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First Nations Strategic Management Participant Guide

First Nations Strategic Management Page 1

First Nations Strategic Management Course Guide Overview .......................................................................................5 A Northern First Nations perspective is important .........................5 What is strategic management? ....................................................6 Strategy is a classical concept.......................................................7 Leadership requires planning ........................................................7 Learning Resources ......................................................................9 Website Resources .....................................................................11 Course Objectives .......................................................................14 Knowledge Objectives .................................................................14 Skills Objectives ..........................................................................15 Values Objectives........................................................................16 Course Discussion Questions......................................................17 Course Evaluation .......................................................................18 Unit One: Goals Before Strategy .................................................19 Unit Overview ..............................................................................19 Strategic management is concerned with continuous improvement....................................................................................................20 Goals describe direction ..............................................................21 Goals produce responsibilities and require competency .............21 Goals and common sense...........................................................22 Goals make some decisions simpler ...........................................22 Goals make evaluation possible ..................................................23 The “business” of government .....................................................23 Strategic management begins with goals ....................................24 Unit Objectives ............................................................................25 Knowledge Objectives .................................................................25 Skills Objectives ..........................................................................25 Values Objectives........................................................................26 Unit Discussion Questions...........................................................27 Topic 1: Strategic Thinking Takes Two Forms............................28 Goals are tools ............................................................................28 Deductive: top down ....................................................................29 Inductive: bottom up ....................................................................31 Combining the models: strategic management............................34


Learning Activities .......................................................................35 Topic 2: The Business Community Government is In..................38 Government as a social contract .................................................39 Rights, duties and consent ..........................................................40 Learning Activities .......................................................................42 Topic 3: Strategic Goals for Community Government .................45 Issues always have local meaning ..............................................45 Begin with questions....................................................................46 Learning Activities .......................................................................48 Unit Summary..............................................................................50 Unit Two: Systems Thinking: Developing a Strategic Management System ........................................................................................52 Unit Overview ..............................................................................52 Functional equivalence................................................................54 Interdependence..........................................................................55 Synergy .......................................................................................55 Second order learning .................................................................56 Unit Objectives ............................................................................57 Knowledge Objectives .................................................................57 Skills Objectives ..........................................................................57 Values Objectives........................................................................57 Unit Discussion Questions...........................................................59 Topic 1: Designing an Open System for Community Government....................................................................................................60 An ideal bureaucracy...................................................................60 Open systems..............................................................................61 Learning Activities .......................................................................63 Topic 2: Stakeholder Analysis and Community Government Mission ........................................................................................66 Stakeholder subdivisions matter..................................................67 Learning Activities .......................................................................69 Topic 3: Developing a Strategic Plan for Northern Community Governments...............................................................................72 Learning Activities .......................................................................74


Topic 4: Developing a Scanning System for Strategic Management................................................................................76 Snow card technique ...................................................................76 Learning Activities .......................................................................78 Unit Summary..............................................................................80 Unit Three: Practicing Strategic Management: People and Performance................................................................................81 Unit Overview ..............................................................................81 Unit Objectives ............................................................................83 Knowledge Objectives .................................................................83 Skills Objectives ..........................................................................83 Values Objectives........................................................................84 Unit Discussion Questions...........................................................85 Topic 1: Time and Supervision ....................................................86 Base lining time management .....................................................86 Deciding what deserves time.......................................................87 Looking at what people do...........................................................88 People structure tasks .................................................................88 Protect production capacity .........................................................89 Manage external demands ..........................................................89 Manage meetings ........................................................................90 Learning Activities .......................................................................91 Topic 2: People, Communication, and Learning..........................94 Forming a relationship that includes training, coaching and mentoring ....................................................................................94 Guidelines for managers who facilitate learning ..........................95 Roles and functions .....................................................................95 Availability....................................................................................95 Monitoring....................................................................................95 Managers have three ways to facilitate learning..........................96 By training others.........................................................................96 By coaching others ......................................................................96 By serving as a mentor................................................................97 Organizing facilitation ..................................................................97 Facilitation is a temporary role.....................................................97 Learning Activities .......................................................................98 Topic 3: Performance ................................................................100


Indicators must be objective ......................................................100 Performance can be measured .................................................101 Indicators provide evidence of an action or performance ..........102 Performance must be realistic and possible ..............................102 Learning Activities .....................................................................103 Unit Summary............................................................................105 Unit Four: Learning and Strategic Management ........................106 Unit Overview ............................................................................106 Unit Objectives ..........................................................................108 Knowledge Objectives ...............................................................108 Skills Objectives ........................................................................108 Values Objectives......................................................................108 Unit Discussion Questions.........................................................110 Topic 1: Learning Communities and Community Government ..111 Process and product..................................................................111 Evaluating programs..................................................................111 Strategic teams..........................................................................112 Learning Activities .....................................................................113 Topic 2: Learning and Policy .....................................................116 Learning Activities .....................................................................117 Topic 3: Learning from Best Practices.......................................120 Learning Activities .....................................................................121 Unit Summary............................................................................123 Glossary ....................................................................................124


Overview This 45-hour university/college transferable course is required for the First Nations Administration stream of the Community Government Management Training Program. Strategic planning is not new for First Nations. First Nations have survived for thousands of years by using strategies of cooperation, conservation, environmental assessment, adaptation, and foresight. To the extent that strategic management is here to stay, it is based on an approach to community leadership that includes the practices that have sustained First Nations. This course is based on general principles of strategic management that apply to any organization aimed at community service and community government. Strategic management can be studied as a set of ideas and practices that apply equally to any cultural or historical group or community. To the extent that strategic management works, it will work for First Nations as well as for other groups in Northern society. The strategic management of community government will be the focus in this course. Community senior managers, their staff, and decision makers will be able to bring their experience and concerns to the learning activities for this course. A Northern First Nations perspective is important Many people living in Northern communities are of Aboriginal descent. Northern history and culture are, to a significant degree, the culture and history of First People. Strategic management from strictly First Nations perspectives can be studied in more detail in courses that are found in Native Studies programs and in programs on indigenous governance, Aboriginal business and political science. This course is designed to allow participants to work out their own approach to strategic management by applying general principles and practices that have significance for a variety of perspectives on Northern community leadership.


What is strategic management? Strategic management looks in two directions; at significant information in the environment that will influence community government, and at values and goals that will be used to make decisions and shape the environment of the future. Perspectives help define what will count as significant information. Opportunities and issues are closely related in strategic planning. Internal and external environments must be studied in order to plan strategically. Community government works when people participate in the decisions and processes that shape their futures. Community government can be viewed as the integration of several strategies aimed at community development, community wellness, and cultural identity. This course will explore contemporary management’s need to consider timing, values, resources, changing environments and human factors in Northern communities. The basic premise of this course is that Senior managers, their staffs, and decision makers can serve Northern communities best by developing strategic plans to guide management decisions. Strategic plans produce goals that strategic management can implement, integrate, monitor, evaluate, and learn from. Senior Administration Officers, Band Managers, Housing Managers, and others in positions of authority and decision-making, will achieve goals that result from calculation and leadership when a strategic approach to management is followed. Community government will have a direction that everyone can see in a well-planned team of managers. Band managers will monitor the effects of policy and programs on the people they serve. These effects will guide decisions about change and strategy. Goals and objectives will be continuously formed and evaluated in a strategic management system. In Northern communities the value of local standards, the self-evaluation of needs, and the consideration of intercultural communication will play important roles in all strategic management. This course is intended to introduce ideas and practices that will support Northern community government staff in


their daily work as public servants with a mandate that includes respect for local culture, history, and future goals. Strategy is a classical concept The term “strategy” comes from the classical Greek name for a general. The work of leading with victory in mind lies at the heart of strategic management. The related term “tactics” is the classical Greek name for a wise and orderly use of resources. Strategy outlined the overall goals of an action while tactics spelled out the details for achieving goals. Fitting means and ends together in a changing environment is called strategic management. Today strategy is not restricted to accomplishing goals solely by the use of force. On the contrary, victory over false beliefs, negative attitudes, stereotypes, and self-serving agendas are included in the understanding we have of strategy and strategic planning. These understandings make it possible to connect ethical leadership with strategic management. Leadership is exercised through strategic management. Hunters are strategic managers, as are corporation executives and government service providers. Homemakers are strategic managers. From the perspective of human evolution and natural selection, successful strategies for adaptation have resulted in survival. Survival is required before human development and flourishing can begin. Strategy can be considered as an expression of the basic human capacity for planning in all environments. Strategic management has a place in every organization, and everyone in an organization can think strategically. Band managers are also strategic managers. Leadership requires planning Leading without strategic planning can be compared to travelling without eyes to see with. In this course you will explore the “fit” between a Northern environment and the mandates and goals of a community government. Strategic management will be locally


relevant and respect traditional sources of knowledge and the complexity of Northern communities. Strategic management for a community government can be organized into a system for assessing needs and issues, identifying changes in the environment that are significant, and making decisions that support the goals of community government. Strategies are integrated in a strategic management system and results are monitored. This course supports Northern managers who can lead their communities towards greater self-government by connecting leadership skills and values with strategic management decisions that work in today’s Northern climate of rapid change and unique opportunity.


Learning Resources This course has four units with topics and activities that are designed to accomplish the learning objectives identified at the beginning of each unit. Your learning resources may include reading materials, websites, and other assigned media, including video and audiotapes. Some units will involve field trips, interviews, research, coaching, and mentoring. The resource list is meant to be suggestive, not exhaustive. Participants are encouraged to add resources that have significance for learning about strategic management in Northern communities. In particular, Northern and Aboriginal resources that relate to the most recent issues and developments, will be selected by those who need to know them best, the participants in this program. Primary Resources First Nations Effective Practices, Getting Things Done in Aboriginal Communities, Businesses and Organizations, Research and Analysis Directorate Reports, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, June, 1997. (Available on DIAND website) Bryson, John, M., Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, Jossey Bass, 1990. (ISBN 1-55542-087-7) Elias, Peter, Development of Aboriginal People’s Communities, University of Lethbridge, Captus Press, 1991. (ISBN 0-921801-51-3) Koteen, Jack, Strategic Management in Public and Nonprofit Organizations: Managing Public Concerns in an Era of Limits, 2nd edition, Praeger, 1997. (ISBN 0-275-95532-X) Supplementary Resources Ansoff, I. Strategic Management. New York: Wiley, 1979. Byrne, Edmund F., Work Inc.: A Philosophical Inquiry. Temple University Press, 1990. (ISBN 0-8722-688-1)


Fargis, Paul, editor, The New York Public Library Business Desk Reference: Essential Information for Every Office, at Your Fingertips, Wiley, Toronto, 1998. (ISBN 0-471-14442-8) Furnham, Adrian, The Protestant Work Ethic: The Psychology of Work-Related Beliefs and Behaviors, Routledge, 1990. (ISBN 0415-01705-X) Gordon, Thomas, Leadership Effectiveness Training, G.P. Putnam & Sons, New York, 1997 Hax, Arnoldo, Editor, Readings on Strategic Management, Ballinger, Cambrigde Mass. 1984. (ISBN 0-88410-973-9) Johnson, Gerry, Strategic Change and the Management Process, Blackwell 1987. (ISBN 0-631-14717-9) Nelson, Bob, Economy Peter, Managing for Dummies: A Reference for the Rest of Us!, IDG Books, 1996. (ISBN 1-56884-858-7) Pascarella, Perry, The New Achievers: Creating a Modern Work Ethic, Free Press, 1984. (ISBN 0-02-924870-1) Pearce, John, Robinson, Richard, Strategic Management: Strategy Formulation and Implementation, 2nd edition, Irwin, Homewood, Illinois, 1985. (ISBN 0-256-03230-0) Reinharth, Shapiro, Kallman, The Practice of Planning: Strategic, Administrative, and Operational, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981. (ISBN 0-442-21917-2) Satir, Virginia, The New Peoplemaking, Science and Behavior books, 1988. ( ISBN 0-8314-0070-6) Watzlawick, P., Weakland,J., and Fisch, R. Change: Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution. New York: Norton, 1974.


QS-6113-000-EE-A1 Catalogue No: R32-80/1997E (ISBN 662-25836-3) Website Resources http://www.dewit-meyer.com The authors of Strategy Synthesis maintain this website on the latest developments in strategy and strategic management. http://www.nrc.ca/conferences/nacs/index.html National aboriginal career symposium 1999 http://www.nrc.ca/conferences/nacs/7toc_e.html 1997 report of career symposium These sites show leadership in action by using a symposium format for future search and exchange relating to career development for Aboriginal people. Strategic issues are identified and addressed in the reports. http://www.inac.gc.ca/index_e.html The INAC homepage index links to many resources that describe Northern communities, issues and leadership initiatives. http://www.inac.gc.ca/sites/index.html Aboriginal sites dealing with a wide range of community development topics can be found here. http://www.inac.gc.ca/PUBS/fnepi/profil.html This site contains summaries of effective practices in Aboriginal community Development. http://www.grida.no/caff/comanag.htm A review of co-management systems in the Arctic region. http://www.tclt.bc.ca/programs/banff-11.htm Aboriginal Strategic Management training resources at the Banff School of Management Studies.

http://www.dewit-meyer.com/

http://www.nrc.ca/conferences/nacs/index.html

http://www.nrc.ca/conferences/nacs/7toc_e.html

http://www.inac.gc.ca/index_e.html

http://www.inac.gc.ca/sites/index.html

http://www.inac.gc.ca/PUBS/fnepi/profil.html

http://www.grida.no/caff/comanag.htm

http://www.tclt.bc.ca/programs/banff-11.htm


http://www.modelforest.net/e/home_/abou_/init_/socioece.html Aboriginal strategic co-management in forestry in Canada, including model forest development. http://rncan.gc.ca/cfs/proj/sci-tech/strategic/criteri2.html Strategies for sustainable forestry management in Canada with Aboriginal co-management. http://www.goldcare.net/subab/benefits.htm Aboriginal best practices and the gold care business mentoring program with the Royal Bank. http://www.transpolar.com/consult.html An example of a strategic management consulting firm with a focus on Northern and Aboriginal clients. http://www.ammsa.com/cando/windcandoaward.html Aboriginal economic developer of the year award under the CANDO program. http://www.inac.gc.ca/strength/change.html Gathering Strength, the Aboriginal action plan of the Government of Canada http://www.inac.gc.ca/strength/change.html#Northern Northern initiatives under the Aboriginal action plan for Canada. http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policy/aboriginal-health/afhs/ An example from Australia of strategic planning for Aboriginal families and health. http://www.captus.com/information/aboriginal-flyer.htm Captus press new releases on Aboriginal economic development, law and administration. http://www.iog.ca/map.html The Institute on governance in Ottawa is a resource on Aboriginal leadership development.

http://www.modelforest.net/e/home_/abou_/init_/socioece.html

http://rncan.gc.ca/cfs/proj/sci-tech/strategic/criteri2.html

http://www.goldcare.net/subab/benefits.htm

http://www.transpolar.com/consult.html

http://www.ammsa.com/cando/windcandoaward.html

http://www.inac.gc.ca/strength/change.html

http://www.inac.gc.ca/strength/change.html#northern

http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policy/aboriginal-health/afhs/

http://www.captus.com/information/aboriginal-flyer.htm

http://www.iog.ca/map.html


http://www.iog.ca/publications/pub-aboriginal.html Publications from the Institute on governance dealing with municipal and public works issues document leadership in practice. http://www.pipsc.ca The Professional Institute of the Public Servants of Canada has links to strategic planning resources.

http://www.iog.ca/publications/pub-aboriginal.html

http://www.pipsc.ca/


Course Objectives Knowledge Objectives

1. The participant will understand the difference between

management and strategic management. 2. The participant will understand the relationship between

leadership and strategic management. 3. The participant will understand the difference between a

rational (deductive) planning model and a political (inductive) planning model.

