I recently came across a can-do organanization with an appropriate motto. “We’ll figure it out because we can, no worries”. For them this was a powerful and effective approach.
For me it is a tiny bit too unstructured for a standard organizational environment. In this case there is no need for an objective based approach or a balanced scorecard to measure how you are doing.
Success is figured out as you go along.
Always successful
Every action is a win because you are figuring it out as you go along. In this case success definitions can be quite malleable. It’s probably makes it a lot easier if achievement measures are flexible. Basically this is a great way to consistently perform to expectations.
Given the expectations are figured out as you go along the team always succeeds. This sounds like it would be a great organizational culture.
Not really as good as it might seem
Surprisingly (to some, not me) engagement checks of the team members in these type of environments consistently score low.
While it might feel like having little direction would be satisfing, that is doing whatever you want; psychological studies have shown the reality is human nature demands constraints to thrive ( in most cases anyway – this is not an absolute).
Even intellectual pursuits generally fare better with boundaries. The blank slate is definately embraced by some, however they are a minority.
Balance
Striking a balance between defined, measurable objectives and the ability to figure it out when appropriate is more likely to result in a high performing organization than either extreme (i.e. figure it out as you go along or strict do this do that directions)
