The Vitality Imperative. Mickey Connolly

haunts me as a too-common example of our false choices and assumptions. My own research shows it is precisely the times when we are facing daunting problems and conundrums that we must double-down on our beliefs and commitment for what we are in together. This opens new portals to what is possible—and in the process, expands our humanity. As a close research colleague, Dennis Sandow, once said, “To understand performance, follow the joy.” As great results can be sensed even before they arrive, I invite the reader to let joy, interest, and positive energy guide your own path to greater organizational vitality.

      I cannot overemphasize that what is outlined in the following pages addresses what all human beings want—and what all organizations need. It is deceptively simple, but not necessarily a template easy to practice. Peak performance, thriving, and achieving – all these are both reason for and benefit from The Vitality Imperative. No organization, if it wishes to succeed, flourish, and sustain over time, can afford to ignore this call to action. You can’t either.

       Anne Murray Allen, DSocSci

       September 2015

      Anne Murray Allen is a Global Partner with Conversant, specializing in organization design, collaboration, and integration. She previously served in executive positions within Hewlett-Packard (HP), at Willamette University, and with her own consulting practice. She has worked with clients such as Babcock & Wilcox, CH2M Hill, Lockheed Martin, Port of Portland, and The Nature Conservancy. Anne has taught graduate level management classes and has presented at conferences around the world. She co-authored the 2005 Reflections Journal article, “The Nature of Social Collaboration: How Work Really Gets Done,” and is published in the July 2012 edition of OD Practitioner on culture integration when merging organizations. She is a past recipient of an American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) Torch Award. Anne is also a past trustee of the D.C.-based, non-profit Millennium Institute and is currently a member of The Academy for Systemic Change.

       Author’s Note

      We are members of Conversant (conversant.com), a consulting firm researching and sharing how human connectivity shapes organizational performance. We say more about our practice at the end of the book.

      The Vitality Imperative is based on our collective experiences and those of our colleagues and clients over the last thirty years. Please note, however, that the final chapter is a fictional story. While it is inspired by real people and events neither the characters nor the organization in which they work is real.

      The Vitality Imperative is intended for organizational leaders who want to produce great results with less time, money and stress. We have found that management practices in large organizations around the world are inconsistent with the nature of being human. As Daniel Pink has said, “What science knows is not what business does” and that makes everything harder than necessary. We think it is time to fix that.

      We intend this experience for readers:

       • You think about causes of performance most people fail to consider.

       • You notice things most leaders fail to notice.

       • You take actions most leaders do not.

       • You produce better results with less time, money and stress.

      We would love to hear from you about your reactions to and uses of the information coming your way. We are reachable at [email protected].

       Mickey Connolly, Jim Motroni, and Richard McDonald

       20 September 2015

       THE VITALITY IMPERATIVE:

       It Starts with a Choice

       The prime requirement for achieving any aim, including quality, is joy in work.

      —W. Edwards Deming

       First and foremost leadership is about being a human being. The future world will be much more purpose- and values-driven, so we want leaders that clearly understand this. It’s important to make people feel more comfortable working in situations where the win-win is not driven just by your shareholder but by all stakeholders, and that requires a different skill set.

      —Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever

       Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future.

      —Hannah Arendt

      Pam is quitting.

      “I don’t know what I’ll do next,” she says, “I am leaving because almost anything will be better than this.”

      A highly regarded manager at one of the largest corporations in the world, Pam is talented, well-compensated, and has much of her career ahead of her.

      “We’ve gone through years of trying to do more with less. It has not worked. We move from acquisitions to layoffs to demanding more from overwhelmed employees who begin to hate their work. I don’t want to be part of that toxic cycle any longer. There has to be a better way to lead an organization.”

      Pam’s company has experienced sporadic increases in productivity per employee, but they’ve done it by demanding more output, not improving how work gets done. Productivity numbers are now in rapid decline and high performers are on their way out the door.

      Pam’s company is learning the hard way that increasing stress is not a sustainable source of productivity improvement.

       And Now for Something Completely Different

      Susan is not quitting—nor does she want to.

      “I love my work, and it’s not just because we are so successful,” she says. “I like how we are successful: our CEO actually believes sustainable success needs a smart business model, co-created and implemented by energized employees. Where I used to work, we assessed employee engagement a lot, but it never really improved. Here, we don’t just assess engagement—we cause it.”

      Like Pam, Susan is talented, well compensated, and has much of her career ahead of her. And she loves her company.

      “You know what else I love?” she asks. “Both my daughters say they would be proud to work here.”

      So, the billion-dollar question is, what’s the difference between Pam and Susan’s organizations?

      Susan’s organization is achieving more with less time, money, and stress. And that is the story of vitality.

       What Is Vitality?

      The Vitality Imperative is about how work gets done. From our experiences with more than four hundred organizations on six continents, we are now certain that Susan’s vitality work culture produces more great achievement with less time, money, and stress than Pam’s.

      The definition of “vitality” includes “the capacity to live, grow or develop; the presence of intellectual and physical vigor; energy.” What organization wouldn’t want those attributes? We’ve learned that vitality is good for stockholders, for customers, and for employees—yet it is unusual in large enterprises.

      And that is to their detriment. Whoever masters vitality as a source of performance has an extraordinary competitive edge and provides a deeply satisfying life for themselves and the people they lead.

       What We Promise You

      As you read through this book, we make three promises to you.

      First, we promise a fast-moving, quickly valuable reading experience that features:

       • Principles. Self-evident rules that provoke new thought and action. While the principles come from what we have