4. The participant will identify the elements of a strategic plan. 5. The participant will identify the elements of a strategic

management system. 6. The participant will understand the difference between means

and ends. 7. The participant will understand the basic principles of systems

thinking. 8. The participant will understand the connections between

solving problems and strategic management. 9. The participant will know how to monitor performance. 10. The participant will understand the strategic implications of an

“issue cycle”. 11. The participant will understand the requirements for a learning

organization. 12. The participant will understand how to integrate strategies. 13. The participant will understand the business of government.


14. The participant will understand the nature and purpose of environmental scans.

15. The participant will understand the difference between a

mandate and a mission. 16. The participant will understand how government policies and

programs can play the role of treaties between competing interests in society.

17. The participant will understand government as a project in the

making. Skills Objectives 1. The participant will be able to write goals for a strategic

management plan. 2. The participant will be able to provide a justification for the

goals of a strategic management plan. 3. The participant will be able to use the principle of synergy to

design management strategies. 4. The participant will be able to apply the principle of

interdependence to strategic management. 5. The participant will be able to identify the functions that need

to be performed in a management system. 6. The participant will be able to design performance schedules

and assign roles that recognize best efforts. 7. The participant will be able to measure performance. 8. The participant will be able to measure effort. 9. The participant will be able to take advantage of timely

learning opportunities.


10. The participant will be able to adjust a management plan to deal with issues.

11. The participant will know how to recognize a crisis and

implement a crisis management strategy. 12. The participant will be able to identify standards for self-

evaluation in Northern communities. 13. The participant will be able to keep records that permit timely

assessments of performance, budgets, and accountability. 14. The participant will be able to produce goal statements based

on strategic issues. Values Objectives

1. The participant will appreciate the complexity of First Nations

communities. 2. The participant will respect the right of First Nations

communities to develop standards for programs based on self-evaluation.

3. The participant will appreciate the importance of systems

thinking for leaders 4. The participant will value the reasons for putting goals before

strategy. 5. The participant will respect the duties of a strategic manager. 6. The participant will appreciate the close connection between

political decision-making and strategic planning.


Course Discussion Questions 1. What can strategic management accomplish?

2. How can a manager learn to improve strategy?

3. What responsibilities are met by creating a strategic

management system?

4. What problems are strategic management systems designed to solve?

5. What justifies a goal?

6. What justifies a strategy?

7. How should performance be evaluated?

8. How should people be evaluated?

9. What are the similarities and differences between systems thinking and traditional knowledge?

10. In what ways is it true that, “the devil is in the details”?

11. What makes some issues more important to manage than others?


Course Evaluation The instructor will develop the final evaluation plan for this course. A suggested model is offered below. 1. One learning activity from each of four units (40%) 2. Course project: design a strategic management system for

community government (30%) 3. Final exam (30%)


Unit One: Goals Before Strategy Unit Overview A strategy is a pattern for action that people are willing to commit to because they believe a particular combination of resources and actions will accomplish their goals. In this unit the ends for which community government managers want to design strategies are explored in their own right as the first part of strategic management. Deductive and inductive approaches to planning in community government will be considered. By planning what community government should do, we enter the domain of strategic goal setting and strategic management. If government is going to evolve, be transformed, and fulfill its potential for community development, strategic goals will be essential. Ideals and vision require goals before the future desired by Northern communities can be realized. The unit begins with goal setting in terms that are measurable and justified. Critical thinking is necessary for the work of defining goals that are justified and therefore worth having strategies for. By keeping the end in mind, strategic managers can avoid the unwanted outcome of “winning the battle, but losing the war”. A strategic management system begins with goals and their justification. Goals that are clear, shared, and important, will help people see the forest as well as the trees. In the absence of goals there may be adaptation but no planning. This is one way to look at evolution based on natural selection. In human affairs “planning” can be reduced to forced accommodation or random outcomes when goals are missing. In the presence of goals adaptation to change may be positive, produce new knowledge, and reveal new opportunities. For example, the settlement of a comprehensive land claim may produce a sudden inflow of financial resources for a Northern community. Money may be invested without a strategic plan and


the new situation may produce an adaptation to wealth that has no future in mind and a high probability of missing opportunities for self-direction and community development. Strategic goal setting will anticipate the consequences of new wealth and provide direction for decisions about investment. In this example, the interest of First Nations communities in their own political, cultural and social development- as well as in their economic development will be served by a strategic plan with pre-set goals for new wealth. Strategic management is concerned with continuous improvement Managing strategically can be defined as the implementation of change based on desired direction. Strategic management is purposeful, ie. Planned, adaptation to a changing environment. Because change is being monitored, it is less of a surprise, and less of a shock to a management system. A strategy is a means to an end. We do not follow strategy for its own sake, although this can happen in a dysfunctional organization. A good strategy serves to unite people so that they will give their best to a common goal. The focus is on the goal. To quote a recent American slogan, we may need to “reinvent” government in order to develop strategic plans in the public sector.1 The goals of government can become obscured in the daily business of managing public services. This is equally true of federal government and community government, of aboriginal government and non-aboriginal government. Northern community government will benefit from a clear mission expressed through goals that are supported by communities. Some general observations about the universal and rational value of goals follow. These observations will create a background for the topics in this unit that explore the unique political, cultural, and social forces that influence how goals for community government are developed in Northern communities. Whatever else may also

1 See chapter eleven in Koteen.


be true about goals in Northern community government, the following observations are intended to apply as well. Goals describe direction Direction comes before travel. Without direction it is only appropriate to talk about wandering. While wandering can be an end in itself and teach us many things, the responsibilities of community government management rule out wandering with no purpose. Management is purposeful. Managers cannot exercise leadership when they do not know why they are doing what they are doing. Public servants are paid for the services they provide to fulfill mandates. The goal of public service is service. The source of mandates should be the public interest. A mandate that harms the public rather than helps becomes questionable. To the extent that the public is divided or composed of competing communities of interest, the task for government becomes political as well as rational. Consider both the rational and political sources of goals for community government in what follows. Goals produce responsibilities and require competency People with a goal in mind assume the responsibilities that fulfill it. They effectively contract to do what it takes to achieve their goal. Conversely, someone who does not fulfill the responsibilities that make a particular goal attainable shows with their behavior that, for whatever reasons, they are not working towards this goal. In community government each position has responsibilities that result from the goals set for the position. For example, an ASAO has the goal of providing support to the SAO. Once this goal is established, the responsibilities of advising on community feedback, preparing financial statements and preparing proposals and contracts follow from a rational analysis of what the goal requires the ASAO to take responsibility for accomplishing. In a strategic management system it is essential that the competency required for a responsibility is there before a goal requiring the competency can be achieved. This much comes


with the territory of goals and responsibilities. Senior managers have a special responsibility to monitor competence in their staff to ensure that delegated work can be accomplished. Unit four will explore some strategies for learning that enable government staff to “learn by doing”. Goals and common sense Goals bring order to life. Without a direction in mind it is impossible to know what needs changing, or when to make changes. When goals are clear, practices that serve them or defeat them can be noticed for what they are.2 Goals provide a standard to measure with. This makes them useful and also very powerful determinants of what matters to people. To quote Peter Drucker, “when you don’t know where you are going, any plan will do”. In Northern communities, the goals set by the community may be very different than those set by the federal government, the territorial government or other Canadian authorities. Local goals may include cultural, social and political outcomes that are not recognized as important outside the community. Local goals may not always produce material benefits and outcomes that contribute to economic development. First Nations administrators will need to think carefully about the goals that are established for local government and the right of people to evaluate their own needs as opposed to having their needs prescribed.3 Goals make some decisions simpler Clear goals allow us to decide if something is part of a solution or part of a problem. When resources are scarce it becomes critically important to assess options quickly and determine which ones have the greatest benefits and make the most sense. Well-defined and well-justified goals help us do this. Leadership is exercised by selecting the best options for a situation. 2 See Community Leadership, Unit Three for ideas on writing clear goal statements. 3 The course titled Band Programs: Planning and Implementation deals with the issue of needs assessment and program planning in detail.


For example, the goal of emergency situation preparedness that is set for Band Managers can help us quickly decide that a communications system in the event of power outage is essential and therefore should be a high priority option for a Band. Without such a system the goal is impossible to achieve. This much is revealed, by having the goal clearly understood in advance of any strategy designed to achieve it. Criteria of impossibility allow us to identify necessities. Necessities are revealed by completing sentences of the form, “The goal of X will be impossible without Y”. Necessities set minimum expectations. Minimum requirements help us to plan strategically by revealing goals worth considering. Goals make evaluation possible Without clear goals it is impossible to know how well an organization is doing or when goals need to be changed. Without a review of goals, strategies can appear to be effective but may actually turn out useless. For example this can happen when issues facing government have changed and goals haven’t. Community government staff needs to know what business they are in before they can tell how well they are doing or whether they wish to continue. While it may be undesirable to view government as a “business” from some perspectives, for example humanistic, spiritual, and historical perspectives, the similarity between government and modern corporations and other businesses is a focus taken in much of the strategic management literature. The “business” of government Government does not pursue profit directly but plays an important role in economic development. The nature of government, its function and purpose, needs to be defined in order to develop strategy and evaluate performance and service. In Northern communities there is a range of opinion about the role and purpose of government. Strategic management will be concerned with stakeholder analysis, community mission, and community vision, in order to set goals for community government that receive community support.


To the extent that government is in the economic development business, economic indicators can measure progress. To the extent that government is in the community wellness business, stable families, education levels, cultural participation, and freedom from disease provide indicators of success. To the extent that government is in the cultural preservation business, languages in use, life on the land, and other cultural indicators will indicate success. Furthermore strategic planning will recognize the interdependence of economic development and community wellness. Northern communities want the right to determine their own indicators of success. Government cannot be all things to all people; decisions are needed to define the business of community government and select indicators for successful government. Strategic management begins with goals In this unit, the goals of strategic management in Northern community government are explored. Keeping the end in mind, and defining the purpose of community government will concern leadership in Northern communities. Goals that lead to plans for achieving them do not grow on trees even below timberline. Government must invent itself and defend its goals. Public service should be justified, and issues arising from necessity and crisis must be anticipated if management is going to succeed in planning adaptations to change that preserve principles and values that are desired for the future. A special challenge for First Nations administrators is the incorporation of cultural and social values in strategic management.


Unit Objectives Knowledge Objectives 1. The participant will understand how public sector goals are

defined by mandates. 2. The participant will identify the stakeholders of Northern

community government. 3. The participant will understand the purpose and function of

community government. 4. The Participant will understand how goals are connected to

vision, mission and opportunities. 5. The participant will understand how issues can set goals for

strategic plans. 6. The participant will understand what an ethical principle is

designed to accomplish. Skills Objectives 1. The participant will be able to write clear and measurable goal

statements. 2. The participant will be able to develop goals that result from

community self-evaluation. 3. The participant will be able to use a rational planning model to

develop goals. 4. The participant will be able to use a political planning model to

develop goals. 5. The participant will be able to describe an ideal organization.


Values Objectives 1. The participant will appreciate the importance of values in goal

statements. 2. The participant will recognize the complexity of organizations. 3. The participant will appreciate the value of ideals. 4. The participant will recognize the value of self-evaluation in

determining indicators of progress for Northern communities.


Unit Discussion Questions 1. What is the purpose of community government? 2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of considering

Northern community government as a kind of business? 3. Where do the goals for government come from? 4. What makes strategic management a science of adaptation? 5. How can progress be measured in community government? 6. What makes strategy rational? 7. What business is community government in? 8. What indicators should be used to measure the success of

community government?


