Lateral thinking appears to solve a problem by an unorthodox or apparently illogical method.

Utilize research databases and select two peer-reviewed, scholarly articles.

The first article should be related to the topic of Chapter 13: Creating Vision and Strategic Direction.

The second article should be on the topic of Chapter 15: Leading Change.

Be sure that the articles relate to this course material. As you prepare your article critiques, follow the instructions below. If possible, search for articles that have been published within the last five years. To locate scholarly articles on these topic, you will want to access the Online Library databases of your choice and search for a peer-reviewed, scholarly article.

You may want to begin your search by experimenting with the keywords. Below are a few examples of key words:

Leadership

Vision or leadership

Change Human resources (HR)

Planning

Recruiting

Include both of your critiques in one APA-formatted document. Identify your author and title as part of the introduction to your topic; this should not be considered a reference for the article. Here is an example: In reading "The Wayward Cat" by Dr. Seuss, I was intrigued by the way the author addressed…” Begin with an introduction that defines the subject of your critique and the author’s point of view. Defend your point of view by raising specific issues or aspects of the argument. Conclude each critique by summarizing your argument and re-emphasizing your opinion.

You will first need to identify and explain the author's ideas. Include specific passages that support your description of the author's point of view.

Offer your own opinion. Explain what you think about the argument. Describe several points with that you agree or disagree with.

For each of the points you mention, include specific passages from the articles (you may summarize, quote, or paraphrase) that provide evidence for your point of view.

Explain how the passages from the articles support your opinion. Please format the critiques in the following manner: Title Page “Title of Article 1” Critique (use bold type for the title) Body of the Critique/Summary “Title of Article 2” Critique (use bold type for the title) Body of the Critique/Summary References Be sure to put the title of the article in bold for your heading to help your reader distinguish between the two critiques.

Complete both critiques in one document for a paper totaling four pages in length (not including title and reference pages). Your document should be in APA style.

Chapter 13 Creating Vision and Strategic Direction.

421 The Visionary Leader

R

ay Anderson runs a carpet company. If you were looking for an industry to blame for the destruction of our natural environment, the carpet business would rank right up there—massive consumption of fossil fuels, heavy use of water, and tons of debris going into landfills. But several years ago, Ray Anderson had a different vision: What if his company, Interface Inc., could be a model of environmental sustainability? People thought he was crazy—a carpet company a paragon of corporate environmental virtue?

Anderson bucked the conventional thinking and declared that Interface would eliminate its environmental footprint by 2020, and make money in the process. After the initial shock, customers and employees became inspired by the ambitious vision. Investors took a little longer to “see the green light,” but growing sales proved Anderson was onto something. The emotional appeal of Anderson’s vision stirred an almost cult-like following. Today, Interface is a leader in the industry, as well as a leader in environmental sustainability. Between 1994 and 2008, the company cut its use of fossil fuels by 45 percent and its water and landfill use by 80 percent. Sales in the last quarter before the economic slump hit were almost $300 million. The recent downturn has hurt Interface, and leaders have been forced to make some tough business decisions, including laying off 500 people and closing manufacturing operations in Belleville, Ontario.

However, Anderson points out that staying focused on the vision helped Interface weather the last downturn. When the industry lost 37 percent in sales between 2001 and 2004, Interface lost only about half that percentage, thanks in part to its focus on sustainability. Anderson is working overtime to explain the current cost-cutting decisions, listen to employees, respond to their concerns, and keep people directed toward the future.1

One of the most important functions of a leader is to articulate and communicate a compelling vision that will motivate and energize people toward the future. Ray Anderson’s idealistic vision of sustainability inspired and energized people because employees want to work toward something greater than just making money for shareholders. Good leaders are always looking forward, setting a course for the future and getting everyone moving in the same direction. Lorraine Monroe, former principal of the renowned Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem and founder of the Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute, refers to a leader as “the drum major, the person who keeps a vision in front of people and reminds them of what they’re about.” People naturally “gravitate toward leaders who have a vision,” Monroe says. “When people see that you love your work, they want to catch your energy.”2

In this chapter, we first provide an overview of the leader’s role in creating the organization’s future. Then, we examine what vision is, the underlying themes that are common to effective visions, and how vision works on multiple levels. The distinction between vision and the organization’s mission is also explained. We then discuss how leaders formulate vision and strategy and the leader’s contribution to achieving the vision and mission.

