From design to implementation
If the decision as a result of deliberation (Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics)1 does not have, properly speaking, a role in companies, can we imagine making a decision without taking into account those who will implement the action plan?
Every manager has in mind the experience of that idea that matured slowly over many kilometers away. We all remember this « great moment of solitude » when we gave our thoughts as objective to our teams. This idea that we considered marvelous has lost all its effects in a short period of time. A exception of a formalized decision, we haven’t known how to explain clearly our way in order to build this objective. And then « pull the oars » ! it takes many weeks of work to convince the teams. We point here the « limited rationality » so dear to Herbert Simon2. The « actor » has a rational behavior, but its rationality is limited in terms of cognitive capacity and the information available.
Moreover, in a world where in 2014, according to Gartner, it should be sold « 2.5 billion smart devices »3 (Smartphones, tablets…) and where the productive capacity and the investment choices come from open communities, what means then hierarchical discipline and the separation between design and execution?4
The two drivers of action
In this context, organizations, as has been historically, have two principal drivers for adapting themselves5:
- The institutionalization of experts in knowledge management
- The institutionalization of leaders in action
These two evolutive adaptations constitute huge competitive advantages. In terms of adaptation through action, it is necessary to ensure the legitimacy of the decisions, to limit the inertia in its implementation, to focus the action on the results, to facilitate the managerial relay and to limit an overflowing reporting between managers, their teams and their « clients ». The deployment of shared methodologies, collaborative tools that are designed for the decision making process, its implementation in team and take into account the changing context, can then make sense.
Despite the fact that the action plan is the most universal tool to implement decisions, until now, it has surprisingly interested only a few of web software editors.
English Translation by Paula Andrea Gómez Gutiérrez (web marketing – Advanseez)
Photo Source : From flickr By bruno_mesmin and Beu C
- FONTAINE Philippe (2007), L’action, p. 21,édition Ellipses. [↩]
- SIMON Herbert (1947), Administrative Behavior. A Study of Decision-Making in Administrative Organization. [↩]
- GARTNER (Stamford, Conn., June 24, 2013) Says Worldwide PC, Tablet and Mobile Phone Shipments to Grow 5.9 Percent in 2013 as Anytime-Anywhere-Computing Drives Buyer Behavior [↩]
- FRÉRY Frédéric (2010), «Le management 2.0 ou la fin de l’entreprise ?» [↩]
- COLLECTIF (2011), Leadership et management, «Management marketing» : leaders et politique, p. 13, édition De Boeck. [↩]