Topic 1: Strategic Thinking Takes Two Forms A compass pointing North, no matter what the weather outside or inside is, is an example of a strategic management tool. With a compass a leader can pay attention to direction because he or she knows how to find “true North”. A journey on the land is managed strategically when information provided by a compass is used to make corrections that keep everyone on course. Travel is made easier by this tool. The compass provides information; the compass user possesses knowledge and a goal that allow him to use the information productively. Notice that information and knowledge are separate concepts. Strategic planning requires both information and knowledge. Strategic management requires both knowing how to use information and knowing that something is informative in the first place. Cultural values play an important role in determining what counts as informative in a community that shares a way of life. This topic is discussed further in the course titled: Community and Cultural Values, Ethics and Diversity. A strategic management system for Northern community government will incorporate procedures for developing knowledge and for acquiring information that reflect a local way of life. Strategic managers continuously learn about the community they serve. Goals are tools Goals can be thought of as tools that help us do what information from a compass allows us to do. Goals indicate a fixed direction so that corrections are easy to make in order to continue towards achieving a goal. When people are confused by signals from their surroundings they get lost and may react with fear, anger, and desperation or resignation. A compass would be useful. Confusing and contradictory signals from an organizational environment have the same effect. Goals will be useful. Individual and collective wellness is compromised when people have no way of knowing which way they are headed or what they should do. This can happen when goals are vague, too general or incomplete- as well as when they are absent entirely. Individuals,


groups, communities and governments need direction expressed in the form of clear operational goals. In this topic we explore two ways to think about strategic goals. Deductive: top down The connection between strategic thinking and rational thinking is a classic subject for debates.4 In the philosophy of planning a rational deductive model has been assumed in most management theory until relatively recently.5 This model assumed that plans reflected agreement about goals and values so that logical steps for developing policies, programs, and actions would follow a cause and effect pattern without argument. By starting at the “top”, the elements of a plan would simply be “unpacked” from goals. From this perspective goals imply the plans needed to achieve them. Strategic planning equates to rational planning given these assumptions. Rational planning is simple, direct, and necessary. Deduction, logical operations, and stepwise analysis using scientific methods of observation make up the elements of rational strategic planning. Planning becomes an exercise in engineering. People invested in this model and its assumptions have great difficulty in fathoming how anyone can disagree with the plans produced by using the model. To use the compass analogy again, there would be agreement about how to use the information provided by the compass in a group of rational planners. Arguments about direction would be avoided because everyone was headed for the same place. Arguments about knowledge would be avoided because everyone knows how to use a compass. These assumptions may not hold in Northern communities when goals are not universally supported and different forms of knowing are in use. 6 Rational planning takes the form of hypothetical necessity: “If our goal is baking a cake, then certain ingredients and a recipe to

4 See Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer Adler and Reconstruction in Philosophy by John Dewey to find summaries of positions related to this debate. 5 Pps. 66-70, Bryson 6 Pps. 186-191, Development of Aboriginal People’s Communities, Peter Elias, l991.


follow will be necessary”. Anything less would be an unplanned and unreasonable approach to cake making. The risk of failure would be great. Anyone accepting the goal would have to agree to the requirements for achieving it. By substituting housing, band programs, municipal services, and financial management for “cake” in this example, community government goals can be put into a form that stimulates rational planning. In the rational deductive model, the ideas that follow “then” (the consequent) in an “if…then” statement will be necessary for success. Statements of this form are called hypothetical statements. Agreement may be easier to obtain about the items that come after “then” (the consequent) that it may be for the items that follow “if” (the antecedent). From this perspective someone has quipped that “if” is the biggest word in the dictionary. Using hypotheses to think about the world is a universal and transcultural planning activity. In the exercise called “reinventing government” in the United States that began in 1996, the debate rages about what government should do more than about how to do things once the “if” portion of the hypothetical statement is filled in. In Canada questions about the role of government are raised at the annual budget debate, particularly when discretion can be applied to surpluses that exceed interest payments on the national debt, as was the case in 2000. A rational planning process following a top down deductive model would typically go through these steps: 1. Set goals by consensus or mandate: example “Provide social

housing”, “improve public health care services”. 2. Develop policies that serve goals: example: “People with

incomes below $--. will receive financial assistance for housing”, “the first 25% of any budget surplus will go to the health care system”.

3. Design programs: example: “a housing assistance program with x components and y resources”, “health care provision


that will include mammograms for any women requesting them”.

4. Detail Actions: example: “Band managers will appoint program

managers and administer program budgets”, “Hospital administrators will ask for tenders on mammography equipment before December 31”.

A deductive rational plan moves from the general to the specific, from the conceptual to the material and physical. The strategic plan produces the operational plan in step four. Rational planning as a deductive process has not changed since the original discussions by Aristotle 2400 years ago. Rational planning has a lot to do with “common sense”. The fact that rational planning is nonetheless all too rare has lead to the observation that rational planning is a form of “uncommon common sense”. Inductive: bottom up A contrasting inductive approach looks at what managers, especially successful ones, actually do whether or not practice follows deductive and rational logic. This approach stresses empirical observation over deductive logic. The search here is for empirical evidence of recurring patterns in management that can be summarized into guidelines. Generalizations based on what actually produces strategic plans, rather than on what would produce them if a rational model were followed, result from making many observations. Generalization of this kind is common both to western science and traditional knowledge systems.7 The findings strongly suggest that strategic plans come from political decision-making processes as well as from rational planning processes. A concept of “political rationality” needs introduction to explain how strategic planning actually works. John Bryson puts the matter this way: 7 See Wisdom of the Elders, by David Suzuki and P. Knudtson, New York, Bantam Books, l994.


“But now let us examine a fundamental assumption of the rational planning model – that in the fragmented, shared-power setting that characterize many public and nonprofit organizations and communities, there will be a consensus on goals, policies, programs and actions necessary to achieve organizational aims. The assumption just does not hold. Only in fairly centralized, authoritarian, and quasi-military bureaucracies will the assumption hold-maybe.” (P.67 Bryson) In his account of political decision-making, Bryson offers an issue- based model of strategic planning that assumes the key decision makers in government and non-profit organizations will be political decision makers. Conflict, not consensus, is assumed to be the foundation for strategic planning. Issues, not shared goals, motivate planning. Political rationality emerges as what is acceptable to interest groups and political stakeholders. Policies and programs are re-framed as essentially treaties between stakeholder groups with competing interests. A reasonable level of agreement, if not consensus, is the goal of policy and program design. Policies and programs must be politically acceptable in order to be rational. Being reasonable means being politically correct- but ready to change. Strategic planning equates to political decision-making using this model and its assumptions. Planning is inductive, combining complex interactions between issues to develop policies rather than simpler cause and affect relationships based in the hypothetical logic of necessity discussed above. The goal of strategic planning for government is political stability in the face of issues. Possibilities and probabilities, rather than logical necessities, play a big role in strategic planning for government. A political planning process following a bottom up inductive model would typically go through these steps: 1. Issue area is defined. Example: Lack of employment in some

communities, unacceptable rates of family violence in some communities.


Issues interact and overlap to create issue areas. Housing issues and poverty issues overlap, health issues and income security issues overlap. Issues can be framed as unmet needs expressed as demands in many cases. In fact, issues can go “unnoticed” until they produce demands. The labels given to issues may conceal more than they reveal about underlying needs. Definition seeks to uncover what several issues share. Defining issues is an important task for strategic planners. The course titled Band programs: planning and implementation will study issues, labels, and needs assessments in detail. 2. Policies and programs are developed. Example: Northern skills

development program, Pathways boards are formed to administer federal training dollars using local community boards.

Strategic initiatives are developed to respond to identify issue areas. These programs satisfy the stakeholders in the issue areas being addressed. The programs and policies are designed to address several issues simultaneously. 3. More general policies. Example: Community wellness policy,

federal jobs strategy. As programs are developed with their own policies, more general policies are developed to capture the politically acceptable goals of specific policies and programs. 4. Most general policies. Example: DIAND social development

policy, ECE employment training policy. General policies are organized as the outcomes of the business of government. The justification of steps three, two, and one can now is portrayed as deductive outcomes of the most general policies identified in step four given the issue areas being addressed.


Not only are strategic plans politically acceptable, they can also be demonstrations of planning in action. They can be defended as the logical outcome of a top down approach to planning by using hindsight. A plan that was created by following the inductive model can be portrayed deductively as well. Political decision- making and the satisfaction of competing stakeholder interests are usually not a visible part of general policies. The most general level of policy describes ideals and values that everyone can agree to. Combining the models: strategic management Good plans make sense from both a bottom up and a top down approach to planning. Strategic management is here to stay to the extent that both deductive and inductive planning approaches have value and are used in strategic management. The two approaches can be used in a complementary fashion and are not mutually exclusive. Strategic management seeks to combine the best of both approaches by stressing the assumptions that are made by each approach in the work of agreeing on a strategic planning process. One can observe that not all inductive generalization requires political decision, and not all deductive planning is free of political considerations. No matter what order the planning process follows, the result will be tested by both political and rational criteria. Leadership should be prepared to discuss proposed plans from both points of view. Community leaders will provide valuable service by keeping this in mind. Good strategic plans have to pass the tests of both rationality and political acceptability but not necessarily in that order. The basic premise for this unit, that goals come before strategy, forms the basis for strategic management. Use the following learning activities to explore how community government positions can manage a planning process that combines political and rational decision making to identify strategic goals.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Ask the class to study the steps of rational planning by reviewing the example of hypothetical necessity given in the commentary, “If our goal is baking a cake, then certain ingredients and a recipe to follow will be necessary”. Anything less would be an unplanned approach to cake making. Anyone accepting the goal would have to agree to the requirements for achieving it. By substituting housing, band programs, municipal services, and financial management for “cake” in this example, community government goals can be put into a form that stimulates rational planning. Make these substitutions and others selected by the class and ask focus groups to “unpack”, using deductive methods of analysis, what will be necessary to achieve the goals of community government. Conclude the exercise by discussing the political decisions that will influence how this rational analysis plays out in reality. What model of political rationality can be developed to suit the situation faced by managers in Northern communities? Activity Two (Teleconference based) Planning within a political decision-making model combines inductive observation with goals set by policies at very general levels. Organize a case study conference around Northern examples of strategic planning that amounts to “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. For example, a program at Aurora College to train expediters for jobs in the tourism and mining sectors has developed a detailed admissions policy and screening procedure for applicants. A demand to admit a student who failed to satisfy the admissions standards is made by an influential political figure in a Northern


community. The college, after initial protest, admits the student. The college made a strategic decision in this case. Discuss the strategic nature of actions that bypass policy and procedure on the part of community government. How is political stability served by these actions? How is political stability harmed by these actions? How is the mission of community government helped or harmed by these actions? What can a strategic plan do to anticipate the issues that result in largely unplanned responses to needs in communities? Identify the issues and ask members of the conference to suggest strategic management guidelines for community government. Activity Three (Independent study) Develop a rational plan for achieving a goal that is mandated for community government. Think about the goal independently of the positions that are responsible for achieving it. Think about the plan independently of political forces. See how far a strictly deductive rational approach can take you. Imagine that a program is needed for a function of community government, for example municipal services, or band elections. Use Northern examples throughout. Organize a plan by following the steps of a deductive model: 1. Set goals by consensus or mandate

2. Develop policies that serve goals 3. Design programs 4. Detail Actions Discuss the adequacy of the plan. Conclude with reasons that explain why the proposed plan would or would not work in a Northern community of your choice. Activity Four (Your proposal)


Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives examples of rational planning (deductive). 2. Gives examples of political planning (inductive). 3. Shows how goals are tools for community government. 4. Demonstrates an understanding of hypothetical necessity in

“if…then” statements. 5. Gives examples of strategic management in community

government by combining inductive and deductive planning outcomes.


Topic 2: The Business Community Government is In Management expert Peter Drucker is often quoted for his advice to “know what business you are in”. Strategic planning begins with the answer to this question. Ideally, order and good government based on principles of justice and human rights are expected from the government of the day through the provision of services and products. Government can be challenged to define “the business it is in”. To the extent that community government has an interest in achieving ideal government in addition to fulfilling existing mandates, strategic issues for government are fundamental policy issues. The inductive approach to planning discussed earlier can be used to develop strategic plans for community government. A series of strategic questions can help guide the planning process: • What services should community government provide? • Who should receive these services? • How should these services be provided? • At what cost should these services be provided? • How should these services be financed and managed? Government is intended to meet the needs of the public and maintain order by answering these questions in a way that is both rational and politically acceptable. Government can be seen as “the art of the possible”. In many Northern communities, the needs of the public are linked to the history culture and issues of Northern First People. SAO’s, Hamlet Foreman, and other positions established for community government, can be studied as the outcome of a social contract that is designed to serve these Northern communities.


The foundations of government in general will be reviewed in this topic to support learning activities that deal with defining the strategic purpose of Northern community government in particular. Government as a social contract The idea of a bargain between people who form a government in order to live together under conditions of fairness and mutual aid is a useful tool for re-inventing government and exploring what governance can mean. Social organization can be imagined as the outcome of an exchange between individuals and the group or society that they want to be part of. Membership in a civil society can be understood as a stick and carrot proposition. The “stick” represents the harms, risks, and deficiencies that are likely without social organization. As political philosopher Thomas Hobbes put it in the 17th century, “life will be nasty brutish and short” without a civil government. The “carrot” represents the potential advantages that agreeing to form a civil society can bring about. Commerce, economic specialization, health and welfare, education and recreation, all become attractive outcomes of a community willing to govern itself with laws. Northern First Nations have a history of social organization that was not always recognized by newcomers who incorrectly believed that Northern indigenous people lived in a “state of nature” governed by “primitive” customs. In actual fact Northern communities have never existed without laws and social organization based on rules of conduct and understandings about social cooperation and community life. Furthermore, First Nations did not think of themselves as apart from the natural world. The concept of “land” is bigger than the western concept of “Nature”. The understanding First People have of their environment is explored further in the course titled: Law, Land Claims, & Self Government. Today we can see that government is not an option, the only question is what form government should take compared to the form that it has taken. Community governments will be outcomes of positions that reflect the forms a social contract can take.


Rights, duties and consent When a government is formed, individuals agree to assume duties and relinquish the right to do whatever they want in exchange for rights and the opportunity to enjoy a share in collective wealth. Rights impose duties, and duties allow rights to be exercised. These topics are explored further in the course titled: Aboriginal Commercial Law. Governments do not actually form this way, but the possibility of designing a government that satisfies our desires for freedom, rights, justice, and prosperity is always available to help us examine the gap between an ideal government and the one in power. An important example of this examination in action can be found on June 23, 1990 when Elijah Harper defeated the Meech lake accord, thus preventing constitutional changes that would have limited the rights of Aboriginal people in Canada.8 The democratic basis for authority exercised by government, if government is legitimate, comes from the consent of the governed. Thought experiments about an ideal government are useful when legitimacy is based on the consent of the governed. People who know that their consent is important will put more value on participating in the design of government. Strategic questions about the purpose of government fit in with democratic ideals about self-determination. Community government staff is in a position to help invent government by asking strategic questions in Northern communities that relate to social contract issues. Participation in government at the community level will be increased when managers plan strategically to incorporate the ideals of government in their planning process. Community support for government is one test of its legitimacy. The preservation of basic human rights is another. Political systems must balance human rights with majority rule to avoid unfairness to minorities. Unfairness to minorities is unacceptable when the ethical principles of human dignity and the equal consideration of people are adopted. Neither of these is self-

8 P.35, Development of Aboriginal People’s Communities, Peter Elias.


evident, both result from human choice and commitment. Strategic management for Northern community government will require a definition of the purpose of government that is consistent with human rights, especially minority rights, and the expectations of the majority of people: the “consumers” of government. These topics are discussed in greater detail in the course titled, Community and Cultural Values, Ethics and Diversity.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Community government is driven by mandates. Mandates are “commanded actions” or instructions that define duties and responsibilities. Each position in community government has a profile of responsibilities that defines what the position is designed to accomplish. Strategic planning needs goals that go beyond mandates if change and adaptation to the future are going to produce desirable outcomes. A mandate for child protection services, sewer and water service provision, elections etc. only defines what is necessary to maintain a status quo- a current reality. Unlike missions, mandates are the “bottom lines” that indicate what must be done as opposed to what may be done. Mandates are found in statutory legislation, job descriptions, and constitutions. The sources of mandates for community government positions will be the focus in this activity. Answer the following questions by organizing research teams in the class. What is the mandate for the position (SAO, Band Manager, etc.)? • Note duties required

• Major purpose of the position

• Source of the mandate (legislative, authorization)

Identify one strategic goal for each position that exceeds the mandate for the position but which is in line with the major purpose of the position. • Example: Hamlet Foreman is required (mandated) to “Ensure

community buildings are inspected regularly and maintained in good working order”.


