Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

If I were to ask about the health of the organization you run or work for, how would you think about this idea?

You might understand my question as referring to the physical health of your workers or co-workers, or the level of daily stress that is typical. You may initially see my question in terms of the demands your organization makes on its members, and whether it leaves time for life outside of work.

All of these considerations are of course important aspects of healthy modern life and work, but they really don’t answer the question of how healthy the organization is, as an entity unto itself (understanding that any organization’s health influences and is impacted by the health of real people).

But just as with real people, organizations can be seen as relatively and thus comparatively healthy or unhealthy – as existing on an organizational health continuum – once we examine and broaden our thinking about the basic nature of all forms or expressions of the important quality we call health.

Three Definitions Of Health

I would encourage you to stop and spend a minute thinking about health as a natural quality of living things – be they living individuals, groups, or even whole societies – and to craft a simple definition of health.

Don’t be disappointed if you can’t come up with a good working definition right away. In truth, even among people whose job it is to think about and advance health – including physicians but also other professionals in various fields – we frequently fail to reach a full and enduring sense of what health is in its essence.

Continue reading “Your Organization’s Health”

Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

We all know the perils of being merely efficient. It’s not hard to think of an example of ourselves acting quickly or even expertly, only to find that our actions were not ideal for a situation. For this reason, the goal of effectiveness is generally a better one than simple efficiency, if we want to maximize the value of our efforts.

This fairly uncomplicated idea of course begs us to understand the nature of effectiveness, and I encounter people and groups all the time who struggle with this important concept. But as is the case with many complex phenomena, there is a simple way to think about effectiveness that can unlock our ability to both understand and achieve it. And this ability is true regardless of whether we are considering the effectiveness of  groups and organizations or ourselves and others.

To demystify effectiveness and make the concept immediately clearer and more actionable, we need only consider three variables: 1) a need or want, 2) time, and 3) cost. All three variables are pretty straightforward, and there is no nuanced understanding of these words required. More than likely, how you intuitively understand needs and wants, time, and cost are adequate for unlocking new effectiveness in your life and work. The trick is thinking about these things together and the ways in which they naturally inter-relate.

As part of this new perspective, we simultaneously learn to better differentiate between needs and wants, and tasks. This important distinction lies at the heart of the difference between efficiency and effectiveness, and can be used to promote transformative impacts in our lives and organizations.

Continue reading “Understanding Effectiveness”

Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

As you may know, I am at work on a book spanning my Natural Strategy workshops. The book will provide a “play at home” version covering all seven of the workshops, and is intended to either introduce the workshop content or serve as a refresher and reference after attending one or more workshops.

Already, work on the book has been an opportunity to reflect on the workshops, to review and expand the workshop materials, and to incorporate the new perspectives that inevitably come when translating bullets and charts to prose and narrative. The work also naturally provides opportunities for posts on this blog – to share elements of the work-in-progress and solicit feedback on them. Today’s post will be a case in point

My focus right now is translating the Natural Organization workshop into outline form and then an eventual narrative. In working on this chapter of the book, I started by reconsidering and expanding slightly my list of organizational imperatives…the things that purposeful groups and organizations of all shapes and sizes must do well. I have posted my revised list below for your review and comments.

The list of organizational imperatives is important for a few reasons. It provides a useful overview of needed strategic focus areas for existing and start-up organizations. It sets up a discussion of specific strategy and planning techniques essential to progressive organizational functioning. And the list even serves as a scorecard of sorts, to gauge the general health and breadth of focus of an organization.

Continue reading “The Nine Imperatives”

Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

In keeping with my recent Strategy 101 post, I want to cover some of the key elements of my Natural Strategy method in more detail. Today, I’d like to talk about an important practice I call The Progressive Circle.

Forming recurring patterns that I see quite often,  people and organizations pursuing progressive change frequently lack either: 1) a clear and motivating mid-term vision of change or 2) a strong and adventurous sense of their needed immediate next steps…or both of course.

In practice, a compelling vision and a short list of immediate actions are each essential to building lasting change and a natural complement of one another. Our vision can be used to drive and guide our next steps and choices, while progress toward our vision can test, inform, and potentially change our vision and plans.

Remove either a motivating and realistic vision or engagement in tangible short-term action, and any quest for progressive change is likely to be far less successful, or far less ambitious in scope, than it might or need be.

After all, change must always happen in real-time. It is never realized or advanced by actions delayed or imagined. At the same time, each practical step forward must be guided by values and goals – if our steps are to made intentional and optimal, and more than a random walk.

Continue reading “The Progressive Circle”

Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

Following up on my recent Strategy 101 post, I’d like to explore some of the key elements of my Natural Strategy method. I’ll do this over time, one topic at a time. Today, I’d like to talk about the importance of having a clear sense of mission.

To start our discussion, let me ask an at-once simple and not-so-simple question: are you on a mission? If you are trying to maximize your personal potential, or your organization’s, understanding the overall importance of mission and your own specific mission is critical to optimal success.

