Organisational energy:

the fuel of high performance

Helen Bevan

“Energy, not time or resources,

is the fuel of high performance”

Loehr J and Schwartz T, 2003

One of the most important

leadership tasks in the era of

quality and cost improvement is

to manage our own energies and

those of the people around us

What is “organisational energy”?

the “activation” of the organisation’s

human forces

“The extent to which the leaders of an

organisation or system are able to put

things in motion (change, core initiatives,

innovations etc) that mobilise the

intellectual, emotional, and behavioural

potential of the people in the system to

pursue its goals”

Bruch and Vogel (2011) Fully charged: how great leaders boost their

organisation’s energy and ignite high performance

What happens to large scale

change efforts in reality?

In order of frequency:

1. the effort effectively “runs out of energy” and simply fades away

2. the change hits a plateau at some level and no longer attracts new supporters

3. the change becomes reasonably well established; several levels across the system have changed to accommodate or support it in a sustainable way.

Source: Leading Large Scale Change:

a practical guide (2011), NHS Institute

Source: Bernard Crump/Helen Bevan

Anatomy of change Physiology of change

Definition The shape and structure of

the system; detailed

analysis; how the components fit together.

The vitality and life-giving forces that

enable the system to develop, grow and change.

Focus Processes and structures to

deliver health and

healthcare.

Energy/fuel for change.

Leadership

activities

measurement and

evidence

improving clinical

systems

reducing waste and

variation in healthcare

processes

redesigning pathways

creating a higher purpose and

deeper meaning for the change

process

building commitment to change

connecting with values

creating hope and optimism about

the future

calling to action

“You can’t impose anything

on anyone and expect them

to be committed to it”Edgar Schein, Professor Emeritus

MIT Sloan School

Source: Helen Bevan

From

Compliance

States a minimum

performance standard that

everyone must achieve

Uses hierarchy, systems and

standard procedures for co-

ordination and control

Threat of penalties/

sanctions/ shame creates

momentum for delivery

From the old world to the new world

To

Commitment

States a collective goal that

everyone can aspire to

Based on shared goals,

values and sense of purpose

for co-ordination and control

Commitment to a common

purpose creates energy for

delivery

Energy generators

Connection

How far someone sees and feels a connection

between what matters to them and what matters to

the organisation

Content

How far the actual role, job, task that someone does

is enjoyable to them and challenges them

Context

How far the way that the organisation operates and

the physical conditions within which someone works

makes them feel supported

Climate

How far “the way we do things around here”

encourages individuals and teams to give of their

best

Source: Stanton Marris

• Which of these four Cs

generates the most

energy for the

healthcare workforce?

• Which C is the most

energy sapping?

“The source of energy at work is

not in control, it is in connection to

purpose”Don Berwick, 28th February 2012

“Large scale change is fuelled by

the passion that comes from the

fundamental belief that there is

something very different and better

that is worth striving for”

Leading Large Scale Change (2011)

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

“Money incentives do not create

energy for change; the energy

comes from connection to

meaningful goals”

Ann-Charlott Norman, Talking about improvements:

discursive patterns and their conditions for learning,

March 2012

Discretionary effort

is contractual

is personal

Four sources of energy

Energy Description

Intellectual Energy of analysis, logic, thinking, rationality.

Drives curiosity, planning and focus

Emotional Energy of human connection and

relationships. Essential for teamwork,

partnership, alignment and collaboration

Spiritual Energy of vitality, passion, the future and

sense of possibility. Brings hope and

optimism and helps people feel more ready

and confident to build the future

Physical Energy of action, making things happen and

getting them done. Key part of vitality,

maintaining concentration and commitment

Source: adapted from Steve Radcliffe

• Tendency to focus on intellectual energy

– connecting intellect to intellect keeps us in our

comfort zone

– it isn’t transformational

• We will achieve greater results if we link

physical energy to emotional and spiritual

energy

Conclusions about energies for

quality and cost improvement in healthcare

“Society becomes more wholesome, more serene, and spiritually healthier, if it knows that its citizens have at the back of their consciousness the knowledge that not only themselves, but all their fellows, have access, when ill, to the best that medical skill can provide.”