• Possible Strategic goal: Use inspection information to evaluate cost savings that may be a result of updating heating, electrical, and insulation systems.

Activity Two (Teleconference based) Mandates are sometimes criticized for promoting a “not my department” attitude in community government positions because they seem to suggest minimum position requirements as being the only requirements. When mandates are interpreted to mean, “only do the following” as opposed to “at least do the following”, community government can fail in its overall mission of service to the public. Community government can be reduced to achieving minimums that preserve the status quo. The line between teamwork and “passing the buck” becomes important when mandates are strategically interpreted. Organize a conference to explore experiences with “passing the buck”, and “not my responsibility”. How can a mandate be strategically interpreted in a proactive fashion so that “dumping” and “passing the buck” are avoided? • Each participant prepares an example of a community

government position that either failed to provide service as a consequence of a minimum interpretation of a mandate, or that succeeded by realizing a strategic goal for the position that exceeded a mandate.

• Summarize the presentations of these examples with a

discussion of the risks and opportunities of strategic management applied to interpreting mandates.

Activity Three (Independent study) Write a brief position paper outlining the primary goals for a community government in the North. Think about the social contract basis for government and the ideal form community government should take. Answer the following questions by combining your ideals with information about the community you have chosen.


1. What services should community government provide? 2. Who should receive these services? 3. How should these services be provided? 4. At what cost should these services be provided? 5. How should these services be financed and managed? OR Write a position paper on the role of community government in a Northern community of your choice. Use the ideas in the commentary for this topic to address the goals government should set for itself given the values, culture, history, and direction your community wants its leadership to know and consider in management decisions. Discuss the appropriate and inappropriate aspects of community government as a “business” in your paper. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives examples of mandates for community government with

documented sources 2. Demonstrates an understanding of the social contract

approach for “inventing government” 3. Gives examples of strategic goals for community government

positions that exceed mandates 4. Uses ideals for government to evaluate current practices


Topic 3: Strategic Goals for Community Government Community government will benefit from strategic goals that identify how government should deliver services. Key decision makers and stakeholders can meet to develop strategic goals by first identifying critical issues. An issue- based approach to government can be used to assess the importance of goals set by government in response to issues identified by the public. We can ask if the goals of government are also the goals of the governed. Timely, appropriate goals are needed to begin to design a strategic management system. Strategic goals are important to an organization’s mission. In this topic think about how strategic issues can produce goals for community government. Issues always have local meaning The local control of programs will be more efficient when programs are governed by policies that address the critical issues in a community. Strategic goals are built around issues in a political planning model. How issues are framed is an important part of strategic management. Several questions can help identify issues before selections are made for planning purposes. A rough classification into three kinds of issues can help prepare for a series of questions that refine our understanding of strategic issues. Issues may require different treatment if they require immediate treatment, no immediate action, or treatment as part of government’s ongoing service delivery. Use these three categories as well as the questions that follow to identify strategic issues. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that community government is already in progress- issues, responses, policies, and programs form a background for strategic management’s task.


Begin with questions A strategic planning team will start with a list of issues and concerns. This is a useful place to start whether or not a mission statement for community government already exists. Strategic planning can begin from this basis. After a list of unsorted issues is generated, use the follow questions to guide discussion and decision about which issues to address. 1. What is the issue?

What unmet needs are involved? How is the issue being labeled?

2. Why is it an issue for community government?

Is it about mandate? Is it about a conflict or dilemma?

3. Is it about SWOTS (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)?

4. Who says it is an issue? 5. Who is reporting the issue 6. Whose interests are not being served? 7. What is the history of the issue? 8. What are the consequences if nothing is done about this

issue? 9. Can community government do anything about this issue? 10. Can the issues before us be combined? 11. Can the issues before us be simplified into several separate

issues? These questions help to focus on issues rather than on solutions and plans. Asking good questions is an investment in planning a strategy. It is important to allow time simply to identify issues without leaping to ideas for addressing them. Fundamental policy


questions may need to be faced in a strategic management system, and these questions will prepare community government to formulate or change policies that manage issues. Allowing time for issue identification is a step towards potential change in the ways things are done. Strategic goals are a response to strategic issues. This parallel relationship that pairs goals to issues and begins with issues but ends with goals, is a basic planning activity that all community government staff should be encouraged to participate in.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Choose three Northern communities and research the issues that should concern a strategic planning team responsible for developing a strategic plan for local government. Gather information about unmet needs, issues in the news, stakeholders that are pressing demands, and issues that are likely to appear in the near future given trends in Northern society. Use the guiding questions and rough classification scheme introduced in this topic to process the issues into a priority list with labels and descriptions of the issues that hold the greatest promise for planners to address by proposing goals. Conclude with a discussion on the importance of identifying issues carefully and with guiding questions to balance competing political agendas. Structure the result of the discussion in a brief memo to the three communities recommending goals in response to issues that were identified. Activity Two (Teleconference based) What Northern issues should be the focus for strategic planning in community government? Ask conference participants to bring a list to the conference and explain what the top three issues are from their point of view. Use accurate information gathered entirely from Northern communities. Strategic goals are a response to strategic issues. Exchange issues in the group and discuss goals that can be formulated by community government in order to address the issues of greatest importance. Conclude with a check out exercise that allows each participant to summarize what he or she learned about strategic goals and issues in Northern communities.


Activity Three (Independent study) A well-formulated issue can lead to a goal statement that addresses it. The more accurately the issue is framed, and the more overlap with other issues is understood, the easier it will be to plan how it should be responded to by community government. Planners can begin with issues, and after studying them, develop goal statements. Choose three Northern issues that are important to you as a community leader. Choose issues that you believe community government can do something about. Discuss the issues using the guiding questions provided for this topic and write a goal statement that you would be prepared to suggest for consideration in the strategic plan for community government this year. You may want to refer to Unit Three in Leadership for Community Managers for a discussion on writing clear goal statements. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Strategic issues are identified accurately in selected Northern

communities. 2. Goal statements are produced to address strategic issues. 3. Guiding questions are used accurately to refine and reframe

issues. 4. Strategic planning is illustrated with goal statements.


Unit Summary Strategic management begins with goals and ends with strategy. Community government is in the business of serving communities by offering mandated services. This unit introduces the components of strategic planning by reviewing the roles that goals play in guiding effort, uniting people, responding to issues in Northern communities, and defining what government is doing. Goals and common sense allow community government staff to participate in evaluating the effectiveness of community government services. The understanding of government as a social contract based on the consent of the governed is introduced to emphasize the importance of ideals in strategic planning within government. Ideals about government allow us to compare the government of the day with our expectations. This work of comparison allows any perspective on government to receive consideration as a possibility. Because Northern society is complex and includes many perspectives towards government, this work of comparison is strategically important. Goal setting for government can follow a deductive and an inductive route. The rational characteristics of a deductive plan can be contrasted with the political characteristics of an inductive approach to planning. The art of the possible and the political decisions that government planners must make allow us to understand policies and programs as “treaties” between competing interests. In this course an integrated planning model, one that takes the best of rational and political decision making, is used to introduce strategic management. Strategic management is a response to strategic goals that in turn are produced by an assessment of strategic issues in Northern communities. Issues can be framed in several ways using guiding questions that help identify both their rational and political characteristics. Goal statements are the product of strategic planning and point the way


to actions that will unite community government staff in a strategic management system.


Unit Two: Systems Thinking: Developing a Strategic Management System Unit Overview Systems’ thinking is recommended for leadership. Once goals are identified and their justifications are understood, the work of planning a management system can begin. Systems’ thinking begins with a discussion of knowledge, information, feedback, and value. A strategic management system serves to combine leadership’s purpose with management’s responsibilities. In this unit the principles of functional equivalence, interdependence, and synergy are explored to develop the elements of a strategic management system. People, relationships, performance, and communication will be linked in a series of steps and tasks that managers can perform in order to develop a strategic management system. Systems thinking can help First Nations administrators and other managers develop a strategic management approach to community government. Once goals are identified and their justifications are understood, the work of planning a management system can begin. Wayne Gretzky has explained his success by saying, “I skate to where the puck is”. Goals and their justification in community government can be compared to the rules of a game people agree to play. The premise of this unit is that the game of strategic management should incorporate the principles that make open systems possible. Once people agree to the business they are in, the services they must provide, and the issues that deserve focus - cooperation and teamwork aimed at victory are possible. While there are important differences between the game of hockey and the game of government, most would agree the stakes are higher in government, the similarities can stimulate thought about strategic management principles.


The game is the environment for making decisions. Political decision making as well as rational deductive planning make up the game of governing. The puck can be compared to the strategic issue of the moment- with its potential for problems and opportunities, success and failure. Knowing what business you are in can be compared to knowing what game you are in. It becomes strategically important to understand the “rules of the game”. Systems’ thinking allows us to remain open to the relationships, roles, and rules in the game that determine where opportunities will be. Each Northern community can be described as a system with its own rules, roles, and relationships. Systems’ thinking allows us to be in the game as well as think about the game. We need to orient government to the strategic places where the action is while not losing sight of government’s purpose. This can be done by a combination of open system design, and environmental scanning tools. Both are introduced in this unit. Together they provide the elements of a strategic management system. A strategic management system will combine leadership’s purpose with management’s responsibilities. A discussion of the connections between leadership and management can be found in Unit Two of Leadership for Community Managers . We begin with the principles of functional equivalence, interdependence, synergy and second order learning to develop the elements of an open and strategic management system. Information gathering through environmental scanning and analysis will supply the basis for planning in a strategically managed system. People, and relationships, information and knowledge, will be coordinated in a team approach to community government. Open systems incorporate the following principles into their design:


Functional equivalence Two offices, positions, or people can be compared to determine if they are equivalent in terms of output, purpose, or competence. Two parts of a system that perform the same function can be interchanged without changing the output of the system. One part can do the work of the other if necessary. Systems can be usefully compared to organisms that are healthy and adapt well to change by learning how to exploit functional equivalence. When two roles achieve the same outcomes in a community government team, a case can be made for sharing a function, rotating people in it, or eliminating a position that is redundant. However, as in a human body, if one kidney fails the other can take over easily and the output of the system is unchanged. Equivalence is not the same as wasteful redundancy. Designing functional equivalence is not opposed to strategic “downsizing”. Functional equivalence can be a form of insurance that allows a system to maintain itself when threatened. Flexibility through interchange is a form of capital from this point of view. Managers need to think strategically about the opportunities that functional equivalence makes possible as well as the inefficiency that may be incurred as a cost for flexibility. Strategic management should adopt a careful consideration of building shared competencies into a system so that change does not destroy output and people learn from each other. This topic is explored further in Unit Four. In a community government team, adaptation to change can be improved when people can learn from each other, and “stand in” for each other, because they know how to perform one another’s function. This principle is opposed to specialization, where only x can do job y. Consider a remark by science fiction writer and futurist Robert Heinlein: “specialization is for insects”. Where specialization is justified, and no functional equivalence is possible, an organization has an increased strategic responsibility to support the area of specialization and search for functional equivalence.


Interdependence Stephen Covey makes the case that, “interdependence is a higher value”. In a system all parts are important to the health and productivity of the whole because they depend on each other. Cooperation is not a choice; it is a necessity for complex tasks, such as community government. Rules and roles prescribe and limit what individuals may do in community government. Power and authority are delegated differently to different positions so that a strategic plan can be followed. Interdependence is both a fact about how successful organizations work, and a value about how organizations should plan for their own future. Interdependence can easily be illustrated by noticing what happens to an entire government office when the lights don’t work and computers quit. All outputs of a system are the end results of a chain of critical contributions made by many people in many roles. All are important for success and must be recognized as important. In topic one below, the features of healthy and open systems include communication practices that make interdependence a topic for recognition and reinforcement. Synergy Synergy is a classical Greek term meaning literally, “Work done together”. Covey and others use the term to focus on the added value of cooperation in teams. Two plus two = five in a synergistic environment. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This is a part of successful strategic planning. Synergy is a win-win outcome for stakeholders, everyone comes out ahead. Outcomes of successful plans, for example plans that produce goals that address strategic issues, will have benefits that always exceed the targeted goal. Government staff will gain self-esteem, communities will learn how to work with government to address issues, and the complex nature of issues will be better understood when strategic goals are worked on by combining many efforts.


Second order learning First order learning is learning about roles, rules, and issues within a system. Second order learning steps back from a system in order to evaluate it. Learning how to complete a housing repair report is a first order skill, learning how to design effective reports that strategically respond to housing issues and opportunities is a second order skill. Leaders are second order learners because they have an interest in overall direction and strategic planning for the future. Institutions are transformed when second order learning results in changes to how government is delivered. The topics that follow will explore the features of strategic management that allow change to be a normal part of doing business. Use the advantages of open systems to guide your work as a Northern community leader.


Unit Objectives Knowledge Objectives 1. The participant will understand the principles that govern open

systems. 2. The participant will understand the process of institutional

transformation. 3. The participant will understand the importance of recognizing

opportunities in the planning environment. 4. The participant will understand the difference between

providing a service and producing a service. 5. The participant will identify the elements of an open system. 6. The participant will understand synergy, interdependence,

functional equivalence, and second order learning. Skills Objectives 1. The participant will be able to identify SWOTs (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, threats), and PESTS (political, economic, social, and technological forces).

2. The participant will be able to conduct a simple internal and

external environmental scan. 3. The participant will be able to identify a strategic issue. Values Objectives 1. The participant will respect the potential for a small change to

transform a system.


2. The participant will appreciate the freedom given to individuals in an open system


Unit Discussion Questions 1. What enables community government to adapt to change? 2. How can First Nations administrators determine what they

need to know about the environment? 3. What are the most important issues facing community

government? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of thinking of

Northern community government as a “game”? 5. What is synergy good for? 6. How can small changes add up to big problems and big

opportunities? 7. How can interdependence as a fact of life support

relationships based on cooperation rather than competition? 8. What is the value of second order learning for First Nations

administrators?


