Do You Have an Organizational Philosophy?
Mar 26, 2012

What happens when part of a group expects to play hockey, others have practiced their basketball skills and the rest expect to be bystanders but are needed to make up a team? Chaos? Embarrassment? Hurt feelings of being out of the communications loop? After a few rounds of "Who's on first?" confusion, people are often content to let someone (the loudest? the most senior? the paid staff?) try to play every position. But still no one knows if the game is rugby or cricket and never has the chance to learn the team cooperation skills required to execute a double play (or anything else). Can't be done on the playing field; can't be done in organizations. Some get burned out trying; some good skills go elsewhere; most remain mystified and just warming the chairs.
A philosophy of organizational operation gives an organization the tools to work together productively towards the goals specified in the organizational strategic plan, or even get together enough to develop a truly strategic plan. There are three main approaches to organizational philosophy: Chait, Holland and Taylor, the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation and Policy Governance developed by Carver. Each of these is internally consistent and will align organizational players (board and staff). Each has strong pros and cons. We will review them all in subsequent posts.