Aneurin Bevan, founder of the NHS

Who understood the

importance of spiritual energy?

Leadership styles matter

Style Primary objective

Directive Immediate compliance

Visionary Providing long-term direction and vision for

employees

Affiliative Creating harmony among employees and

between the leader and employees

Participative Building commitment among employees and

generating new ideas

Pacesetting Accomplishing tasks to high standards of

excellence

Coaching Long-term professional development of

employees

“[as leaders]we hold ourselves

accountable for the ways that we

manage our time and…our money.

We must learn to hold ourselves at

least equally accountable for how

we manage our energy: physically,

emotionally, mentally and

spiritually”Loehr and Schwartz

High

Low

Low High

Quantum(how much is

there?)

Direction(how focused is it?)

Stanton Marris Energy Index™

Dimensions of organisational energy

INTENSITY: extent to which the

organisation has activated its emotional,

intellectual and behavioural potential

QUALITY: extent to which the energy is

focused on, and aligned with,

organisational goals and shared purpose

Source: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

High

Low

Negative Positive

Quality ( how aligned?)

The energy matrix

Source: Bruch and Vogel

Inte

nsit

y (

ho

w m

uch

?)

The complacency trap

Highly energetic and successful teams and

organisations become complacent or inert or

lose their ability to change and re-energise

Lulled by their success, they stop questioning

the status quo and lose their alertness, passion

and readiness to go to the limits and instead get

overly satisfied, lazy or arrogant

Source: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

Escaping the complacency

trap

• Identify and define a threat to the organisation

AND/OR

• Identify and define an opportunity for the organisation

• Create a common sense of urgency

• Strengthen collective confidence that the organisation

can deal with the threat or rise to meet the opportunity

• Strengthen collective confidence in the ability to meet

the threat/opportunity

Focus on threat or opportunity?

Source: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

The corrosion trap

The underlying energy gets eaten away by

negative competition between divisions or units

or different parts of the system, and by internal

rivalries and corrosive relationships within senior

leadership teams

This means that peoples’ discretionary effort,

emotions, intellectual capabilities and vast

reserves of human potential, don’t get directed to

ignite and sustain the change effort Source: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

Escaping the corrosion

trap

Energetic refocusing

• Phase one: phase down negativity

– Name the “elephant in the room”

– Destructive brainstorming

– Identify and support “toxic handlers”

• Phase two: build a strong organisational identity

– Refocus joint goals

– Create collective commitment

– Build and rebuild prideSource: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

The acceleration trap

Too many activities are initiated, localised

projects are not sufficiently connected to

corporate goals, people don’t feel conviction

about, or meaning in, the change process

and are left exhausted and highly stressed

by change

And the likely result? Underachievement of

goals and difficulty in sustaining any changes

made in the longer termSource: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

Escaping the

acceleration trap

• Detect acceleration

– Overloading (too much to do)

– Multiloading (too many activities)

– Perpetual loading (monotonous, continuous work)

• Stop the action

– Ask teams what we can stop doing (“reverse innovation”)

– Initiate “spring cleaning”

– Create new systems for prioritising and managing projects

– Take time-outs

– Slow down to speed up

– Build feedback systems Source: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

SUSTAINING ENERGY for

the long haul

• Proactively manage energy

– Assess and benchmark energy

– Set goals around leveraging the energy

– Role model within your own team

– Show that you value the overall organisational purpose

above your own agenda

• Mobilise around distinctive challenges and opportunities

• Forcefully cut corrosion

• Decelerate energy when needed

• Build energised leadersSource: Bruch and Vogel

Corrosive

energy

Productive

energy

Resigned

inertia

Comfortable

energy

There has never been a time in the

history of healthcare when this

perspective has been more pertinent

“Leadership is not about making

clever decisions and doing bigger

deals. It is about helping release the

positive energy that exists naturally

within people”Henry Mintzberg

If we want people to take action, we have

to connect with their emotions through

values

action

values

emotion

Source: Marshall Ganz

“You don’t need an engine when you

have wind in your sails”

Paul Bate