Topic 1: Designing an Open System for Community Government A strategic system of management will be a self examining and self maintaining system, capable of experimenting and learning through a continuous scanning of opportunities and issues in the community government environment. This is what hunters, homemakers, and hockey players do, and this is what successful organizations do. An ideal bureaucracy Government bureaucracy describes the collection of people who hold offices with delegated power and authority. Community government staffs are part of a bureaucracy. Earlier we discussed the conditions of legitimacy for government and the business of government. In this topic the principles of an open system are introduced to define an approach to strategic management that is consistent with the goals of legitimate government and the bureaucracy that provides service. If an example of an ideal bureaucracy based on open system principles could be found, we could reverse engineer it. Ideal government does not exist, but if it did we could find an example, we could take it apart and see how to put it back together again. We could then copy a successful system and reproduce it. Community government, however, is more a result of fixing a leaky boat while at sea than the result of constructing a new vessel from scratch. Community government can be described as a system of connections between roles, functions, and standards that come with a history. They are in use even as they examine themselves. We cannot stop the world in order to invent community government. Successful systems do have some features in common that can guide strategic management. The following principles of open system design are found in many successful public service


organizations. These principles can be applied to Northern community government. Open systems An operating system, for example community government, has a purpose. A purpose can be expressed in goals or summarized in a mission statement. An open operating system is the opposite of a closed one. The study of systems has shown that open systems have a greater chance of survival and achieving goals through teamwork because they are able to adapt to change by learning and developing rather than by resisting and avoiding. Open systems of government are made of people and their roles and relationships under a set of rules and goals that include the freedom to comment on anything that influences the system. This is an important reason for calling such systems “open”. An open system of community government will have the following characteristics: • Self esteem is high

Band managers, housing managers, etc. will value what they are doing and feel confident in their ability to fulfill responsibilities and exceed mandates. Opinions are respected and opportunities for self-improvement are encouraged. Being well liked will not be confused with being respected. • Communication is direct, clear, and specific Community government staff will be able to level with each other and themselves by telling the truth, expressing judgments, and acting is ways that are congruent with what is said. Instructions and expectations are never vague, left unsaid, or “dumped” on people.


• Rules and roles are clear and ethical Community government staff will know what they are responsible for and have full freedom to comment on anything that affects their performance in a role. Rules can be changed when they are not up to date, and roles can be re-designed to continue to meet overall purpose. No roles are assigned, or rules established that violate ethical standards of fairness, reciprocity, and universality.9

• Outcomes or products of community government are planned

responses to issues. Planning is the source of decisions about what needs doing in an open system. All issues are identified strategically: as important, timely, and accessible for action. In an open system plans generate goals and people in the system will have a stake and participate fully in producing outcomes.

9 See the course titled Community and Cultural Values, Ethics, and Diversity for a discussion of ethical standards.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Describe the operating system of community government, as it exists today in two Northern communities. Choose communities that are very different from each other. For example contrast Rae-Edzo with Fort Macpherson, or Fort Smith with Fort Liard. Build a case study file to support an analysis of the degree to which these two communities practice open system design in the delivery of their government services. Build the file by: Preparing a profile of the community including demographics, history, economic activity, cultural and social make up, and goals for the future.

• Preparing an organizational chart of each community

government • Identifying the functions of each position in the chart • Identifying the outputs of each function • Identifying performance standards for each function Conduct an audit of this system to determine how open it is by answering the following questions: • How is the purpose of each function related to the purpose of

community government?

• Are the rules clear for each function? (Do people know how to perform their function by a clear set of rules?)

• Are roles clear for each position? (Do some roles perform

several functions?) • Are some positions functionally equivalent? (Can some

functions be performed by more than one position?)


• Is the same output produced by more than one function? • How does the system learn about its environment? • How does the system change what it does? Review the principles of open system design and conclude with an assessment and recommendations on how the two community government systems could be made more open. Organize the recommendations into suggestions for improving synergy, interdependence, functional equivalence, and second order learning. Activity Two (Teleconference based) What would an ideal bureaucracy look like? Ask participants to prepare a response to this question based on their perspective on community government. Use the commentary for this topic to frame questions that are closely connected to this one in preparing responses. Use experience in Northern communities to illustrate the problems and opportunities that government by means of a bureaucracy presents. Related Questions • Is community government possible without bureaucracy? Are

there any examples in the North?

• Are there examples of bureaucracy that you would like to reverse engineer?

• How can a bureaucracy be designed as an open system? Is

this possible? Conclude the conference by focussing on the following strategies for making bureaucracy more open in Northern communities: • Exploiting functional equivalence

• Eliminating redundancy


• Strategic rotation and sharing jobs • Downsizing • Strategic planning with participation by all staff • Other Activity Three (Independent study) If one wants to grow mushrooms then, “Feed them manure and keep them in the dark” is useful advice. This advice can also be a facetious description of a “management” approach that aims at control and opposes the principles of dignity and the equal consideration of people. Write a 3 to 5 page paper designing a closed system of community government. Imagine or observe a closed system in the North. Begin by describing the values and principles that a closed system would require. Comment on purpose, roles, rules, and communication in the community government that would be an example of a closed system. What would happen to synergy, functional equivalence, interdependence, and second order learning in a closed system? Conclude by taking a position on the desirability of this system from your perspective on what community government should be. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Principles of open systems are clearly understood and

illustrated with Northern examples. 2. The variety of community governments that can still share the

properties of an open system is illustrated with Northern examples.

3. Examples are given of synergy, functional equivalence,

interdependence, and second order learning.


Topic 2: Stakeholder Analysis and Community Government Mission Stakeholders include any individuals or groups who are affected by the outcomes of a program. The term “stakeholder” was coined to contrast with “shareholder” as an equity owner in a corporation.10 If someone’s needs or wants are affected by a program or policy, then they are stakeholders- even if they are unaware of this fact and even if they had no participation in what is affecting their lives. It has been noted regarding stakeholders that, “the more you look the more you see.” Northern Community government has a variety of stakeholder groups. Each Northern community may have a different list to consider. Each group on the list will have subdivisions and features that have strategic importance. A partial list of stakeholders with examples of subdivisions in community government might include: • Citizens

Old - young, male - female, employed - unemployed, Aboriginal - Non-Aboriginal

• Future generations

Unborn children, immigrants of the future, the professions of the future

• Interest groups

Parents, people with aids, animal rights groups, trapping organizations, conservationists, hunters

• Political parties and organizations

Land claims organizations, liberals, conservatives, Metis associations, GNWT, Nunavut

10 See Covey’s use of the term “stakeholder” in Principle Centered Leadership, l994


• Government employees Full time, casual, contract,

• Other levels of government

Federal, territorial, provincial, International, • Unions

Industrial, trades, public employees, professional • Suppliers of goods and service

Corporations, private contractors, public contractors, local-distant

• Businesses

Partnerships, training, taxable, non-taxable, corporations, resource industry, tourism

• Other…

Those whom community government employees must answer, and whom community government employees may seek direction and resources- are stakeholders for planning purposes. Each stakeholder may be potentially or actually in competition with the others for government’s attention, resources and services. A coalition between stakeholders may be needed in order for government to produce goals.

Stakeholder subdivisions matter Each community government will have its own list of stakeholders to consider. The subdivisions are important. At different times and places, it may be strategically important to pay attention not just to citizens, but also to citizens with disabilities, citizens who are Dene, citizens who need education and training. It may be strategically important not only to scan other levels of government, but also to pay particular attention to the federal government when a decision on aboriginal rights is made in the courts. The routine scanning recommended in Unit three will require decisions on the part of senior managers regarding what stakeholder subdivisions to put in the foreground of their attention.


Community government managers will benefit from looking at government through the eyes of each stakeholder. Ethical management seeks balance and fairness to all those who are affected by management decisions. This topic is explored further in the courses titled Leadership for Community Managers and Community and Cultural Values, Ethics and Diversity. From a strategic management perspective, the analysis of stakeholders in order to plan strategically will involve answering the following questions: • What criteria do each stakeholder, to evaluate how well

community government is performing, use? (Use surveys, interviews, group discussions)

• How well is community government meeting the criteria set

by each group? (Discuss strengths and weaknesses, overlaps, gaps, opportunities and threats, contradictions between criteria).

A stakeholder analysis will make a review of the mission of community government more accurate and strategically useful because the expectations and functions of community government will be clarified. Government will not invent itself from scratch; it will design itself based on coalitions between stakeholders and a mission that is politically and rationally supported. Stakeholder analysis, although a somewhat awkward term, refers to a central management task.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Northern community governments serve complex and diverse communities. No two are alike and each will have a unique list of stakeholders in government that influence strategic planning. Community government mandates to provide housing, band programs, municipal services, etc. will be evaluated by different criteria when the viewpoint of particular stakeholders is adopted. Use this activity to study some implications of this diversity for strategic planning and management on the part of community government. Choose three mandated services provided by community government in three different Northern communities. For each community, identify the most important stakeholders and their criteria for government in the mandated service area. For example, if the choice is social housing, consider how tenants, building inspectors, citizens on a waiting list, and construction contractors will each evaluate how well the housing program is being administered. Divide the class into three teams for this project. Ask each team to report on any gaps, contradictions, overlaps, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that can be detected by a comparison of the stakeholder criteria being applied to government. Conclude with a proposal for the criteria that should be adopted by government to evaluate its performance. Activity Two (Teleconference based) A completed stakeholder analysis will support a discussion about the mission of a community government. A mission without stakeholders in mind will be an empty exercise for government. Organize a conference by posting a stakeholder analysis, for example the one developed in the classroom based activity for this topic. Use this information about a Northern community to


answer six questions about the purpose of the community government in that community. Divide the questions up among the participants and conclude by collating the answers into a mission statement that summarizes the answers given. • Descriptive

(Identity) Who are we? What is our philosophy of government? How do we express this in core values? What makes us distinctive or unique? (Function) What needs do we exist to fill? What problems (social, political, economic) do we exist to address?

• Prescriptive

What do we want to do in order to meet the needs and respond to the problems? How should we respond to our most important stakeholders? How should we assess our performance?

Activity Three (Independent study) Stakeholders are not the same as supporters. Identify the stakeholders in a Northern community that are most important for the success of community government in that community. Using this list, discuss the position each would take on a proposed course of action on the part of community government. Categorize possible positions taken by stakeholders as problematic, antagonistic, low priority and supportive. Select proposed courses of action from actual or possible community government initiatives. For example a proposal to charge a fee for waste disposal in order to finance recycling, a proposal to issue


hunting licenses year round for some families, a proposal to run a daycare in the community centre. Choose a proposed action that is in line with an existing mandate or mission for a Northern community government. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Stakeholder analysis identifies criteria applied to government

performance. 2. Balances prescriptive and descriptive parts of a mission

statement. 3. Stakeholders are accurately identified in Northern community

examples. 4. Stakeholder positions on issues and proposed actions are

accurately identified.


Topic 3: Developing a Strategic Plan for Northern Community Governments Strategic plans for community government can be produced by considering a program based on the work of John Bryson and other authors concerned with strategic management systems. This planning program incorporates the principles of open systems, environmental scans, and goals before strategy. A strategic plan for community government begins with assessing the political, social, economic, and physical environment and ends with the incorporation of a scanning system in the management of the plan. While this model is not definitive, it is representative, and it will provide a framework for discussion that will allow participants to work out their own approach to strategic planning in Northern communities. The creation of a strategic plan for a community government can be compared to the creation of the constitution for a nation or with the creation of a business plan. The planning process begins with a clarification of the mandates and missions (purposes) of community government.11 • Initial agreement phase: planning to plan with

stakeholders Strategic identification of stakeholders with relevant subdivisions

• Clarify mandates and mission for present community

government

Review fundamental values

11 The term “mission”, while prevalent in management and leadership literature, may have unintended negative connotations associated with “missionary” or “proselytizing”. The intended meaning in this course is that of “overall purpose”, “highest ideals for action”, or “final goals based on values”.


Review required services and responsibilities

Review areas of concern, issue areas

Review current strategic directions

• Assess strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities

Use the present community government organization • Identify strategic issues

Complete environmental scans: identify significant trends and issues

• Implement Strategy

Establish realistic objectives and progress indicators

Design strategy-implementing program plans

Organize self-managing teams

Develop strategic human resources

Estimate financial requirements and prepare budgets • Develop a vision of success

Describe what community government will look like as it succeeds in achieving its mission and incorporating second order learning Identify methods of monitoring, integrating strategies, and evaluation that will help the organization continuously improve


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) First Nations administrators can guide a strategic planning process in Northern communities by using the steps outlined in this topic. This activity will explore the relevance of the process for senior managers. Review the experience participants have with strategic planning. Survey the class with the following questions: • Have you participated in a future search, strategic planning

exercise, or served on a planning group? • What did you learn about strategic planning as a process? • What worked and what didn’t work? • Have you participated as a stakeholder in making your

interests known to a community government? What happened? How would you describe yourself using a stakeholder label or subdivision of a label?

• What have you observed about the presence or absence of

strategic planning in community government? • What have you experienced concerning the value or lack of

value of strategic planning? If there is not sufficient experience with Northern examples in the class to build this discussion, use the questions as interview questions with band managers in the field. Summarize the results from either or both approaches, and form small groups. Ask each group to review the six step planning process offered in this topic and comment on how they would use it or change it to plan strategically in a Northern community. Activity Two (Teleconference based) Strategic plans do not always lead to implementation. Ask each participant to research an example of a strategic plan in a


Northern community or department of government. Investigate the process that was used to prepare the plan. Describe how the process resembled or differed from the one given in this topic. Conclude the conference with a roundtable discussion of the connections between how a plan is developed and its successful implementation. What can be learned to guide future practice in the field of community government by senior managers? Activity Three (Independent study) The planning process presented in this topic claims to incorporate the principles of open systems, environmental scans, and goals before strategy. Write a short paper assessing whether this is true or not. What would you recommend as a process for Northern community government to use? Give reasons and use your experience of the North in your writing. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives examples of how strategic plans are developed in the

North 2. Identifies steps in a strategic planning process 3. Gives reasons to support a choice of a strategic planning

process 4. Explains values and limits of strategic planning with examples

form Northern communities


Topic 4: Developing a Scanning System for Strategic Management Organizations need to understand their environment. The environment for planning purposes is an inclusive term. Social, political, economic, physical, cultural and historical dimensions are involved. The environment is constantly changing and being changed. Strategic management will necessarily be dynamic. Environmental scanning tools using PESTS (political, economic, social, technological changes) and SWOTs (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) were introduced in Leadership for Community Managers. In this topic these tools are added to open system principles to create a strategic management system. Snow card technique Groups of people who share an interest in planning strategically can pool their understanding of SWOTS by using a technique that combines brainstorming with a search for common themes that demonstrates the phenomenon of synergy. In Northern community government this technique could support steps one, three and four in the planning process outlined in the preceding topic. The method begins with four questions based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The dimensions of external and internal are added to refine the focus. (Bryson p.126ff) • What major external opportunities do we have? • What major external threats do we face? • What are our major internal strengths? • What are our major internal weaknesses? Small groups can create cards that contain individual answers by brainstorming. The cards are taped to a wall and then re-grouped


according to theme ideas that emerge from reading all of the cards. The group selects tentative labels for each thematic cluster. These labels become categories when people agree. The categories can be contrasted and compared with each other and items can be added and subtracted. This exercise often reveals relationships that were hidden. A system of connections can emerge that reveals how strengths and weaknesses may refer to the same thing viewed from different perspectives. For example, an intuitive leader can be a great strength in a senior management team by assessing stakeholder interests accurately without knowing how to explain this ability to others. At the same time this ability can be a weakness by making the government team dependent on one person’s judgment and assuming he or she is infallible. As Bryson and others note, an important purpose of scanning SWOTS is to discover how to take advantage of strengths and opportunities without being disadvantaged by related weaknesses and threats.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Develop a composite case study of SWOTS by simulating a Northern community government team performing a SWOT analysis. Use a modified snow card technique. Ask small groups to create lists of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that come from their experience of community government. Together these lists should reveal a cross section of the many possible SWOTS that face community governments and that could be given names. Practice snow card technique and identify themes, categories, and labels. Discuss what using strengths to offset weaknesses, and combining external and internal scanning to form effective strategies for government can learn. Review the advantages and disadvantages of the snow cared technique. Activity Two (Teleconference based) A scan of SWOTS can reveal internal opportunities and threats and external strengths and weaknesses. This implies that community government needs to study itself as well as the environment external to itself. Organizations can be their own worst enemies when they assume that all threats and opportunities are external, and that all strengths and weaknesses are internal. These assumptions are characteristic of closed, not open, systems thinking. Divide the group up and ask participants to research one example of an external threat, an internal threat, an external opportunity, an internal opportunity, an external strength, an internal strength, an external weakness, an internal weakness. Choose Northern community government teams or departments for the source of the examples. Organize a teleconference to review the results of the research. Discuss what can help a community government team take advantage of the information provided by a SWOT analysis.


