The secret to success is a mystery most business professionals and organisations aspire to uncover. Though it manifests differently for everyone, the secret to success isn’t as elusive as you might think. According to business management author Patrick Lencioni, the biggest advantage a company can have is simple—organisational health.
The Advantage: Why Organisational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business was published in 2012 and is one of many Lencioni’s leadership and business books. This book was recommended by Brian Fielkow, Executive Vice President of Risk Resources at Acrisure. Highlighting the book’s 4 main tenants, Brian shared that The Advantage was more than just theories on a page for him. It was applicable to real-life scenarios, giving him a framework and guide to lead his organisation as well.
“It offers a practical, actionable framework for aligning leadership, building trust, and creating a culture where people work together toward a shared mission. The principles translate across industries, where strong culture and clarity of direction directly impact safety, performance, and profitability,” he wrote.
Cohesion, clarity, communication, and commitment—keep these 4 keywords in mind as we go along!
ORGANISATIONAL HEALTH
Before diving in, we need to define what Lencioni means by “organisational health.” Let’s first differentiate a purely “smart” organisation from one that is both smart and healthy.
A smart organisation usually has it all figured out in traditional areas of business, such as finance, marketing, and strategy. The reality is that a lot of organisations may already be this way. As Lencioni puts it, “[B]eing smart—as critical as it is—has become something of a commodity. It is simply permission to play, a minimum standard required for having even a possibility of success.”
So, if being smart is a commodity, what’s the advantage? A healthy organisation and environment. To the author, this is not only way to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, but also an overall necessity.
In essence, organisational health is closely tied to integrity. “An organization has integrity—is healthy—when it is whole, consistent, and complete, that is, when its management, operations, strategy, and culture fit together and make sense,” Lencioni wrote.
Unfortunately, organisational health is often overlooked. Some organisations find that they are too busy, technical, or fast for it. Others might even find it boring or “nice to have.” Overall, its unquantifiable nature makes organisational health easy ignore.
As “boring” or “slow” as it may seem, organisational health simply highlights the need for cohesion and unity within an organisation. An organisation that communicates clearly (internally and externally) and aligns itself with its values promotes a whole and healthy organisation.
Healthy organisations are aligned, cohesive, and united. They have high morale among staff, along with an absence of office politics. This health manifests in high productivity and low staff turnover.
These are all aspects that organisations want, so how can they achieve them? The Advantage lists down 4 important disciplines to follow for organisational health.
THE FOUR DISCIPLINES
In this section, we’ll summarise Lencioni’s four disciplines to achieve organisational health.
BUILD A COHESIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
At the core of an organisation, there should be a small team of 3-10 people to lead it. This small team must be built with trust and cooperation, so much so that they are comfortable around each other. A level of comfort is required in this type of team because the members need to be open about their mistakes or ask for help.
In this type of team, mistakes not seen as crucial and conflict isn’t feared. Mistakes are learned from together and healthy conflict is welcomed and resolved. According to Lencioni, it’s less about who has all the answers and more about how the team can commit to these disciplines.
When leaders can be vulnerable with each other and provide support, there is more focus on working together as a team, rather than competing in individual performances. These values can eventually trickle into the rest of the organisation.
CREATE CLARITY IN THE ORGANISATION
For Lencioni, clarity is an organisation’s biggest must-have. Members of an organisation must clearly know their roles and what they collectively strive for. Through establishing a clear pair vision and mission, an organisation can constantly be reminded of its purpose and motivations.
Some may think vision and mission statements aren’t necessary, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
REPEAT AND OVER-COMMUNICATE FOR CLARITY
Once you’ve established the organisation’s vision, mission, and values, it’s time to communicate them to the rest of the team… until everyone’s tired of hearing it. According to Lencioni, people will only take what they’re told to heart if they’ve heard over and over again. To be truly aligned, members of an organisation must be aware of what they stand and strive for together.
In this part of the process, an organisation’s culture can be established and reinforced.
When the mission and vision statements of your organisation are constantly repeated, eventually everyone will know them by heart and there won’t be any room for confusion. This over-repetition will also help to clear out any gossip, rumours, or misconceptions that may float around the organisation.
REINFORCE CLARITY
It’s not enough to just repeat for the sake of clarity, an organisation must walk its talk too! Its values, goals, and motivations need to be consistent and apparent, not just in its messaging, but in its practices as well.
For example, if an organisation values the environment and waste reduction, it can do a few things, like:
- Exclusively offering biodegradable, organic, or edible packaging
- Reusing waste or excess material from its manufacturing process
- Supplying employees with environment-friendly office supplies and paraphernalia
- Creating a recreational space in the office with plants and greenery and encouraging everyone to make use of these spaces
OUR REVIEW
In a sea of business books, The Advantage is a great catch. Rather than emphasising individual performance, the crux of the book highlights teamwork and cooperation. No man is an island and a whole company can’t be attributed to just one person.
Many books on organisational or business success focus on quantifiable goals or individual development, but Lencioni’s book shows how an organisation is only as good as its unity. As they say, “teamwork makes the dream work!”
The author emphasises a need for balance—it’s not enough to just be technically sound. The true competitive advantage lies in how a company treats its people, who are the core of its life and function. It’s high time to do away with office politics and usher in an era of cooperation! Rather than outdoing our peers, we can ask ourselves more pertinent questions like, “How are my actions making an impact on the organisation?” or “Is this decision in line with the core beliefs and goals of the organisation?”
When a member can thoroughly understand the heart of the company, then they can constructively reflect on themselves as both a team player and essential individual. A united message must be consistently met with follow-through. This can boost morale and eliminate room for unhealthy competition or dishonesty.
If you’d like to give your organisation a refresh or perhaps look at new ways to improve organisational health, The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni might be for you!
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