Why? Because, like many aspects of strategy-making, missions open and close doors, giving us added focus and increased natural power through this focus. Missions say what we will do, and therefore what we will not do. And if well-considered, missions give us power not just through focus, but also through new motivation – by tapping into emotions and values that are important and elevating to us.

Defining Our Mission

Since the idea or meaning of a mission can vary, it’s worth spending a moment to clarify how I am using this important word.

We often hear people talk about themselves, or another person or organization, as being on a mission. Often, this means having a focus on a specific goal or outcome with a special passion or commitment. For me, this is mission with a small “m,” a definition that is essentially synonymous with being goal-directed.

Continue reading “Are You On A Mission?”

Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

Since my Natural Strategy method is based on the principle and practice of natural progressivity, or the ongoing seeking of healthier and more intelligent life, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I would ask, how progressive are you?

My question isn’t intended to be political or ideological, but rather practical and personal. It asks about how you live and function each day, and thus steadily over time. And though I pose the question about you, I could (and do in my work) ask the same question to groups, organizations, communities, and institutions of all kinds. And we can even ask this question about whole societies, social trends and movements, and our modern species in total.

While my Natural Strategy method and programs help people better appreciate and more directly pursue our natural potential for more adaptive and beneficial progressive functioning, this crucial natural process can start informally and intuitively. We need only begin to consider, and perhaps discuss with others, the degree and quality of progressivity or natural probing in our lives – and then in our groups and the larger social settings around us.

Here is a short quiz you can use to begin to gauge your current level of progressivity, and also get a sense of some of the practices and considerations I encourage in my programs. Give yourself 10 points for each strong yes, or 5 points for a yes that is a bit less strong, for a total potential score of 100 points.

THE NATURAL STRATEGY QUIZ

How closely do these statements describe you today? Give yourself 10 points for each strong yes, 5 points for each partial yes.

1.   When I have to do something I have never done before, I usually feel a sense of adventure.

2.   I generally gather a good amount of information when making decisions, especially big ones.

3.   I have a plan for my life that involves ongoing personal change, and a pretty clear sense of where I want to be in the next 2-3 years.

4.   Most days, I learn something new and valuable about myself or the world.

5.   I deliberately seek new experiences and learning opportunities, or challenge myself with new goals, at least once each month.

6.   I have at least three specific goals I want to accomplish this month.

7.   I am in excellent physical and emotional health.

8.   I regularly surprise myself and often see new sides of me in my thoughts and actions.

9.   I am financially secure today, or realistically will be within five years.

10. I am widely recognized by others as having useful skills and abilities.

YOUR PROGRESSIVE NEXT STEPS

In my experience, many of us initially score about 50 percent in this simple quiz – and notably before we have begun to formally explore the Natural Strategy method, and intentionally progressive and naturally health-seeking life, for ourselves.

This common average underscores, but often underestimates, our waiting potential to greatly expand and benefit from the simple but powerful natural progressivity techniques that I teach, write about, and encourage.

Regardless of your initial score, the quiz has served as an initial introduction to important ideas and practices from my Natural Strategy programs. To build on this, I would encourage you to learn more about the Natural Strategy method through the links I have included and my overall website.

Perhaps the quiz has given you specific ideas for steps you might begin to take right away to become more progressive and powerful in your life and endeavors, and to enjoy the many benefits that can come from the Natural Strategy method and naturally progressive functioning.

If you have questions or comments on the quiz, please write to me anytime at marklundegren.com@gmail.com. I’d enjoy hearing from you very much.

Health & best wishes,

Mark

Tell others about Mark and the transformative Natural Strategy method!

Like Mark On Facebook or Follow On Twitter

Do you spend time searching for powerful ideas?

Whether in our personal lives or the organizations we work for, the right new ideas can change the way we think and operate – improving our effectiveness, adaptability, value to others, and even enjoyment of life.

In a word, powerful ideas can improve our health, which is an insight that has become the inspiration of many of my best ideas. This insight says that we can and should think of health more deeply and constructively than we often do. And it suggests we might apply the natural principles underlying all health in creative new ways – for example, in the form of specific strategy techniques – to propel our lives and endeavors forward more effectively and successfully.

If you or your organization would like a new sense of your future possibilities and guidance in making positive steps toward them, I hope you will take a moment to learn about my transformative, health-based approach to individual and group strategy-making. Years of helping people and organizations achieve new situational clarity, greater practical focus, and ongoing progressivity of effort – using techniques increasingly derived from natural systems theory and research into adaptive human behavior – has led me to create a powerful new method for personal and organizational strategy, one that you can immediately use and validate yourself.

My health-focused approach to strategy is science and fact-based, growth and change-oriented, and flexible across most personal situations and organizational settings. In practice, my strategy method reliably fosters surprising but understandable and lasting results – quickly improving short-term focus and effectiveness, while encouraging increasing individual and group awareness, creativity, and adaptiveness over time.

I hope one or more of my strategy workshops or retreats will be of interest to you, and that you will contact me at marklundegren.com@gmail.com anytime. I would enjoy hearing from you and learning about your strategic goals, challenges, and opportunities.

Health & best wishes,

Mark