Activity Three (Independent study) Environmental scanning is routine in a strategic management system. PESTS (political, economic, social, and technological) changes in the environment can be incremental or sudden. These factors need to be scanned by using studies, news, media resources, and other levels of government. Write a proposal suggesting ways and means (i.e. a strategy) that a community government can a) gather information on PESTS, and b) use the information strategically. Comment on an approach that will reveal trends such that incremental changes are not underestimated or missed. Include the use of Internet research in your proposal. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Examples of SWOTs and PESTs are well researched and

based on Northern information 2. Understands how to use snow card technique 3. Gives Northern examples showing how strengths and

weaknesses are connected in community government 4. Using scanning methods accurately to support planning

processes.


Unit Summary Systems’ thinking is concerned with principles of adaptation and learning that are open and ethical. The principles of functional equivalence, synergy, interdependence, and second order learning can serve to guide community governments. Rules, roles, and communication are clear and ethical in open systems. People in community government who have high self-esteem will adapt to change and participate in changing the system they are part of to meet challenges. Second order learning will be part of community government. An ideal bureaucracy was introduced as a device for thinking about what government can become in an open system. This visioning exercise leads to the importance of stakeholder analysis in open government systems. The ideal bureaucracy uses power and authority to respond to strategic issues that are identified by stakeholders. Stakeholders can be subdivided in response to strategic issues. A six step planning process allows senior managers to formulate strategic plans and develop scanning routines that will support strategy implementation. A strategic management system is complete when the principles of open systems are applied to the strategic planning process and routine scans based on stakeholder analysis are part of the operating government system.


Unit Three: Practicing Strategic Management: People and Performance Unit Overview Strategic plans are an important resource for Northern community government managers. A strategic plan deals with issues and develops policies. The complexity of Northern communities and the importance of intercultural communication will be a focus for the discussion of strategic planning. Innovation, troubleshooting, and learning from mistakes are part of strategic management. Schedules, roles, budgets, and materials are interconnected and require tracking and definition. You will learn how to manage by including some strategies that make the best use of timely opportunities. In this unit you will explore ways of contracting with people in a holistic way so that they can produce their best efforts. Relationships between people matter. The principles of systems thinking introduced in Unit Two will be applied to the daily work of managing programs and projects and monitoring results so that all details are identified and strategies are effectively integrated. People are the most important resource available to managers. A strategic management system deals with people and their performance. In this unit you will consider the work of developing people, and creating systems that monitor and correct performance. Strategic management is a learning process. Schedules, roles, budgets, and materials are interconnected and require tracking and definition. It is people who do the tracking and maintain the connections. People in community government positions will need to learn how to manage their time wisely. The best strategic plan will fail if implementation is not well managed. People and performance are the focus of this unit. Community government managers will benefit from strategies that make the best use of resources and timely opportunities. Supervision, monitoring, and evaluating performance all involve time management skills combined with supervisory skills.


In this unit you will explore ways of contracting with people in a holistic way so that they can produce their best efforts. Relationships between people matter strategically and can be created and strengthened by applying the communication principles of systems thinking introduced in Unit Two.


Unit Objectives Knowledge Objectives 1. The participant will understand how performance can be

measured. 2. The participant will understand the principles of supervisory

time management. 3. The participant will understand what key performance

indicators are used for 4. The participant will understand facilitation as a management

function. 5. The participant will understand the connections between

performance and learning how to perform. Skills Objectives 1. The participant will be able to baseline performance 2. The participant will be able to train, coach, and mentor as part

of managing in community government. 3. The participant will be able to set goals for staff. 4. The participant will be able to evaluate performance. 5. The participant will be able to set priorities for staff in

community government. 6. The participant will be able to schedule staff time using priority

analysis 7. The participant will be able to give and receive feedback on

performance with community government staff.


Values Objectives 1. The participant will value the learning opportunities that

promote functional equivalence in community government. 2. The participant will respect the right of staff to know what they

are expected to do. 3. The participants will apply the same standards of evaluation to

themselves that are applied to their staff.


Unit Discussion Questions 1. How can time by organized by setting priorities? 2. How can performance be measured? 3. How can performance be rewarded? 4. How can production capacity be maintained in government

staff? 5. What makes a relationship with staff work? 6. What prevents a relationship with staff from working? 7. What is the difference between feedback and criticism? 8. How should the understanding of instructions be monitored?


Topic 1: Time and Supervision In the course titled Leadership for Community Managers, several personal time management strategies were introduced. In this topic other people as well as one’s own apply these strategies to the tasks of supervising the use of time. Time requires management because it is a scarce resource. If we had unlimited supplies of time we wouldn't need to make any decisions about how much time to spend on a particular task. Community government has an obligation to use time efficiently and keep the costs of government as low as possible. A fact of life in government is that there is never enough time to meet responsibilities without setting priorities. Everyone, from every culture, makes choices about what to do when, and how long to spend doing something. This requires determining both goals and priorities. People differ as to what they give priority to, but they do not differ by having no priorities at all. When people in a government office share goals and priorities, they will be able to plan the use of their time by making similar choices. An important part of successful teamwork is the ability to agree on time management and priorities. The principles of interdependence and synergy require effective time management strategies. Base lining time management Strategic management will benefit from having each government staff person perform the following assessment of his or her use of time. The results can help a team learn how to change procedures and policies so that goals can be achieved more efficiently. Baseline the current use of time in each position. • Make a record of how time is spent over a five-day work

period.

• Identify what is a waste of time and why?


• Ask each staff person if they believe they are using their time effectively. Ask why or why not?

• Identify any tasks that are never completed or for which time is never found.

Analyze each position and assign priorities to daily tasks. • Is time being wasted? If so, how?

• How is a balance being found between what has to be done

(mandate) and what could be done (mission)? Develop an action plan and monitor it. • Suggest changes in daily routine.

• Reserve time for tasks that have high priority. • Keep a log of tasks for which not time can be found. Deciding what deserves time Community government offices are not an exception to the general observation that time is not always spent on the highest priorities in organised settings. Regular and frequent reviews of priorities keep a system open. By routinely reviewing time and priority relationships, changes in the environment will be noticed and adaptations to those changes can be planned that allocate time to current goals and priorities. Schedules will be up to date with the future. As one person put it, “Searching for today’s priorities will protect us from living on yesterday’s meal.” Each responsibility identified in a community government position profile leads to activities that take time when they are carried out. Examine time and priority relationships by beginning with the activity that actually takes the time.


Looking at what people do Three questions can be applied in a strategic management system to routinely review performance. • Is the activity necessary?

Is there anything in the current responsibilities for a government position that are no longer needed or that has decreased in importance? What has changed since the last review?

• Is the activity appropriate?

Who should be performing the activity? Are functions, roles and rules clear enough to identify the proper person for the activity? Is delegation an option, and it so is it a desirable option?

• Is the activity effective and productive?

Assuming the activity is both necessary and appropriate, ask if there is a better way to do this to achieve the same result. You may come up with a new procedure that will accomplish the same thing with less effort and time.

People structure tasks Structure can, by itself, strategically manage time. When people agree to a structure there is less need for supervision. Government staff can adopt the follow strategic methods to avoid procrastination and build effective discipline within a structured work environment. • Set a deadline for task completion.

Tasks are potentially “forever” without boundaries for completion. Consider how to make “deadlines” into “lifelines”.

• Build in a reward system that allows recognition and reinforcement for effort as well as results.

• Record progress.

Use calendars, critical path charts, goal attainment schedules, and graphic organizers to post results as they happen.


• Do the most difficult things first. Do undesirable tasks early in the day to free more time for leadership and innovation.

• Break up big jobs into smaller, more manageable parts.

Use the guidelines on writing goal statements in Unit Three of Leadership for Community Managers to help.

Protect production capacity Strategic management evaluates individual workloads to prevent overburdening someone with more than they can handle. The ability to produce and remain productive must be protected and not destroyed or used up by a short term all out effort to meet increased work expectations. In an open system people will be more likely to give their best efforts at all times. High self-esteem contributes to productivity and will support teamwork in facing demanding challenges. Recognize and reward effort as a routine investment in people and their production capacity. Manage external demands Community government is never a completely planned exercise. Telephone calls, unexpected visitors and other demands and interruptions should be dealt with politely, yet firmly. A strategic management approach frees individuals for discretion in responding to demands by having policies that offer clear guidelines as a background for decisions about what to do in a particular instance. Develop policies on external demands. Be consistent in dealing with the public. Implement a policy on visitors without appointments, and maintain scheduled office hours. This will allow exceptions to be granted when deemed appropriate without abandoning a policy for dealing with the public. In Northern communities, it may be unfair to see any demands as “external”, particularly in smaller and more interdependent communities. A strategic management system will reflect local community needs and expectations rather than ignore or refuse them through inappropriate and rigid policies.


Manage meetings Set agendas for meetings and stick to them. Keep team members on track by dealing only with agenda items, not other issues. Get to the point as quickly as possible, listen to opinions and come to a conclusion. In other words, keep meetings simple. The course titled Governance with Your Councils and Boards deals with meetings in greater detail.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Time management begins with baseline observations. Before recommending strategic changes, we need to know what current reality is. Organize field research on time management in community government offices. Identify the activities performed by someone in a community government position in the course of a day. Job shadowing techniques may be appropriate. This work can be divided up in the group or broken into a manageable unit of time. For example, interviewing someone about the activities they performed in a morning would suffice. Alternatively, a group of government staff can be observed simultaneously and all positions and activities noted. Ask presenters to organize the information they gathered from the field by selecting five examples of specific activities and completing the following: 1. I think the activity was necessary because______________.

- Comment on the position, its function, its responsibilities, and its goals.

2. I think the activity is appropriate because_________________.

- Who should perform this activity given the organizational structure? - How clear are roles and functions? - Is delegation an option?

3. I think the activity was effective and productive

because___________. - What was the outcome of the activity? - Could the outcome have been achieved more easily a

different way? Discuss the use of this observation/analysis method for strategically managing government staff. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to time management? What does a manager need to know about an activity, priorities, time, and position?


Activity Two (Teleconference based) Ask each participant to prepare an agenda for a meeting of community government staff to develop a policy on office hours and procedures for serving the public when unscheduled visits occur. Ask each person to describe how he or she would organize the agenda of a meeting on this topic. After all proposals are presented, invite conference participants to discuss what is shared between the proposals and what makes some more effective than others. The range of experience in the group concerning meetings and the strategic management of policy-making meetings is important for this activity. Conclude with a summary of guidelines on meetings, issues, and time management. Activity Three (Independent study) Managers assign daily tasks to others. How this is done often concerns the priorities that are set by management. Interview at least two community government staff members and ask how the priorities that manage their time are set. Prepare a report identifying the positions involved, the priority setting method in use, and the extent to which each person has their time under control. Offer any suggestions for improvement that you can make. As a community government manager you can review the goals for the positions that you manage and classify them according to degree of urgency, time period for completion, and how much to get accomplished in a time period. Grouping goals provides a picture of what can be realistically accomplished within available time. Set priorities so that the result is a list of goals that guarantees that the most important goal will be acted on first.

Select a community government position profile and group goals for the position in categories of:

“Must be done” (Urgent),

“Should be done” (Necessary, but not urgent),


“Nice to be done” (When time permits).

Explain the reasoning you used in making your decisions about goals for the position for the position you chose.