Strategic Leadership

Superior organizational performance is not a matter of luck. It is determined largely by the choices leaders make. Top leaders are responsible for knowing the organization’s environment, considering what it might be like in 5 or 10 years, and setting a direction for the future that everyone can believe in. Strategic leadership is one of the most critical issues facing organizations.3 Strategic leadership means the ability to anticipate and envision the future, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with others to initiate changes that will create a competitive advantage for the organization in the future.4 In a fast-changing world, leaders are faced with a bewildering array of complex and ambiguous information, and no two leaders will see things the same way or make the same choices.

The complexity of the environment and the uncertainty of the future can overwhelm a leader. Thus, many are inclined to focus on internal organizational issues rather than strategic activities. It is easier and more comforting for leaders to deal with routine, operational issues where they can see instant results and feel a sense of control. In addition, many leaders are inundated with information and overwhelmed by minutiae. They may have difficulty finding the quiet time needed for “big-picture thinking.” One study looked at the time executives in various departments spend on long-term, strategic activities and found discouraging results. In the companies studied, 84 percent of finance executives’ time, 70 percent of information technology executives’ time, and 76 percent of operational managers’ time is focused on routine, day-to-day activities.5 Another study found that, on average, senior executives spend less than 3 percent of their energy on building a corporate perspective for the future, and in some companies, the average is less than 1 percent.6 Yet no organization can thrive for the long term without a clear viewpoint and framework for the future.

Exhibit 13.1 illustrates the levels that make up the domain of strategic leadership. Strategic leadership is responsible for the relationship of the external environment to choices about vision, mission, strategy, and their execution.7 At the top of Exhibit 13.1 is a clear, compelling vision of where the organization wants to be in 5 to 10 years. A vision is an aspiration for the future and answers the question “Where are we headed?”8 The vision works in concert with the company’s mission—its core values, purpose, and reason for existence. Mission answers the question “Who are we as an organization?” The next level in Exhibit 13.1, strategy, responds to the question “How do we achieve the vision?” Strategy provides direction for translating the vision into action and is the basis for the development of specific mechanisms to help the organization achieve goals. Execution specifies “What do we do right now?” Strategies are intentions, whereas execution is through the basic organizational architecture (structure, incentives) that makes things happen. Each level of the hierarchy in Exhibit 13.1 supports the level above it. Each part of this framework will be discussed in the remainder of this chapter.

[Leader’s shelf-Insight 13.1 Box Here]

Leadership Vision

A vision is an attractive, ideal future that is credible yet not readily attainable. It is an ambitious view of the future that everyone involved can believe in, one that can realistically be achieved, yet one that offers a future that is better in important ways than what now exists. In the early 1950s, Sony Corporation wanted to “[b]ecome the company most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese products.”9 Since that time, Japanese companies have become known for quality, but in the 1950s this was a highly ambitious goal that fired people’s imaginations and sense of national pride. Sometimes, visions are brief, compelling, and slogan-like, easily communicated to and understood by everyone in the organization. For example, Coca-Cola’s “A Coke within arm’s reach of everyone on the planet,” Canon’s “Beat Xerox,” and Komatsu’s “Encircle Caterpillar” serve to motivate all employees.

Exhibit 13.2 lists a few more brief vision statements that let people know where the organization wants to go in the future. Not all successful organizations have such short, easily communicated slogans, but their visions are powerful because leaders paint a compelling picture of where the organization wants to go. The vision expressed by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., in his “I Have a Dream” speech is a good example of how leaders paint a vision in words. King articulated a vision of racial harmony, where discrimination was nonexistent, and he conveyed the confidence and conviction that his vision would someday be achieved.

