Replying to LO25415 --
HI All,
Mmmmmm let me think.
Question. To what end is the 360 to be used? - Original post was from
Peter Hubbard and to me held some suggestion that it was a client request.
Let us ask some questions from a LO perspective.
What does a 360 seek to do? Basicly it is seeking feedback information on
a subjet from a number of sources.
What can be done after the 360 that could not be done before? Things can
be changed to make them better.
Why does this have to wait for a 360 review? Because we are not a LO that
seeks to understand as part of business as usual.
If we look at some of the essentials of a LO, we may may wish to concider
that the LO would be exhibiting certain traits. I would suggest that any
LO would be showing the five disiplines of Senge and if it had really
started to understand systems thinking it would be showing a high level of
congurent activity to Deming's SoPK.
Re-cap. Senge
Systems Thinking: The interconnectedness of the work, how the work works.
Outcomes are dependent on the system of which the people are part. An
individual has little improvement impact in isolation. Where systems
thinking is endemic 360 feedback is like breathing - being done all the
time, but based on sound understanding and theory. As a seperate entity
the review is a waste of resource
Personal Mastery: Knowing what you are and what you do. Ever seeking to
improve. access to 360 feedback is part of life as normal, it just
happens. Whaere Personal Mastery is found 360 reviews are a waste of time
and resource
Mental Models: Understanding and questioning the reality we build for
ourselves. Modified in light of ST and PM amongst other inputs. Accepts
the dynamic nature of organisations and learning / understanding. 360
reviews are surplus to requirement and as such are a waste of time and
resource.
Building Shared Vision: Common understanding of the future and the
actions that will take us there. Dynamic, changes from the moment it is
envisoned. 360 reviews are dependent on a immutable 'is' rather than a
dynamic 'maybe'. Add unneeded cost and waste of resource.
Team Learning: Requires open, honest and responsible (response - able?)
People. Requires the absence of fear. Requires the interaction of the
team on a minute by minute basis. 360 review will either be telling us
that which we already know OR we do not have team working OR it will be
destructive. Team learning requires team working. Team working only
exists where the system supports it. TW is an OUTCOME not a management
technique!
Recap Deming
Systems Thinking: As above.
People/Psycology: People work for intrinsic reasons, unless we force them
to do otherwise. Intrinsic motivation is ALWAYS better - ie more
effective and cheaper - than extrinsic. 360 reviews are extrinsic.......
Knowledge / epistemology: Reality exists because the individual
constructs it. We share reality through team work. either the reality
exists - in which case the review is surplus cost and no value OR the
reality does not exist inwhich case we have more pressing needs than
setting up a 360 review.
Variation: Is the performance reported on in the 360 common cause or
special cause. If it is common cause then the individual has only about
5% impact so why are we wasting our time on the 360 review rather than
looking at the system that supplies the 95% and where the real issues are.
If the outcome is special cause then what created it. Can we build it
into the system or defend against it? Why are we wasting time on 360
review when there are more important things to be done?
In summary. Why was the question asked?
Are we loking at a LO that wishes to instigate 360? If so why? What is
the theory? What do we expect to do after that we cannot do now? If we
expect to improve things post 360 we - by definition - do NOT have an LO
we have £GM command and Control with a spin doctor. Do we have a client
that wishes to use 360? If so ask the same questions. Why do they want
to waste resource and reduce performance? There are more powerful things
they can do to acheive far better results.
However if it was just to learn more about 360 and how it is an
improvement on what went before then fair enough. However remember it is
only an improvement on a load of rot that is damaging to the organisation
- it is like a paint that has been developed to stick to rotten wood
better than the old stuff. We should be looking at the wood not the
paint.
R
Roger.
---------------------------------oooOOOooo--------------------------------------
Roger C. Key mailto:roger.key@onet.co.uk
Prescient - The Whole as One
(44) 01639 871062
Web based training for Organisations, http://virtual-deming.com
Leadership and Life!
--Roger Key <roger.key@onet.co.uk>
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