Issue 02: managing energy
Jul 14th
Every chief executive wants to look round corners; to know if the organisation is up to task. In this issue we describe how to measure and manage that energy for success. Issue 02 includes client stories on Williams Taylor and Bailey, RuralAid, Rosella and Anstar UK, and chapters on, managing the flow of energy, focussing energy and the Energy Index.
“We all look at the same numbers. But can the company do what they say they will?” asks the fund manager. “It’s not the policy, the legislation or even the money,” says the permanent secretary. “It’s whether we can deliver.”
Managing energy
Every chief executive wants to look round corners: to know if the organisation is up to the task. In 01: the sources of energy we argued that organisational energy – how far the organisation is mobilised and directed towards its goals – is a forecast of its success. In this issue, we describe how to measure and manage that energy. Measures of organisational energy predict how the organisation will respond to demands and opportunities, and how it will be perceived by its employees, customers and other stakeholders.
Energy is not a random variable. It can be managed, but not in the same way as, for example, analysing market opportunities, installing new technology or building a bigger depot.
The particular experiences of Taylor Bailey, RuralAid, Rosella and Anstar UK (told as four stories on the following facing pages) illustrate how different organisations have used the concept of energy to shed new light on their issues and how to manage them.
This article is filed under: organisation, organisation design, organisational energy, organisational performance