Strong, inspiring visions have been associated with higher organizational performance and greater employee motivation and satisfaction.10 Employees want to know where the organization is going so they know where to focus their energies. When people are encouraged by a picture of what the organization can be in the future, they can help take it there. Consider what happened at one biotechnology firm. The CEO spoke with a consultant about his inability to get agreement among his leadership team regarding problems and priorities. After the consultant asked about the vision for the company, the CEO realized he hadn’t clearly articulated one. He took the team on an offsite meeting specifically to create a vision of where they wanted the company to go. With this vision as a guide, it was easy to resolve specific issues because everyone knew the direction.11

Leaders in nonprofit organizations also create visions so people know where the organization wants to go. For example, leaders at the Greater Chicago Food Depository have a vision of transforming the nonprofit agency from an organization that just feeds the hungry to one that helps end hunger. The agency sponsors an intense 12-week program aimed at teaching low-income, low-skilled workers the basics of cooking, along with life skills such as punctuality, teamwork, commitment, and personal responsibility, with the goal of landing each person a good job. Poverty is a big problem, and its causes are many and complex, but leaders know people can’t begin to move up unless they have jobs. The vision of helping people change their lives has energized employees in a way that simply providing food to low-income clients never did.12 Vision is just as important for nonprofit agencies like the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the United Way, and the Salvation Army as it is for businesses such as Coca-Cola, Google, or General Electric. Indeed, nonprofits sometimes need vision even more than do businesses, since they operate without the regular feedback provided by profit and loss.13

In Exhibit 13.3, vision is shown as a guiding star, drawing everyone along the same path toward the future. Vision is based in the current reality but is concerned with a future that is substantially different from the status quo.14 Taking the group or organization along this path requires leadership. Compare this to rational management (as described in Chapter 1), which leads to the status quo.

What Vision Does

Vision works in a number of important ways. An effective vision provides a link between today and tomorrow, serves to energize and motivate employees toward the future, provides meaning for people’s work, and sets a standard of excellence and integrity in the organization.15

Vision Links the Present to the Future Vision connects what is going on right now with what the organization aspires to. A vision is always about the future, but it begins with the here and now. At Google, employees are guided by a vision of unifying data and information around the world, one day totally obliterating language barriers via the Internet.16 They create services that meet current needs, but they also strive to envision and create products and services that encourage other, broader applications.

In organizations, the pressures to meet deadlines, make the big sale, solve immediate problems, and complete specific projects are very real. Some have suggested that leaders need “bifocal vision,” the ability to take care of the needs of today and meet current obligations while also aiming toward dreams for the future.17 The ability to operate on both levels can be seen in a number of successful companies, such as DuPont. Top executives routinely review short-term operational goals with managers throughout the company, reflecting a focus on the present. However, DuPont has succeeded over the long haul because of its leaders’ ability to keep an eye on the future and shift gears quickly to take advantage of new opportunities. Since its beginning, DuPont’s business portfolio has shifted from gunpowder to specialty chemicals, and today, the company is moving into biotechnology and life sciences.18

Vision Energizes People and Garners Commitment People want to feel enthusiastic about their work. Many people commit their time and energy voluntarily to projects they believe in—a political campaign, community events, or environmental causes, for example. These same people often leave their energy and enthusiasm at home when they go to work, because they don’t have anything to inspire them. A study from Hay Group based on surveys of 1.2 million employees suggests that one reason organizations lose good employees is the lack of a clear vision that provides a sense of direction.19 In addition, people are not generally willing to make emotional commitments just for the sake of increasing profits. Vision needs to transcend the bottom line because people are willing, and even eager, to commit to something truly worthwhile, something that makes life better for others or improves their communities.20 Consider Henry Ford’s original vision for Ford Motor Company:

I will build a motor car for the great multitude. . . . It will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one and enjoy with his family the blessings of hours of pleasure in God’s open spaces. . . . When I’m through, everybody will be able to afford one, and everyone will have one. The horse will have disappeared from our highways, the automobile will be taken for granted [and we will give many people] employment at good wages.21

Employees were motivated by Ford’s vision because they saw an opportunity to make life better for themselves and others.

