Chapter One
Understanding Organizations
and Their Unique Missions
The First Truth
Organizations are never created arbitrarily; they are always created for a reason. They have a purpose, a mission to pursue. Supervisors keep their employees focused on the organization's mission.
Ed and Sam met as undergraduates and became close friends. They shared many interests and enjoyed each other's company, so when they were both admitted to graduate school at the same prestigious Boston-area university, they jumped at the chance to be roommates. Sam was in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down from an accident he experienced in middle school, so long trips in a car were difficult for him. He dreaded the thought of traveling from North Carolina to Boston, but fortunately, his parents made the trip more comfortable by giving him the perfect graduation gift-a customized van designed to accommodate passengers in wheelchairs, and Ed agreed to drive it to Boston.
When the day came for the long and arduous multi-day trek, the two enthusiastic, soon-to-be graduate students headed north on Highway 1 before sunrise. Because Eisenhower's interstate highway system was still a plan on paper, the highway was a patchwork route-a series of existing roads zigzagging through small towns on the way from North Carolina to Richmond, Washington, and Baltimore before reaching New Jersey and New York where they traveled on multilane freeways. The freeways ended as they entered New England and the highway again meandered through villages and hamlets until they reached Boston. It was a tiring and expensive trip-a trip they didn't expect to repeat until the academic year ended; therefore, they packed everything they needed for the entire school year.
The two weary travelers reached their destination late in the evening. They were tired and needed to get some sleep before attending their first class at nine o'clock in the morning. But there would be no rest until they checked into their room and unpacked the van. Ed circled the parking lot several times, searching for a parking place near the dormitory entrance, but the lot was full. He finally pulled into a small, unmarked spot near the entrance while he and Sam went inside to get their room key. When they returned, they saw a campus police officer standing by the van. Fearful of getting a parking ticket before attending his first class, Ed told the officer about the long trip from North Carolina and asked for permission to keep the van parked near the door until they finished unpacking. When he noticed Sam's wheelchair, the officer quickly agreed.
Ed and Sam worked to get their suitcases, boxes, and other items moved from the van to their room, but the officer returned before they finished. This time, he wasn't alone. An employee from the maintenance department placed a reserved sign next to the parked van and painted yellow lines on the pavement in front and behind the vehicle. When the officer saw the students, he greeted them with these amazing words, "As long as you both remain students in good standing at this university, this parking place is yours."
They appreciated the officer's kindness, but they were tired and needed to finish unloading the van, so they thanked him and then rushed to get the last boxes into their room before settling down for the evening.
The official name of my course was Research Administration for Scientists, but I jokingly referred to it as "the course that covers everything scientists need to know about managing their research that isn't taught in other courses." It attracted students from many scientific disciplines, and this led to spirited class discussions. To get their attention, I often began lectures with a relevant story or illustration. But on this day, the perplexed and skeptical looks on several of the student's faces revealed the difficulty they were having connecting the story about Ed and Sam to the lecture topic about organizations and their missions. I paused and asked for their impression of the story.
The first student explained, "I never met a campus police officer at my previous schools who was anything like the one in the story. They were always quick to write tickets for any offense, regardless of the circumstances. And trust me, I speak from experience." His comment caused everyone to laugh, but I wanted to encourage the students to dig deeper, so I asked them to identify the primary takeaway-the most important lesson from the story. Several students thought the story described a one-off event; an interesting and inspirational story about an officer's random act of kindness, but nothing more. The officer's attempt to balance his parking enforcement duties with the needs of these two young men impressed many students, but they had difficulty believing a campus police officer had the authority to create a special parking place.
Gradually, the discussion turned from the officer's actions to his work environment, and then to his relationship with his supervisor. The students asked about the type of training the officer received, the techniques his supervisor used, and how his supervisor reacted to the creation of a new parking place.
Most students believed the officer would not have acted so boldly if he wasn't confident his supervisor would support his decisions. They decided this wasn't a story about a maverick officer acting on his own. Instead, it was a story about an officer who followed the informal, unwritten rules embedded in the university's culture. He behaved exactly the way his supervisor expected him to behave.
This realization led the students to redefine the story's focus. They no longer viewed it as a story about the extraordinary actions of one employee; instead, the students concluded it was a story about an extraordinary organization that expected its employees to take bold action when confronting mission-related challenges.
I remember listening as Ed reminisced about his experiences a half century earlier. At one point, he looked me squarely in the eye and said, "I didn't realize it back then, but my graduate education began in that dormitory parking lot when a world-class instructor, who also served as a campus police officer, taught me an important lesson-a lesson I have never forgotten about staying focused on my organization's mission."
Ed couldn't remember the officer's name, yet he remembered every word the officer said and every action he took. This serendipitous experience put Ed's entire career into perspective and helped him realize his academic preparation would be for naught if he didn't remain focused on his organization's mission. Fortunately, Ed paid attention and followed the police officer's example. Throughout his career, he never joined an organization unless he supported its mission. For Ed, the organization's mission became his mission.
Ed shared his story with many people, including me. I told and retold it many times during my career, as have many of Ed's colleagues and friends. As a result, countless managers and supervisors chose a mission-focused approach providing direction and meaning to their careers. You have now joined the ranks of these supervisors, so let Ed's inspiring story be a reminder to always stay focused on your organization's mission.
Every Organization Has a Mission
Organizations take many forms ranging from large, multinational corporations to small mom-and-pop businesses, from special interest groups such as historical societies and neighborhood associations to hospitals and museums, and from major research universities to community colleges. Examples include civic and social clubs, non-profit, charitable, and religious organizations, government agencies, military units, and even committees, advisory councils, and boards.
Some organizations are small; others are large. Some have complex, hierarchical organization structures with many levels of management and complex rules. Others are less formal, with flatter organization structures and fewer rules and policies. Some operate from a physical location, such as a building, factory, warehouse, or office. Others are virtual organizations, scattered geographically with no brick-and-mortar structures.
Despite their many differences, all organizations share one important characteristic. Something motivated their founders to come together to form the organization. It continued to motivate those who joined later and it will motivate those who join in the future. The something providing this motivation is the organization's mission, its purpose-its reason to exist.
An organization's mission provides continuity of purpose among its managers, supervisors, employees, and patrons, and it points the organization toward its destination. The missions of some organizations are narrow in scope and limited in time, such as a committee formed to study an issue and prepare a report. These organizations reach their destination by following a linear path that includes a series of logical steps. Some steps are brief and others lengthy, but if properly designed and implemented, the process moves the committee toward completing the project. When finished, the committee has completed its mission and has no reason to continue to exist; therefore, it is appropriate for the chair to declare mission accomplished and disband the committee.
Other organizations, such as public utility companies with a mission to provide electricity to their customers or hospitals committed to providing healthcare services to their patients, have ongoing missions. They continue for as long as their...
