Translating Good Intentions into Great Performance
“Fake work” may sound like something from a Dilbert cartoon, but it’s what many well-intentioned people do every day. “Fake work” masquerades as important, but it’s not directly linked to strategic objectives.
The Work Itself® is a proven process for translating organizational priorities into daily tasks that really matter. The Work Itself is a simple yet amazing process to help individuals align their critical work tasks with the strategic objectives of their teams and organizations.
Decades of research indicates that many workers — including the most well-intentioned — often do not see a clear link between their daily activity and strategic objectives. That’s why so many people invest a lot of their energy in what we call “fake work.” The following are only a few examples of the challenges we’ve discovered
with alignment and execution:
- 73% of workers say their organization’s goals are not translated into specific work tasks they can execute.
- 70% of workers do not plan how to support goals and tasks in their workgroups.
- 56% of workers do not clearly understand their organization’s most important goals.
- 81% of workers do not feel a strong commitment to their organization’s strategies and goals.
These findings underscore the difficulty of translating organizational priorities into daily work that really matters. Since 1972, Duncan Worldwide has worked with organizations to implement strategies, build lasting processes, and create work cultures that sustain high performance and continuous improvement.
Achieving Alignment Throughout Your Organization
Our associates Dr. Brent D. Peterson and Gaylan W. Nielson, authors of the book Fake Work, have designed an innovative approach to organizational alignment called The Work Itself. We think you’ll find it compelling and relevant to the situation in your organization.
Most change efforts collapse because they fail to reach the level where most work really happens — the level of critical work tasks and key actions. Aligning teams around priorities and goals is an essential step in bringing innovation and best-of-class practices to your organization. The Work Itself enables teams to focus on alignment by helping them implement best practices and prioritize their critical work tasks — all without significant disruption.
The Work Itself is distinguished by the following characteristics:
- The approach is scalable and provides value whether you choose to work with one team or with your entire organization.
- The approach is adaptable and helps teams and individuals address a wide variety of challenges while always keeping the focus on the work that drives strategies and priorities forward.
- The approach is simple enough to delegate to people at all levels of your organization and ensures that they have the opportunity to change the way they work and the way they contribute to strategic objectives.
- The approach is easily tailored to focus on the unique mix of issues most pertinent to achieving high performance in your organization.
- The approach is comprehensive and provides follow-up protocols to ensure the process takes root throughout your organization.
The Value of Alignment
The focal point of The Work Itself alignment methodology is a facilitated
work session that helps work teams align their individual and team activities with key organizational strategies. Most importantly, The Work Itself is designed to produce measurable results.
Leaders agree to key strategies, then translate those strategies into language that applies to all people in the organization. The result is that everyone in the organization drives real return on investment when they are connected to the strategies focused on results.
Related Resources
› Avoiding Fake Work in Your Work Place (PDF)
› An Overview of the Work Itself Process (PDF)
› The Challenge of Change (PDF)
› The Road to Nowhere (PDF)
› Strategic Alignment Model (animated)