Leverage your governance

Or, How to be a corporate ninja part II

Having written my last post I thought it probably came across as terribly negative. I suppose that's the problem with a blog - it is subject to how one is feeling, but I wanted to provide something a bit more positive because otherwise I would change the title of the blog to 'My constant gripes' and I don't want to do that.

Most organisations, if not all, do provide a way for ideas to develop and be applied. This is because most organisations are monitored with a variety of statistics, targets, aims, objectives, strategies and policy. However much individual managers may agree or disagree with overall aims or their own personal targets they will want to meet them (unless they have completely opted out in which case they are on their way out).

As an interesting aside, Kant proposed a similar model in terms of how one should fulfil their duty in society. Instead of what one might consider the usual model where it is imagined that demonstration should be undertaken in a public forum while it is in one's own private space that one abides by the law, Kant proposes the opposite. It is in public life that one should obey the laws, that one should fulfil one's duty, because otherwise we would fall into anarchy. Instead it is in one's private space that one should create forums for discussing the possibility of change. Of course a radical view might consider this a useless form of protest in practical application however we are discussing organisations so we don't really need to worry about the absolute radical.

Anyway, the point is that this model is especially applicable within a business model where individually people express a certain amount of natural discontent (or where would the ambition be?) but in their daily working lives generally aim to do our best within the parameters given.

But I have digressed. The aim of this detour is that organisations do have management structures and at each level managers are requested to fulfil their own targets. So though there might be wider concerns that might imply a conflict with particular ideas (often due to the necessary bureaucracy of agreeing high level policy and direction) if the idea can be seen to help deliver the bottom line then there will usually be a semi senior manager / middle manager who will be willing to agree it's implementation.

It's all about buy-in and demonstrating real world use. What you're aiming at is limited buy in, not from without but with the buy in of those users that will most benefit. It also means that you have some feedback to ensure that what you're doing is not complete madness, which is entirely possible - if it's a bad idea don't expect it to get far.

Good luck with your ninja skills.