By Mike Cline, VP Operations, Venturist, Inc.
While the Strategic Thinker is well versed in the Essence of Strategy-WHERE, WHAT, HOW and EXIT, there is an element of strategy that all successful strategic enterprises understand and apply well. That is the moral or behavioral element. We’ve all heard the mantra that The Ends Don’t Justify The Means. It is a mantra that applies to Strategy as well. However desirable or imperative the strategic goals are, the behaviors an enterprise tolerates in achieving them are just as important as the strategy itself.
The concept of Guiding Precepts being applied to any endeavor is not new. In fact, Benjamin Franklin, in his autobiography listed 13 precepts or virtues necessary to achieve a happy and prosperous life. Franklin called this achieving moral perfection. Within an enterprise, Guiding Precepts, whatever they may be, tell the people in the enterprise what they may and may not do while developing and executing strategy. The framework for Guiding Precepts when applied to an enterprise is designed to accommodate flexibility of execution, while instilling absolute behavior norms that must be followed regardless of the strategic situation. The framework under which we like to develop Guiding Precepts is simply stated as Prime Directives and Rules of Engagement.
Prime Directives
The term Prime Directive derives from the Star Trek television series and is defined as a Guiding Precept that is a transcendent guideline–behavioral norms to be followed at almost any cost (and rewarded accordingly).
A contemporary Prime Directive from a major pharmaceutical client of ours went like this: Take risks with technology, but not with drugs or end-products. In other words, as this enterprise executed it strategy to develop more and better pharmaceutical products, its technicians, researchers, doctors, chemists and biologists were free to make risky decisions relative to the technologies employed to develop and test new drugs, but not free to do so with the drugs themselves which might jeopardize patient health.
Rule of Engagement
The term Rule of Engagement is adapted from the military’s use of the term to define acceptable behaviors by soldiers and military units in combat or hostile situations. Rules of engagement are subordinate to prime directives, may exist at multiple levels within an enterprise, may be situational, and may change over time as the strategic situation dictates.
Typical Rules of Engagement look much like these 1999 rules from United Airlines Customer Manifesto:
- Offer The Lowest Fare Available
- Notify Customers Of Known Delays
- Provide On-Time Baggage Delivery
- Handle Bumped Customers Fairly, Consistently
If Guiding Precepts are to be effective, everyone in an enterprise must know them and the precepts must be enforced-either positively to celebrate adherence or negatively to punish violations. Failure to enforce Guiding Precepts will render them meaningless.
When developing and executing Strategy-regardless of context– the behavior leading to the realization of strategic objectives should be as important as getting there. Does your enterprise have any Prime Directive or Rules of Engagement you would like to share? Can you think of examples where Prime Directives and Rules of Engagement have been violated?
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good article