Developing the true "North"- by Stephen Covey

True North

When managing in the wilderness of changing times, a map is of unlimited worth. What’s needed is a moral compass.

When I was in New York recently, I witnessed a mugging skillfully executed by a street gang. I’m sure that the gang members have their street maps and common values, the highest being “don’t fink or squeal on each other”. But this value, as interpreted and practiced by the gang does not represent “true north”- the magnetic principle of respect for people and property.

They lacked and internal moral compass.

Principles are like a compass. A compass has a true north that is objective and external, that reflects natural laws or principles, as opposed to values that are subjective and internal. There is little disagreement on what the constitutional principles of a company should be when enough people get together. I find a universal belief in fairness, kindness, dignity, charity, integrity, honesty, quality, service and patience.

Consider the absurdity of trying to live a life based on opposites. I doubt anyone would seriously consider unfairness, deceit, baselessness, uselessness, mediocrity or degradation to be a solid foundation for lasting happiness and success.

People may argue about how these principles are to be defined, interpreted and applied in real life situation, but they generally agree about their intrinsic merit. They may not live in total harmony with them, but they believe in them, and they want to be managed by them. They want to be evaluated by “laws” in the social and economic dimensions that are just as real, just as unchanging and unarguable, just as the law of gravity in the physical dimension. The degree to which people in a society recognize and live in harmony with them moves them toward either survival and stability or disintegration and destruction.

In a talk-show interview, I was once asked if Hitler was principle-oriented. “No,” I said, “but he was value-driven. One of his governing values was to unify Gremany. But he violated compass principles and suffered natural consequences. And the consequences were momentous- the dislocation of the entire world for years.”

Just as the laws are fixed, so too are consequences. In my seminars I ask audiences, “when you think of your personal values, how do you think?” Typically, people focus on what they want. I then ask them “when you think of principles, how do you think?” They are more oriented toward objective law, listening to conscience and tapping into eternal verities. Principles are not values.

The German Nazis, like the street gang, shared values- but violated basic principles.
Values are maps. Principles are territories. Correct maps will impact our effectiveness far more than our efforts to change attitudes and behaviors. However, when the territory is constantly changing, when the market is constantly shifting, any map is soon obsolete.

A compass for the times.

Why is a compass better than a map in today’s business world?
The compass orients people to the coordinates and indicates a course or direction even in forests, deserts, seas and open, unsettled terrain. As the territory changes, the map becomes obsolete; in times of rapid change, a map may be dated and inaccurate by the time it’s printed.

Inaccurate maps are a source of frustration for people who are trying to find their way or navigate territory.

Many executives are pioneering, managing in uncharted waters or wilderness, and no existing map accurately describes the territory. An accurate map is a good management tool, but a compass is a leadership and an empowerment tool. People who have been using maps for many years to find their way and maintain a sense of perspective and direction should realize that their maps may be useless in the current maze and wilderness of management. My recommendation is that you exchange your map for a compass and train yourself and your people to navigate with a compass calibrated to a set of fixed, true north principles and natural laws.

Strategic Orientation

Map-versus-compass orientation is an important and strategic issue. We are locked into certain mindsets or paradigms, locked into management by maps, locked into and old model of leadership where the experts at the top decide the objectives, methods and means.

This old strategic planning model is obsolete. It’s a road map. It calls for people at the top to exercise their own experience, expertise, wisdom and judgement and set 10 year strategic plans- only to find that the plans are worthless within 18months. On the new environment, with speed-to-market timetables of 18 months instead of 5 years, plans fast become obsolete.

If our planning is centered on an overall purpose or vision and on a commitment to a set of principles, then the people who are closest to the action in the wilderness can use that compass and their own expertise and judgment to make decisions and take actions. In effect each person may have his or her own compass; each may be empowered to decide objectives and make plans that reflect the realities of the new market.

Principles are not practices.

Practices are specific activities or actions that work in one circumstance but not necessarily in another. If you manage by practices and lead by policies, your people don’t have to be experts; they don’t have to exercise judgment, because all the judgment and wisdom are provided them in form of rules and regulations.

If you focus on principle, you empower everyone; they will then understand those principles to act without constant monitoring, evaluating, correcting or controlling. Principles have universal application. And when these are internalized into habits, they empower people to create a wide variety of practices to deal with different situation, no matter how uniquely challenging each of them are.

Leading by principles as opposed to practices requires a different kind of training, perhaps even more training, but the payoff is more expertise, creativity and shared responsibility at all levels in an organization.

If you train people in the practices of customer service, you will get a degree of customer service, but the service will break down whenever customers present a special case or problem because in doing so, they short-circuit the standard operating procedure system.
Before people will consistently act on the principle of customer service, they need to adapt a new mindset. In most cases, they need to be trained- using case-studies, role plays, simulations and some on-the-job coaching- to be sure they understand the principle and how it is applied on the job.

The president of a major corporation recently asked me to meet with him and his management team. He said the corporate mission statement had no impact on their style. These executives felt that the mission was for the people “out there’ who were subject to the law, but that they were above the law. The idea of moral compassing is unsettling to people who think they are above the law. Because the constitution, based on principles, is the law; it governs everybody, including the president. It places responsibility on individuals to examine their lives and determine if they are willing to live by it.

We must deal with people/ culture issues to improve implementation of strategy and to achieve corporate integrity. We must be willing to go through constitutional convention, if not revolutionary war, to get the issues out on the table, deal with them, and get deep buy-in on the decisions. That wont happen without some blood, sweat and tears.

Ultimately, the successful implementation of any strategy hinges on the integrity people attach to the governing principles and on their ability to apply those principles in any given situation using their own moral compass.


By Stephen R Covey, taken from The EDGE Msia Nov, 27 2006