Governance Issues in Professional Regulation

CLEAR Seminar

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011© CLEAR 2011

Strategy vs. Tactics

Caroline MacIsaac-Power

College of Opticians of Ontario

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

STRATEGYPlanning, Decisions, Leadership & Management

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Pay Attention to the Plan

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Strategic Planning

• Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including finances and human resources

• Strategic planning is the formal consideration of an organization's future course

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Strategic Decisions

• Strategic decisions determine the grand direction upon which an entity will embark

• Always, strategy precedes action• The object of strategy is to bring about

advantageous conditions within which action will occur

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Strategic Leadership

• Being strategic, then, means being clear about the organization's objectives, being aware of the organization's resources, and incorporating both into being consciously responsive to a dynamic environment

• The process is about planning because it involves intentionally setting goals (i.e., choosing a desired future) and developing an approach to achieving those goals

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Strategic Leadership

• The plan is ultimately no more, and no less, than a set of decisions about what to do, why to do it, and how to do it

• Because it is impossible to do everything that needs to be done in this world, strategic planning implies that some organizational decisions and actions are more important than others – and that much of the strategy lies in making the tough decisions about what is most important to achieving organizational success

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Strategic Management

• Strategic planning is a management tool, period• As with any management tool, it is used for one

purpose only: to help an organization do a better job – to focus its energy, to ensure that members of the organization are working toward the same goals, to assess and adjust the organization's direction in response to a changing environment

• In short, strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future (John M. Bryson, Strategic Planning in Public and Non-profit Organizations)

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Blue Cups

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

What do we want to Achieve?

This is your strategic plan• Fairness• Accountability• Public safety • Membership engagement• Efficient and timely • Responsive• Increased Awareness of the College

and its Role

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Direction with Options

• The great military theorist Carl von Clausewitz "Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war."

• Military commanders and theorists throughout history have formulated what they considered to be the most important strategic and tactical principles of war. Napoleon for example, had 115 such principles.

• The Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest had but one: "Get there first with the most men.“

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

TACTICSGo Fish, Perspectives & Personalities

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Details…Details…

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

How are you going to get there?

These are your Strategic Tools

• Budget• Governance• Staff• Committee mandates• Meeting agendas• Scan the environment

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

GOVERNANCE…is the key

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Do you have a Queen?

• Fish • War • Old Maid• Snap• Crib• Bridge

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

How do we make the best of what we have?

• Understand the rules

• Understand the perspectives

• Understand the people

• Reminders about the rules

• More reminders• Lead by Example• Experience what

happens if we are not all playing the same game (on small matters)

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Know the Perspectives

PublicGovernmentMembershipOther ProfessionsOther Provinces Other Countries

IndustryAssociationsEducatorsContinuing Education Providers

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Know the PersonalitiesTask Roles

Initiator

Opinion Giver

Elaborator

Clarifier

Process RolesTension-Reliever

Compromiser

Harmonizer

Gate-keeper

Blocking RolesAggressor

Negator

Blocker

Withdrawer

Blocking Roles (yes there are lots)

Recognition seeker

Topic-jumper

Joker

Devil’s advocate(Hunter, Bailey & Taylor, 1995)

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Scan the Environment

• One of the most common mistakes players make is to try an idea independent of the circumstances, from a narrow point of view. Of course it's daunting to look from other or wider perspectives. There are so many changing relationships to monitor.

• Science provides proof. Recent studies have documented a common sense observation that anyone can make by watching a [chess] player's eyes. Beginners are generally restricted to their side of the board. Practiced players typically inspect both sides.

(From Every Move Must Have a Purpose: Strategies from Chess for Business and Life, by Bruce Padolfini)

 

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

MANAGING CHANGE discipline or regret…

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Infinite Possibilities

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

External Forces

Change • Change in

Legislation• Change in Policy

Direction• Change in

Government • Media reports

ManagementHow to manage the change using strategy and tactics

•information•information•information

Be Proactive

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Nature of the Beast

Change • New Council/Board

Members• New Committee

Composition• New President/Vice

President/Leadership

• Staffing changes

ManagementHow to manage the change using strategy and tactics

•Education•Succession

planningBe Proactive

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Internal Change

Change • Monitoring

indicates desired outcomes are not being achieved

• Budgetary changes

ManagementHow to manage the change using strategy and tactics

• Re-evaluate purpose, strategy

• Re-evaluate priorities

Be Reactive

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

THANK YOU

Council on Licensure,

Enforcement and Regulation

Toronto, Ontario

March 24, 2011

Speaker Contact Information

Caroline MacIsaac-Power, RORegistrar & CEO College of Opticians of Ontario