Integrity within this classification
system can then be seen as a definable and measurable standard. By accident or
design integrity also comes with established principles and methodologies that
require hard work and prudence.
The wholeness element of integrity
refers to the way the whole is working.
Is your organization undivided,
integrated, intact and uncorrupted? Is your organization taking responsibility for
its circumstances, good and bad and controlling what can be controlled?
Your results are predictable. Every organization
is perfectly aligned to get the results it current gets.
The unfolding element of integrity
is the dynamic nature of integrity.
Heraclitus said “You cannot step
into the same river twice, for fresh waters are every flowing in upon you.”
This means everything changes.
As such, any act of personal integrity is a function of habit and reflection.
- As such, any act of organizational integrity
is a function of standard operating procedures (SOP) and evaluation.
The habit or the SOP of doing the
right thing, doing the next right thing and doing things right is, of course, performance
enhancing. It provides power, strength, and consistency even when things are
not good.
Sound personal reflection or organizational
performance evaluation discerns significant results from natural variation
or pretense. The resulting requisite strategy and tactics then continually modifies personal
and organizational actions in order to achieve the desired state,
Integrity then is the optimum concept for
personal/organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Integrity is objective. In its
ultimate state, it has no corruption, no defects, and no waste.
Remember the motto of Lexus “The
relentless pursuit of perfection”.
This is still evident today in the
Lexus covenant today that states:
“Lexus will win the race …….
Lexus will do it right from the
start….
If you think you can’t, you won’t.
If you think you can, you will.
We can, we will. “
They get it.
Want to learn more? Contact me
at douglasross@principledynamics.com
. I want to speak to you about integrity and how it can help you and all of us.
Douglas Ross is an advocate for the
promotion of integrity as a strategy for performance.
© 2009 All Rights Reserved, Douglas Ross, Principle Dynamics Consulting Inc.
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