A colleague of mine is an executive in a truly excellent company, one very explicit about its “Culture of High Performance.” Mutual trust and respect, open communication, and positive assumptions are identified as keys to organizational success. This company is also a very strong business-strategy player. But it does not identify only the “hard business” side of the success equation. The people-side of the equation is highlighted.
Going back at least as far as the 1940s, organizational theorists began to recognize the joint technical-and-social nature of work. Up until that time (and well beyond) the mindset was, design an efficient production process and people will plug in and run it as extensions of the machine. But if employees are bored and have no say in how things are done, it’s unlikely many of them will be highly motivated. The iconic best-in-class companies commonly exhibit a blend of both smart business strategy and smart people strategy. The leaders of the pack most often emphasize an integrated approach.