Activity Four (Your proposal)

Evaluation Criteria 1. Examples of priority setting are based on Northern community

government experience and observation 2. Activities performed by government staff are described

accurately in term of positions, roles, and outputs. 3. Agenda items for meetings are simple and focussed on one

topic 4. Baseline information is gathered accurately by interview and

observation


Topic 2: People, Communication, and Learning People and performance are linked by communication and relationships. Before performance there must be understanding about goals, expectations, and results. The condition for a relationship in which it is possible to give and receive instructions about performance is the focus of this topic. Community government managers will give instructions to staff about time, schedules, and the use of resources. Managers will need to monitor performance and ensure that people are competent to do what their positions and management’s instructions require. In this topic, think about communication from a manager’s perspective. Relationships have their beginning in communication about how each person desires to be treated in the relationship. This can be especially important when people from different cultural backgrounds interact. Review communication basics such as tone of voice, physical closeness to a person, time allowed for responding in a conversation, and how to ask for something in a respectful way. These topics are covered in more detail in the course titled, Communications. Forming a relationship that includes training, coaching and mentoring Relationships develop when people take time to know each other and when they agree to plans that both want to participate in. This is the case whenever training, coaching, and mentoring are involved. In an open system of strategic management, these will become routine management functions in addition to the responsibilities that come with community government positions. Managers can facilitate learning. In Northern community government, especially where turnover is high among staff; learning, and training people will be ongoing. Learning, adaptation, and continuous improvement- the goals of


strategic management- will be supported by including learning as a normal part of the work environment. Guidelines for managers who facilitate learning At the beginning stages of giving someone instructions, spend time after an activity to check in and see how things are going. This is a good investment because the value of the relationship will increases as you learn more about what you can assume and what you need to communicate to the other person. Roles and functions Functions are the responsibilities taken on within a role. For example, someone in the role of trainer takes on the function of showing how a job should be done. Someone in the role of coach is responsible for guiding someone's performance as they work. Alternatively, someone performing the function of correcting an employee's performance has taken on the role of trainer or coach. Think about what you will be doing in the roles of trainer, coach, and mentor by noticing the functions you are responsible for. Do not try to be all things to all people: do try to be what you say you are in your relationships. This simple guideline allows people to know what they can expect from each other. Availability Ensure that colleagues and employees know how to contact you in a timely fashion. The clock cannot schedule learning because unexpected problems and opportunities come along. Make arrangements that will allow you to respond to unscheduled needs for coaching and training. Consider unscheduled visits to staff you are helping to learn their jobs. Use voice mail and email, and pagers if necessary. Agree to train expectations and timelines. A plan in the form of an informal contract should be the result. Monitoring Plan to review how your relationships are working with trainees and with people to whom you have delegated work. Keep records


that detail training goals and objectives for each position you are supervising. A checklist with comments is often sufficient. This will be possible by following principles of objective and behavioral description for outcomes that any observer can verify. Competencies are abilities based on such outcomes. Managers have three ways to facilitate learning The term "facilitation" can be used to describe any strategy that aims at making learning possible- and as easy as possible. If one drew three overlapping circles titled training, coaching, and mentoring, the intersection could be labeled facilitation. Each approach includes aspects of the other two. A trainer is also an example of the right way to do something and hence functions as a mentor. A coach is someone who stands by to correct and improve the performance of someone who is learning. A coach is also involved in training (Showing how to do something) and mentoring (serving as a role model). Community government managers will be able to improve operations by engaging in all three facilitation roles. Consider three ways that senior managers in community government can support people. By training others Give direct instructions about how to do something. Direct instruction includes showing how to do something, correcting a mistake, and answering questions. Information provided by a trainer to a trainee results in a transfer of skills and knowledge. After training a desired competency will be demonstrated by the trainee. One way to build functional equivalence into a system is by training people to “stand in” for each other when necessary. By coaching others Give direct and indirect instructions to a learner as he or she practices a newly learned skill. Indirect instruction includes prompting, questioning, and giving clues and hints. Coaching will result in good performance if you are able to show the right way at the right time.


By serving as a mentor Managers can offer their personal example and performance as a model. A mentor is a respected guide who has earned respect by demonstrating their ability and the effective ways they go about thinking and solving problems. A mentor reveals the thoughts and ideas that accompany their performance so that others can build a personal and inner dimension of similar resources for solving problems. Mentors can show others how to talk to themselves. Mentors are available to answer questions, give feedback on performance, and allow observation. The course titled Leadership for Community Mangers, explores the role of mentor in more detail. Organizing facilitation One way to see the close relationship between these three ways of facilitating learning is to rank them on a scale of decreasing direction from outside, and increasing self-direction by a learner: (1) (2) (3) Training------------------- Coaching--------------- Mentoring (Direct instruction) (Indirect instruction) (Indirect instruction by example) This sequence, while typical in many learning experiences, can also be changed to suit some circumstances and relationships. Facilitation is a temporary role An important idea behind facilitation is the expectation that it will be a temporary activity. A transfer of knowledge and skill on the job defines successful training, coaching, and mentoring. Relationships based on these roles will have a beginning, middle, and an end. Once someone has learned a new task or procedure they no longer require training and coaching. Mentoring is a term reserved for a more enduring and personal connection to a respected teacher in the broadest sense. A mentor is a person you would like to resemble for the qualities they possess.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) In open systems managers are facilitators of learning. This premise can be explored by a review of competency development on the part of participants. Organize a panel discussion with senior managers in the class. (Those with the most, or most interesting experience in community government) Select a moderator and ask the panel to answer the following questions: 1. How did you learn your management skills? 2. What was done to promote learning in the positions you have

held? 3. Describe how you learned a job skill that you value today. 4. Comment on how you were coached, trained, or mentored. After the panel has made its statements, open the floor to questions and reactions. Conclude with a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of preparing senior community government managers to be facilitators of learning for their staff. Activity Two (Teleconference based) Ask each participant to prepare a checklist that could be used to monitor the progress of a government staff person who is learning a skill on the job. Chose a position within community government for this exercise and define the skill being learned as a first step. Organize a reporting session where each person describes how he or she produced his or her checklist. After going around and hearing all examples, make a second round and ask each person if they would change anything in their approach based on having heard what others would do.


Conclude with a summary of ideas about effective monitoring procedures for people learning new skills at work. Activity Three (Independent study) Write a position paper on the merits of expecting community government managers to be facilitators of learning for staff. If you think this is a good idea explore how practical it is. If you think this is a bad idea, explore the alternatives. Give reasons for your position and explain your understanding of learning on the job, monitoring performance by a newly hired person, and management’s responsibility for supervising a new staff member. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives Northern examples of monitoring performance using

checklists 2. Gives reasons for positions taken on the role of managers as

facilitators of learning 3. Gives examples of coaching, training, and mentoring in skill

development


Topic 3: Performance Performance indicators are critically important in a strategic management system. In order to measure progress, standards are needed to guide evaluation. The discussion of goals in Unit one, and the discussion of strategic planning in unit two provide the foundation for thinking about performance. In this topic focus on the indicators, of performance and success in community government, that allows managers to monitor strategic objectives. Indicators must be objective Objectivity refers to the stable and verifiable aspect of performance. What someone does and produces should be observable to anyone who looks. The behavioral description is not a matter of someone's perception, inner experience, or the result of an accident. Behavioral description is based on observation. It is a fair approach for identifying what to evaluate in a person's performance. Expectations for the performance of community government staff should be neither too detailed nor too general. A proper description of a desired performance has only enough detail to establish that the performance serves an objective. Senior managers can establish expectations by using the following guidelines to create useful and fair performance objectives for staff: • Use verbs to label what observers should be able to witness.

For example: " In order to meet responsibility X, the employee will (report, repair, interview, record, …Etc.)

• Express performance objectives in terms of time and quantity.

How much of something in what period of time is needed to fulfill the objective? For example: "In order to fulfill responsibility X, the employee will (process, file, contact, etc.)___________ Applicants in _______minutes."


The learning process will depend on an accurate and shared understanding of the objectives that follow these guidelines. Managers can facilitate learning by using these guidelines in their communication with staff. Performance can be measured Measurable performance requires a consideration of how much of something is expected and to what standard. If improvement of an existing function is the goal a baseline for comparison will be needed so progress can be measured as a change over time. For example, If improvement is desired in meeting the band management responsibility to maintain records on operations, programs, and facilities- the present state of record keeping has to be accurately described before changes are introduced. Use key performance indicators where appropriate to help you evaluate goal attainment .The goal must be specific about the level of improvement that is expected. If increasing production or efficiency is a goal, then the specific level of desired production or efficiency should be incorporated into the goal statement. This answers the question, “how much?” in the goal statement. For example, the records kept by a Band manager may be linked to the key indicator of accurate budgets for programs that show a running total of expenditures related to the program. The presence of accurate budget statements is a key indicator that the Band Manager is doing his or her job. Each community government position can be assessed in terms of current performance and key indicators of performance. For example, a Band manager is responsible for, “Providing job orientation/ job descriptions/ regular performance feedback to ensure that management/staff understand what is expected of them as Band employees.”

Key performance indicators can be identified that will allow the performance of a Band manager to be evaluated. The performance indicators for a Band manager based on this description of a responsibility might include:


• All band employees have job descriptions provided by the manager

• Band employees are given performance feedback by the manager on a scheduled basis

• A Job orientation program for new staff is offered for all new employees.

Other key indicators are possible but these examples allow us to make a few generalizations about all performance indicators.

Indicators provide evidence of an action or performance By itself an indicator has no meaning. An indicator is a sign or evidence of something other than itself. In a strategic management system key performance indicators are clearly linked to a management function or responsibility that consists of many activities. Performance must be realistic and possible Realistic goals are practical and possible. Realistic goals will motivate employees to improve and to reach desired results. For the goal to be motivational, all parties involved must feel that it is possible and realistic. Break complex goals into simple ones that add up to the complex goal. This will allow key performance indicators to be simple and easy to observe as well.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Divide the class into performance evaluation teams. Each team will develop a list of key performance indicators (KPI’s) for community government position profiles. Ask two teams to work independently on the same position. Use the example for Band Managers in this topic to guide the process. Ask what the position is responsible for, and then ask what would count as evidence that this responsibility is being carried out. This will require the identification of activities and results that make up KPI’s. Conclude by asking each team to present their analysis. Compare and contrast the results for the position that was addressed by two teams. What did they agree on? How was the outcome different in each team? Move into a discussion on the best ways to identify key performance indicators for community government positions. Identify any issues or concerns. Activity Two (Teleconference based) Objective description can be criticized if it is interpreted too narrowly. Giving and receiving instructions is an art insofar as a relationship is required that allows people to know what each expects of the other. Objective description is a part of giving clear instructions, but it is not the whole story. Accuracy alone is not sufficient. Organize a conference on the topic of giving and receiving instructions in community government. Use the experience of participants to share anecdotes about what successful and unsuccessful exchanges of instructions. What assumptions can get people into trouble? What amount of detail is appropriate for a given example? How can blaming possibly be avoided or be justified when instructions are not followed? Ask the class to use these and other questions to identify the issues in feedback surrounding instructions.


Activity Three (Independent study) Feedback on performance is a key part of a strategic management system. People can be motivated or discouraged by the way their performance is reviewed as well as by the content of the review. Research different feedback methods of supervision. Write a 3 to 5 page paper outlining the best ways to give an employee feedback on their performance. Focus on the issue of giving negative feedback without being “negative”. Consider the learning opportunities involved in feedback on performance. Make a distinction between feedback and criticism in your work. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives examples of effective instructions and feedback 2. Identifies key performance indicators for community

government positions accurately 3. Gives negative feedback without being “negative” 4. Describes activities and performance using objective and

behavioral criteria


Unit Summary People are the most important part of a strategic management system. Strategies are integrated when performance indicators are combined with standards based on strategic planning outcomes. The use of time by staff can be monitored by observing activities and priorities over the course of a day or week. Performance indicators can be linked to community government position profiles so that responsibilities are understood in terms of roles, functions, and outcomes based in performance. Performance indicators are objective and specific. Relationships that allow performance to be monitored and improved through training are part of a strategic management system. Open relationships that permit communication about expectations are desirable between community government staff. Reward systems, production capacity, and the inclusion of training, coaching, and mentoring as part of strategic management are all investments in maintaining an open system that is capable of continuous improvement in community government.


Unit Four: Learning and Strategic Management Unit Overview People are the most important resource available to managers. A strategic management system deals with people and their performance. In this unit you will consider the work of delegating tasks, training people, and creating systems that monitor and correct performance. Strategic management is a learning process. Problem solving is management’s opportunity for learning how to improve the overall management system. Adaptation to the future results from learning how to learn. Systems must be monitored as well as their products. This unit will explore the forms that second order learning can take in a strategically managed system. A learning organization is the desired outcome because it can adapt successfully to changes and fulfill assigned duties without sacrificing goals and principles. In this unit you will learn how to measure people and performance so that your strategic management plan becomes an evolving one because it grows as a result of learning what works in a particular environment. Strategic management is all about learning and positive adaptations to change. Earlier you saw how mission and vision provided benchmarks for noticing change in a community government organization. In this topic consider the methods that can be used by managers to facilitate adaptation, learning, and change in desired directions. Problem solving is management’s opportunity for learning how to improve the overall management system. Second order learning occurs through solving problems and identifying strategic issues. In this unit focus on learning how to change a system in order to change what it produces. Problems are framed as opportunities in a strategic management system. When a problem occurs a solution is sought that not only solves the problem, but that also teaches the organization how to deal with problems of this kind in the future. Second order learning


- learning that changes a system - is involved in making the most of management problems. Policy development is a leadership tool that is central in a strategic management system. Policies can be planned deductively from the top down or inductively from the bottom up in community government. In order for values in community government to be explicit and expressed in policy, rather than only inferred from what staff actually do, a process of policy review and development is needed that incorporates environmental scans, second order learning, and stakeholder analysis. Best practices in Northern community development and government can be studied to see how this is done effectively. Successful adaptation to the future results from learning how to learn. Systems must be monitored as well as their products in order for second order learning to occur. This is the heart of strategic management. This unit will explore the forms that second order learning can take in a strategically managed system. A learning organization is the desired outcome of such a system because it will adapt successfully to changes and fulfill assigned duties without sacrificing goals and principles.


Unit Objectives Knowledge Objectives 1. The participant will understand the principles of policy

development. 2. The participant will understand the principles of a learning

community. 3. The participant will identify barriers to strategic planning. 4. The participant will understand the connections between

policies and strategic issues. 5. The participant will understand community government as an

outcome of environment, mandates, and policy objectives. Skills Objectives 1. The participant will be able to review a policy 2. The participant will be able to identify the positions that will be

taken by stakeholders towards a strategic planning issue. 3. The participant will be able to experiment with changes in

procedure and evaluate outcome 4. The participant will be able to separate process from product in

community government operations 5. The participant will be able to see how problems can be used

as opportunities for learning Values Objectives 1. The participant will appreciate the opportunities for self-

transformation in community government


2. The participant will incorporate the three E’s of a learning

community in management policies 3. The participant will appreciate the need to clarify values in

policy development


Unit Discussion Questions 1. Why should community government strive to be a learning

community? 2. How does each staff person in community government make

policy? 3. Should community government separate process from

product? 4. What should senior managers know about policy

development? 5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of treating

problems as learning opportunities?


Topic 1: Learning Communities and Community Government Peter Senge discusses the three “E’s” of Enquiry, Experimentation, and Exploration in his book, The Fifth Discipline. These are the principles that define a learning community. Community government can be thought of as a learning community to the extent that its strategic management system has a vision for the future and not simply a set of controls to maintain the present and make the future resemble the present. First order learning refers to the tinkering and adjustment that management must make to achieve short-term goals. Second order learning comes from applying the three “E’s” to management’s short-term objectives. All community government staff is potential participants in a learning community. Consider the following ways that second order learning can be combined with first order learning in a strategic management system. The learning activities for this topic will give you an opportunity to apply some possibilities for learning to Northern community government operations. Process and product Process and product can be separated to clarify what is the outcome of a procedure vs. how the outcome is engineered. Government plays a dual role. Some programs within community government are concerned mainly or solely with the provision of a process while others are mainly or solely concerned with a product. Knowing where to put the emphasis and how to combine process and product is a strategic question worth asking. Evaluating programs Programs administered by community governments in the North are subject to evaluations. Evaluation of a program can be part of program delivery. A dynamic and effective approach to program delivery will include evaluation so that the program can be modified during delivery if warranted.


