STRATEGY SESSIONS  #13

THE ISSUE OF CONTROLS

by Dr. Steve Payne

 

The third step in the strategic decision making process that I’ve been describing is the actual decision. I’ve spent a couple of sessions lately introducing this step of actual decision making.  Much more could be added concerning decision making.  However, I now want to introduce, at least, a final step in this strategic process for coping with critical life and career challenges.  That step is management and on-going evaluation of decisions made and strategies undertaken.

 

The essence of self-management is personal planning and controls.  Lack of success in career and life decisions often reflect either poor planning and/or poor implementation of the plans that were set.   Even the very best of plans or strategies can prove unsuccessful without adequate implementation of these plans.  Also the very best of plans or strategies, even with outstanding implementation of these plans, can lead to failure due to pure bad luck or to events that could not have been anticipated that occur. 

Recognizing the strong possibility of natural human error or unfortunate events occurring, there is a need for certain controls that quickly identify strategic miscues and deviation from planned results.  Various types of controls help us notice these strategy miscues and deviations soon and can lead to our understanding why these errors have or are happening.

One example of simple personal planning that many people make around the start of each calendar year is their setting one or several resolutions for that new year.   A common resolution is to drop so many pounds of weight or to stop smoking in the coming months.  Although these types of resolutions can reflect strong personal goals and can be made with the best intentions to follow through with these plans, the common result is that these resolutions are very often unsuccessful.  Psychologists can provide some obvious explanations for such unsuccessful personal planning and actions, but I won’t mention many of these explanations.  Inadequate attention in planning given actually to implementing decisions and lack of appropriate controls for implementing decisions are perhaps the most important and inclusive of these explanations.

To some social commentators or critics, and count me as one, perhaps our world’s greatest social problem is a lack of appropriate controls for the strategies and plans that individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments set.   One of the prominent reasons given for the long-term success of America is our Constitution and its setting of controls or “checks and balances” over abuses in power, mistakes, or corruption in the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government.  During our history, we have had numerous examples of misbehavior by one branch of government and the recognition and full or partial resolution of this problem through the actions of another branch of government.  Appropriate checks and balances or controls for the execution of strategies and plans are vitally important for individuals and organizations.

Management theory fundamentally involves issues of effective planning and controls.  Good plans need appropriate controls.  These controls help spot problems in planning and its implementation early and before the costs of poor planning and implementation can drastically rise and can lead to failure.  We see examples of controls all around us.  Driving a car or truck, we depend upon warning lights on our instrument panel to warn us of engine, electrical, or brake problems before these problems become more serious and possibly life threatening.  Governments pass certain laws or regulations to serve as potential checks and balances over personal or business excesses. 

Debates obviously exist about the nature and extent of socially desirable controls over individual freedom and over corporate or business power.  Some argue for more or less regulation or controls placed on business, as an example.  A better question might not so much be the amount of these controls, but what are more and less appropriate forms of controls that are applied.  The same holds true for individuals facing life and career challenges and arriving at decisions and strategies.  The plan or decision needs to consider appropriate types of controls that will help keep us on track for more successful resolution of career and life challenges.