Your organization may be better than it is, but it will never realize its potential until its leaders stop tinkering with the system. Brian Joiner, a leading management consultant, advises, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” Reacting to a problem without appreciating the context of that problem—the management system that created it—produces temporary relief at best and new problems at worst. Joiner dubs this the “whack-a-mole” approach after the arcade game where you club plastic moles as they pop out of their holes. Whack one and another appears. Whack that one and two pop up, then three. Like the leaders of mediocre companies, you end up spending all of your time reacting to a never-ending mole problem.

If leaders don’t understand how a management system works, they must learn. Before they invest in a program they believe can solve their problems, they must understand the system in which it will be implemented. The system tolerates inept leaders who leave it alone, who pretend to steer along the rutted path. It rewards thoughtful leaders who take the time to discover how it works, to identify the forces and levers and weaknesses, and to direct all efforts toward a single, shared goal. Only then can an organization move from good to great.

The best description of a management system and how it works is found in the Criteria for the Baldrige Award. It may be the most misunderstand concept in the U.S. business community.

You can’t afford to dismiss Baldrige as “just another program.” It’s been around long enough (23 years) that you’ve probably heard of it. You may have noticed the names of some Award winners. At one time someone may have talked about looking into it. Now you’ve got a second chance. Unless your organization is performing at world-class levels, you can’t afford to ignore the stunning results the Baldrige process can produce.

You also can’t get stuck on the “Award” part; the Criteria are what are important here. They embody the best thinking to come out of this country’s business community. To read the Criteria is to discover all of the factors that comprise your organization’s management system. To answer the questions the Criteria pose is to expose the systemic weaknesses that keep you from world-class performance.

Think of your organization as an athlete with the potential to be an Olympic champion. Baldrige is a proven training regimen designed by this country’s leading experts on organizational fitness. It begins with the goals and results you wish to achieve. It then scrutinizes every element within your control and identifies strengths to build upon and weaknesses to tackle. The resulting training regimen, designed by you to reflect your unique talents, resources, and goals, addresses all areas critical to world-class performance. In our analogy, it wouldn’t prescribe a weightlifting program while ignoring nutrition. It aligns all activities with your goals. Day in and day out, you work on those areas critical to your success, inspired by a process with a 16-year history of turning out world-class performers.

To read more about the Baldrige training regimen, click on these articles:

• 10 Steps to World Class
• Baldrige 101
• Baldrige Gets Results
• How to Integrate Baldrige
• 80 Critical Questions

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