Stage-1: The Practical Foundation

The Art of the Possible

Most organizations are about doing things, so they have a natural affinity with the pragmatic spirit.

The PRAGMATIC Mode is the only mode that can exist self-sufficiently within an organization as a culture in its own right—all the others are too disconnected from results or too focused on abstractions.

A positive pragmatic culture is the bed-rock on which all management development must build.  Academics take note: while a pragmatic culture may not be all good, it is certainly not all bad.

Imagine an organization…Closed meandering along without much drive and coming under threat from market changes (in a business) or political pressures (in a public service). Let's assume it operates in a somewhat chaotic incremental fashion, which seems to suit most of those working there.

Stage-1 in the evolutionary schema is to move a weak unattended pragmatic culture into a more positive and vitalized form: put a bomb under it! as the saying goes. It may take some weeks or months for the message to sink in that things are going to be different from now on. Here are the values that must be installed.

Pragmatic Values & Principles

In handling the situation:

Remember that action is the final common pathway and goal of all management. So:

● Do something—your survival depends on it.
● Make things happen.
● Get your hands dirty and lead from the front.
● Refuse to delay decisions.
● Find ways to produce immediate benefits, even if small.
● Respond to the most urgent crisis first.
● Expect to succeed by trial and error.
● Work around obstacles.
● Bend rules temporarily if need be.

● Do what is obvious and expedient.
● Don't worry about the chaos: it provides many opportunities.
● Scan for opportunities and strike while the iron is hot.
● Expect crises and use them positively.
● Build on strengths and avoid weaknesses.
● Keep many irons in the fire.
● Use immediately available or easily acquirable resources.
● Don't hesitate to cut losses and try something new.
● Avoid entanglement in process and losing your focus on benefit.

Avoid complicated ideas and complex strategies: even if you understand them, no-one else will. So:

● Focus down on something manageable.
● Keep re-stating your key priorities.
● Never try to explain fully, because there isn't enough time.
● Use common sense.
● Improvise and adapt to the situation in a practical way.
● Don't attempt complete control of any situation.
● Don't expect ideas or theories to suit situations precisely.

In handling the group:

Heed political realities or you are dead in the water. So: 

● Remember your co-workers are self-interested and uncontrollable.
● Stay alert to threats from the social context.
● Carefully attend to social pressures.
● Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
● Manage the impression you make.
● Be flexible and play your cards right.
● Discover where power lies.
● Keep key people in the picture.
● Develop allies and neutralize opponents.
● Buy off troublemakers if necessary.

Remember that all achievement depends on working through people. So:

● Do not upset individuals unnecessarily.
● Adopt local conventions.
● Find a way to get on with everyone.
● Do not hesitate to remove opponents or those who refuse to play ball.
● Sell your decisions so people feel satisfied.
● Keep in touch through active networking.
● Use persuasion to get people to do things.
● Communicate with pithy slogans.
● Use humour wherever possible.
● Be especially sensitive to status concerns.
● Often turn a blind eye to deficiencies: remember that no-one is perfect.
● Find and value systematic managers as assistants.

● Expect results.
● Push people to deliver.
● Insist that each person must make a contribution.
● Delegate challenging tasks and get the best out of subordinates.
● Direct staff to whatever is most urgent for you.
● Don't let others get away with what they prefer or find easiest.
● Show everyone what you can do and lead by example.
● Affirm values, to rally and activate people.
● Use carrot and stick techniques unashamedly.
● Develop a range of perks.
● Support your staff by cutting bureaucracy and minimizing paperwork.

In handling yourself:

Remember that you are the person in the hot seat. So: 

● You must decide what needs to be done.
● Never forget that you are on your own in the end.
● Maximize your own advantage.
● Keep your eye on the ball at all times.
● Watch your back.
● Rely on your gut-feel, common sense and intuition.
● See it through: or get out before situations explode or collapse.
● Get plenty of experience and develop coping skills.
● Work hard and fast.
● Use your personality.
● Above all: be determined, flexible, and enthusiastic.

Installing Pragmatic Values

A culture of positive pragmatism must be deliberately fostered and its degeneration actively resisted. Pragmatic values are so inherently sensible and necessary. Introducing such values should itself be pragmatic. Just do it!

► Put some life into things.
► Sort any urgent crises and get some early successes.
► Fill key jobs with people who have worked well with you in the past.
► Send in paid troubleshooters to sort really tricky problems.

A positive pragmatic approach is essential, but is it enough? Can it stay strong? Is it possible for common-sense, for example, to handle anything and everything?

You know the answer already. Pragmatism is wonderful, but taken too far it degenerates—and, like any good thing, it is usually taken too far.

  • Read the gruesome details of degenerate pragmatism: they are the rationale for undertaking a major overhaul of the organization.

Originally posted: 17-Jun-2011