Strategic teams Position descriptions are a beginning not an end in a learning organization. Staff can form new combinations based on strategic issues. Roles can be delegated in new ways and problems can lead to task force development. Temporary teams, the use of consultants, and experimental teams, are all ways to employ people in innovation and problem solving.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Organize a seminar devoted to Northern community government examples on learning how to change the ways that services are provided. Focus on community government positions and their areas of responsibility. Experienced Band managers will be a valuable resource for cases and examples. Begin with presentations that document how learning caused desirable changes to the way a service was provided. Use the following guiding questions to organize the presentations. 1. What positions were involved in a service or product that was

running into trouble or was so successful that “supply could not meet demand”?

2. What problems were identified that acquired strategic

importance? 3. What experiments, enquiry, and exploration took place to learn

more about the issues involved? Were studies conducted? Consultants used? Experiments performed?

4. What changes were introduced into the system of delivery?

• Were policies changed or developed? • Were programs changed or developed?

5. What were the outcomes? What can be learned about second

order learning from this case example? Conclude the seminar with a general discussion on learning how to learn in community government. Activity Two (Teleconference based) Evaluating programs during delivery in order to learn promptly how to improve them is an important goal for strategic management. Ask conference participants to research a program


success or failure. Band programs will provide good examples. Ongoing programs are also suitable choices. Each participant will describe a program and identify the evaluation methods and indicators that were used during implementation to learn about how well the program was doing. Conclude each presentation with an assessment of the degree to which the program was able to learn and adapt to information during its delivery. Put in terms of this topic, two questions can guide the presentations: 1. Was second order learning possible for this program? 2. Were enquiry, experimentation, and exploration happening

during delivery? Conclude with a discussion on the strategic evaluation of programs during delivery. What are the opportunities? What are the constraints? Activity Three (Independent study) Write a research report on the activities of a task force, strategic team, or temporary project team, within Northern community government. Describe the motivation for forming the team and the roles and positions that were combined to form the team. Indicate what the team achieved and how they achieved it. Comment on the learning that took place for the organization (the community government) and on the outcomes. Were any changes made to how services were delivered? Were any changes made to policy or, to programs? Conclude with recommendations on the effective use of strategic teams in community government to address issues. Activity Four (Your proposal)


Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives examples of the three “E’s” in community government. 2. Gives examples of second order learning through changes to

how services are provided. 3. Gives examples of strategic teams formed to solve problems

and change policy. 4. Gives examples of how government positions involve both

process and product.


Topic 2: Learning and Policy Everybody makes policy in a learning organization. Policies, as John Carver reminds us, “…are merely our values or perspectives, written or unwritten, they can be revealed in every event that occurs in an organization.”12 Policy is made by everyone in the sense that an observer will infer the values and perspectives behind what they see someone doing in a government position. Carver observes that, “. Any sort of action by the board is often granted the legitimizing title of policy.” 13 He also notes that policy may not be, “…found as much as suspected”. Policy needs to be explicit and meet several criteria in order to truly serve its purpose of guiding actions and decisions. Policy is the expression of values and perspectives. Values and perspectives need to be clarified and made explicit if they are to do the work of leading as opposed to being assumed by those who already share them. The course titled Governance with Your Councils and Boards, will discuss policy functions and design in more detail. In this topic consider the connections between strategic management and policy formation and re-formation.

12 P.44, Carver, John, Boards that Make a Difference, Jossey Bass 1990. 13 Ibid. P.41


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) Community government does not take direction only from boards, but Band councils, advisory groups, Senior Management groups, and policy making authorities in various levels of government do direct the work of community government staff. Substitute appropriate sources of policy for the term “board” in the following exercise. Form focus groups and ask each group to prepare a response supported by Northern community government examples to the follow quote from Carver:

“When a board lives from its policies, the policies will either work or be changed. The policies will not then collect dust. Policies must never end with a whimper, but with a bang; they must not be allowed to fade away into oblivion. Staff can help by acting as if the board sincerely means every policy not yet rescinded.” (Page 43)

Ask each group to consider experience and outcomes when policies were not taken seriously, ignored, or paid “lip service” only. Should policies be allowed to fail? Give examples and comment on the second order learning that is possible when policies are allowed to either work or not work.

After each focus group presentation, conclude with a general discussion on the strategic use of policy to support learning in a community government. Activity Two (Teleconference based) Interpretation is integral to the work of management. Executive limitation policies are strategically important in a management system aimed at adapting to change. The discretion available to a Band Manager, SAO, etc, will be a gray area in community government. The issue for policy in a learning organization is one of degree. How much freedom to interpret policy is available to senior managers? - That is the question, not if freedom is available.


Ask participants to prepare an executive limitation policy for Band managers. Pages 82-108 in Boards That Make a Difference, by John Carver are recommended reading for this activity. Present draft policy statements and explain the reasoning that went into them. How much discretion is enough and in what areas of responsibility? With what checks and balances? Conclude with a chain of responses going around the conference. Ask the first person to give a summary of their position of the degree of freedom to interpret policy that should be available to Band Managers. The next person agrees or disagrees and adds their opinion. Continue around the group in this fashion. Determine if a consensus emerges and what the issues for further study are. Activity Three (Independent study) Carver identifies six criteria for effective policies: explicit, current, literal, centrally available, briefs, encompassing. Read chapter Three in Boards That Work, and examine two examples of Northern community government policies by applying the Carver criteria. Assess these policies and suggest how they could be improved if possible. Develop an ideal policy for a senior management position in community government based on the Carver criteria. Explain what the policy is intended to accomplish and how it manages the degree of discretion and interpretation given to the manager.

Activity Four (Your proposal)

Evaluation Criteria

1. Gives examples of Northern policies that identify how management discretion and interpretation is addressed.

2. Gives examples that show how policy can be inferred from staff actions.


3. Gives examples of policies that can be tested to see if they work or not.


Topic 3: Learning from Best Practices Northern and Aboriginal communities are managing resources and communities strategically. In this topic the focus is on some successful examples of strategic management. In an important sense, best practices speak for themselves. One test of the ideas presented in this course is to see if successful Northern and Aboriginal programs used them or not. In the activities for this topic consider the principles of strategic management that are part of success and form your own approach to managing with a strategic management system. To the extent that strategic management is based on sound universal concepts and procedures, successful practices will prove this.


Learning Activities Activity One (Classroom based) DIAND publication: best aborginal practices. First Nations Effective Practices, Getting Things Done in Aboriginal Communities, Businesses and Organizations, Research and Analysis Directorate Reports, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, June, 1997. (Available on DIAND website) QS-6113-000-EE-A1 Catalogue No: R32-80/1997E (ISBN 0-662-25836-3) Organize groups to report on one of the successful practices reviewed in these reports. Alternatively, assign examples chosen by participants from current and recent Northern examples. Organize the reports with these questions: • What was accomplished? • How was it accomplished? • What strategies were employed? Consider these and other

elements of strategic management covered in this course:

• Strategic issue identification • Environmental scans

• Stakeholder analysis

• Policy formation

• Learning on the job

• Functional equivalence

• Synergy

• Key performance indicators


• Program evaluation

• Other

• What can be learned from the success experienced and used

by community government? Activity Two (Teleconference based) Invite a Band Manager (or two) to participate in a teleconference. Alternatively, the Band Managers in the class can serve as guests. Ask each participant to bring a question about best practices. Ask the managers to comment on how they use strategic management principles and practices to deliver services, design programs, and evaluate community government. Conclude with a summary and discuss the value of strategic management for Northern and Aboriginal communities. Activity Three (Independent study) Choose an example of an unsuccessful Northern program in your judgment. What can be learned about best practices by identifying what doesn’t work? Answer this question by reporting on the aspects of strategic management that were missing from your example. Discuss the steps that could have increased the likelihood of success. Focus on the role of policy and policy formation in the area of decisions that may have contributed to program failure. Activity Four (Your proposal) Evaluation Criteria 1. Gives examples of best practices in strategic management

based on Northern and Aboriginal programs.


Unit Summary Strategic management combines principles with practices that promote continuous learning in community government. A learning organization is committed to enquiry, experimentation, and exploration on the part of all members. In community government learning can take two forms when there are problems: first order learning about how to address the immediate problem, and second order learning about how to change the system to cope with the future better now that a problem has occurred. Both forms of learning can be guided by policies that allow values to be known in advance of issues, rather than being left to be inferred from how a problem is handled. Policies can guide the degree of freedom available to senior managers. Strategic managers will use task forces, temporary teams, consultants and strategic experiments to build a capacity for adaptation in desired directions. Best practices are a useful place to look for strategic management in action.


Glossary Civil society A society based on laws and principles of mutual respect and cooperation is a civil society. Unarmed people are civilians, and a civil society is a society of people who in effect agree to lay down their arms in the interests of social cooperation. Civility is a combination of ethical characteristics that include politeness and courtesy, consideration for the interests of others equal to that expected for one, and respect for people. A civil society can be thought of as the outcome of a social contract between people who agree to be governed by law. Northern community government has a key role to play in building and maintaining a civil society for all Northern people. Deductive Deduction is a reasoning process based in formal logic. In strategic management deduction plays an important role as a planning tool. Deduction is a form of reasoning that begins with assumptions, that may or may not be true, but which when accepted, produce logically necessary conclusions. The power of deduction lies in its universal and necessary route to conclusions. Deductive arguments allow planners to test some implications of their beliefs. Its weakness lies in the doubt that may be attached to the assumptions that are made. For example, “If community government is going to be representative government, then a way of representing people must be found”. The conclusion follows necessarily given the premise, but the argument, as a whole will fail for anyone who rejects the premise and believes that community government should not be representative. Inductive Inductive arguments begin with observations and end with generalizations. Inductive arguments describe general truths as matters of fact. If 90% of communities in the North are controlled by a small group of leaders, it follows that Northern communities follow leaders. Induction allows us to observe this without knowing why 90% are leading this way. Strategic planners in community government need to gather information about the political, social, economic, and physical environment so that generalizations can


be made accurately to guide political decision-making and planning. The strength of inductive reasoning for planning lies in the accuracy of generalizations that can be made, the weakness lies in the unanswered questions about causes and what could change the status quo. Induction leads to correlations that may or may not be causal in nature. Mandate “That which is commanded” is a mandate. Community government mandates describe what government is obliged to provide and do. The minimum expectations for community government are described in mandates. Mandates come from statutory legislation and other sources of authority. Mandates are intended to serve the public interest by identifying what the public can expect from government. Mandate can also be interpreted as “permission”. For example, community government has the mandate to administer public housing. How the mandate is fulfilled will involve policies that interpret the mandate and establish principles and guidelines for implementing services required by the mandate. Mission Mission refers to the most important goals of an organization or government. Self-identified goals are the intended meaning of a mission. When people plan their future, rather than have it planned for them, they need to identify what they stand for, what they want, and what they value most. The answers to these questions will produce a mission that can guide planning to the next step of vision describing how the organization will look in projected time frames. In Northern community government there may be several competing visions on the part of various stakeholders. Community government does not mean the same thing to everyone. Strategic management is concerned with providing a process that allows political and rational planning tools to be applied to these differences.


Policy Strategic management requires a continuous review of policies and the effects of implementing policies. Policy is a broad term that can include documents containing standards and instructions about a service, an informal set of expectations related to service, or a plan containing overall directions, purpose, and priorities as in a “foreign policy”. Policies in the public sector can be regulatory, distributive and re-distributive. Policies in community government are the written or spoken norms and instructions for actions performed to serve the public. A hiring policy, a housing policy, and an economic development policy will each contain information about the values that support a particular set of goals. Strategic managers will use policies to address issues by changing existing ones and creating new ones to set directions that make decisions easier and more narrowly focussed on problems and issues. Reverse engineering Designing a copy is reverse engineering. In community government best practices and other efforts to study how government can achieve its ideals are reverse engineered by interested observers. An example is taken apart in order to be re-constructed and copied by others who learn from it. This is the opposite process to designing from scratch. Management systems, programs, policies, mission and vision- all are examples of accomplishments that can motivate reverse engineering. Rights Rights are entitlements based on a social contract. Without a society governed by laws that include rights and duties, rights could not exist outside thought alone. In order for rights to be exercised a society agrees to bind its members by a bargain that exchanges rights for obligations. A right to own property, for example, requires a corresponding obligation to respect the ownership of property by others. A right to vote requires the corresponding obligation to allow others to vote and have the means necessary for voting to be possible. Rights may be thought of as inherent or natural when they are regarded as part of simply being human so that people are born with these rights. Rights may also be conditional if they can be earned or lost based on performance as opposed to simply being a person. Strategic management in Northern community government is involved in


the administration of rights and duties that are defined in mandates. Social contract The idea of a social contract is theoretical. It describes an imaginary process of people meeting in order to form a government for the first time. Community government, can “invent itself” by pretending it doesn’t exist yet in order to think about the ideals of what it might become. The consent of the governed is an assumption of this use of the social contract idea. The idea can also be used to describe the net effect of history and politics on communities. Northern communities today can be described as “bargains” between individuals and their society. In Northern society there is a range of opinion about the form the social contract should take, or whether it makes any sense at all to use such an idea to think about communities. Strategic management is involved in adapting to an environment where the social contract is dynamic and may be in question. Stakeholder A stakeholder, as opposed to a shareholder, is an individual or groups whose interests are, or will be, affected by the outcomes of a policy, program or project. In community government stakeholders include all of the people served by government and all of the people who invest in the resources used by government to deliver services. Taxpayers, citizens, voters, and residents, are examples of labels for stakeholder groups. In strategic management stakeholder analysis refines these labels into subdivisions and significant groups related to issues. Strategic issue A strategic issue is an issue of importance. Issues are identified by stakeholders in government and form the basis of strategic planning using a political decision making model. Fundamental policy questions will be involved in strategic issues. For example the issue for distribution problems given scarce resources takes the form “who should get X? Whatever policy is developed to address this issue will be part of a larger strategic plan that contains more general policies and objectives to guide decisions. Strategic issues are identified by scanning the environment and


by difficulties encountered or predicted in the performance of mandates. Strategic plan A strategic plan is a comprehensive approach to planning. The goals, values, resources, and methods used by community government to make decisions are elements of the strategic plan. A process that follows six steps can produce the plan: • Initial agreement phase: planning to plan with stakeholder. • Clarify mandates and mission for present community

government. • Assess strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of

the present community government organization. • Identify strategic issues. • Implement Strategy. • Develop a vision of success. System A system is greater than the sum of its parts. An organism is a system, as is an automobile. Each element of a system is understood in terms of its role, function, and purpose in the system’s output and reason for existence. Connections and relationships allow each part to communicate with other parts so that self-regulation aims at the system’s output. An open system is a model for community government because it incorporates the conditions that make ethical communication and the equal treatment of people possible. Strategic management can be thought of as open systems management.

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