[Leader’s shelf-Insight 13.2 Box Here]

Vision Gives Meaning to Work People also need to find dignity and meaning in their work. Even employees performing routine tasks can find pride in their work when they have a larger purpose for what they do. For example, an insurance clerk who thinks of her job as helping victims of fire or burglary put their lives back in order will feel very differently than one who thinks of his job as “processing insurance claims.”22 “People want to accomplish great things,” advises former UPS CEO Michael L. Eskew. “They want to make a difference. Leaders need to say ‘This is where we are going,’ and then, ‘this is why we need you.’”23 People are drawn to companies that offer them a chance to do something meaningful. Today, prospective employees often ask about a company’s vision when interviewing for a job because they want to know what the organization aims for and how, or whether, they will fit in.

Vision Establishes a Standard of Excellence and Integrity A powerful vision frees people from the mundane by providing them with a challenge that requires them to give their best. In addition, vision provides a measure by which employees can gauge their contributions to the organization. Most workers welcome the chance to see how their work fits into the whole. Think of how frustrating it is to watch a movie when the projector is out of focus. Today’s complex, fast-changing business environment often seems just like that—out of focus.24 A vision is the focus button. It clarifies an image of the future and lets people see how they can contribute. A vision presents a challenge—asking people to go where they haven’t gone before. A powerful vision that defies conventional thinking is one of the key traits shared by many companies that rank on BusinessWeek’s BW50 list of high-performing organizations. Gilead Sciences landed high on the list for four consecutive years thanks to leadership vision.

[In The Lead Box 1 Here]

Visions such as the one at Gilead Sciences clarify and connect to the core values and ideals of the organization and thus set a standard of integrity for employees. A good vision brings out the best in people by illuminating important values, speaking to people’s hearts, and letting them be part of something bigger than themselves. Because good visions present a challenge, they encourage people to be creative, take risks, think in unconventional ways, and find new approaches. This chapter’s Consider This box discusses three qualities a powerful vision can inspire.

Common Themes of Vision

Five themes are common to powerful, effective visions: they have broad, widely shared appeal; they help organizations deal with change; they encourage faith and hope for the future; they reflect high ideals; and they define both the organization’s destination and the basic rules to get there.

Vision Has Broad Appeal Although it may seem obvious that a vision can be achieved only through people, many visions fail to adequately involve employees. Isolated top leaders may come up with a grand idea that other employees find ridiculous, or they might forget that achieving the vision requires understanding and commitment throughout the organization. For example, in 1994, most people thought Ray Anderson’s idea of turning a carpet company into an environmental leader was insane. If he had not been able to involve managers, engineers, employees, customers, and investors in the vision, it could never become a reality. The vision cannot be the property of the leader alone.26 The ideal vision is identified with the organization as a whole, not with a single leader or even a top leadership team. It “grabs people in the gut” and motivates them to work toward a common end.27 It allows each individual to act independently but in the same direction.

[Consider This Box Here]

Vision Deals with Change Effective visions help the organization achieve bold change. The National Institute for Learning Disabilities existed for 25 years, providing services to a narrow segment of the educational market. Then, leaders formulated a bold vision for broadening the scope of the organization and serving a million students by 2020. The so-called “2020 Vision” presented a tremendous challenge that required leaders and employees to stretch their thinking and change how they provide services.28 Change can be frightening, but a clear sense of direction helps people face the difficulties and uncertainties involved in the change process. When employees have a guiding vision, everyday decisions and actions throughout the organization respond to current problems and challenges in ways that move the organization toward the future rather than maintain the status quo.

Vision Encourages Faith and Hope Vision exists only in the imagination—it is a picture of a world that cannot be observed or verified in advance. The future is shaped by people who believe in it, and a powerful vision helps people believe that they can be effective, that there is a better future they can move to through their own commitment and actions. Vision is an emotional appeal to our fundamental human needs and desires—to feel important and useful, to believe we can make a real difference in the world.29 For example, John F. Kennedy’s vision for NASA to send a man to the moon by the end of the 1960s was so powerful that hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world believed in a future they couldn’t see.30