Organizational Effectiveness
Foundation of sustainable organizational leadership, effectiveness and change

Organizational Character and Performance

If you would optimize your business for organizational health and effectiveness what first steps would you take? Develop insight on intrinsic factors that promote organizational health, organizational leadership, and high-performance culture.


Total organizational poise is intrinsic to high-performance organizational culture and organizational character to sustain desired organizational leadership, performance and change.


It is important to understand two operating terms: 'total' and 'poise'. 'Total' refers to all key aspects of the organization's human and organizational systems on the one hand and all key factors or aspects of 'poise' on the other. 'Poise' is more than people think or assume—and particularly so when it comes to organizational poise—as it has to do with intrinsic values.

Organizational Effectiveness

Total organizational poise is intrinsic to high-performance organizational culture and organizational character to sustain desired organizational leadership, performance and change.

Total Organizational Poise - Significance
Organizational Synergy

When the actualizing attributes of people and organizational systems—which form the core of organizational poise and subsumed in the dimensions of organizational health and character—are effectively and strategically integrated in a business, its people would be positioned to sustain desired organizational effectiveness, leadership and performance.

Organizational Effectiveness - The Poise Factor
Organizational Effectiveness

Undertake periodic organizational health and effectiveness review, and develop—and follow through on—plans to sustain organizational health and effectiveness.

Sustaining Organizational Health - Insights
Organization Design

To sustain desired results, the organizational design or re-design must adequately address human factors and significant aspects of the organizational systems.

Organization Design - Insights
Core Values

The core values an organization and its key people subscribe to define its character and are central to the essence of its business, management, operations, and transactions. The same holds true for core values underlying change management projects—particularly for them to lead to transformational organizational change and performance.

Change Management - Core Values
Exploring Intrinsic Organizational Factors Promoting Organizational Leadership and Effectiveness

The Core of High-Performance Organizational Culture

Total organizational poise is at the heart of a healthy organizational culture. What 'organizational poise' really is should be understood and factored into practical steps to promote organizational performance, leadership, and effectiveness.

A beginning step to exploring and understanding the various features of poise is by considering synonyms and antonyms relating to 'poise'. You could start the process in your organization by asking your people a simple question: 'What are the key attributes of a well-poised person?' You may then follow it up with another related question: 'What are the key attributes of an intrinsically healthy or well-poised organization?'

Based on the responses you receive—and internal validation and synthesis—you could come up with a list of 'poise' factors. You could also gain further insight by reflecting on what the lack of poise represents;—asking: How, in real terms, would the absence of poise manifest?'


What list did you come up with? Such an exercise, a rather small step—apart from raising awareness and sensitivity among your key people—could be important towards eventually transforming your organizational ystems and character to sustain desired organizational leadership, effectiveness and performance. Because, in this, the intrinsic organizational health and character counts.

You may want to compare your list to the following—distilled from responses we got using the same approach some years back.


1. Adaptability 2. Agility 3. Alignment 4. Assertiveness 5. Balance 6. Calmness 7. Compactness 8. Completeness 9. Composure 10. Confidence
11. Congruence 12. Correctness 13. Courage 14. Drive 15. Efficiency 16. Energy 17. Enthusiasm 18. Equilibrium 19. Esteem 20. Flexibility
21. Genuineness 22. Gracefulness 23. Integration 24. Integrity 25. Keenness 26. Peak 27. Resourcefulness 28. Restraint 29. Self-control
30. Sharpness 31. Solidity 32. Soundness 33. Stability 34. Stamina 35. Synergy 36. Vitality 37. Wholeness 38. Wholesomeness

Configuring the List of Organizational Health and Poise Factors

Organizational Health and Character Dimensions

Operationally defining each organizational health or poise factor—and configuring the factors into organizational character, health and effectiveness constructs or dimensions is the critical next step.

When we did this, we arrived at the following six primary categories or dimensions along which actualizing attributes of people and organizational systems could be optimized to sustain organizational health, leadership and effectiveness:

  1. Congruence, which incorporates harmony, balance, focus, stability and thoroughness.
  2. Integration, which incorporates strength, composure, sharpness, effectiveness and mastery.
  3. Integrity, which incorporates dignity, credibility, commitment and wholesomeness
  4. Refinement, which incorporates sensitivity, excellence, equity, decency and attractiveness
  5. Versatility, which incorporates agility, responsiveness, innovativeness and resourcefulness
  6. Vitality, which incorporates drive to attain desired results, organizational synergy, vibrancy and intrinsic soundness of character (and systems).
Key Steps to Developing Organizational Health and Effectiveness Inventory

Organizational Health and Effectiveness Inventory

There should be the important step of developing and using an appropriate, strategy-fit organizational health and effectiveness inventory.

The organizational health and effectiveness inventory should incorporate the organizational health and character constructs or dimensions earlier developed. The process of developing and using a fit-for-purpose organizational health and effectiveness inventory would include the following:

  1. Agree the organizational health and character constructs or dimensions—and their associated indicators—to adopt, monitor and assess in light of the strategic situation of your business or organization.
  2. Define, operationally and strategically, each dimension—and each indicator subsumed under the dimension.
  3. Agree, and set up, the mechanism for integrating the organizational health and character dimensions and indicators into an Organizational Health and Effectiveness Inventory as part of a tool-kit for organizational assessment.
  4. Gain stakeholders' commitment to periodic review of organizational culture, health, and effectiveness, and their outcomes.
  5. Undertake periodic organizational health and effectiveness review, and develop—and follow through on—plans to sustain organizational health and effectiveness.
Fostering the organizational character to sustain organizational health, leadership and effectiveness

Practical Approaches to Sustaining Organizational Effectiveness and Performance

When the actualizing attributes of people and organizational systems—which form the core of organizational poise and subsumed in the dimensions of organizational health and character—are effectively and strategically integrated in a business, its people would be positioned to sustain desired organizational effectiveness, leadership and performance.

There would be the monitoring, tracking and measuring, on an ongoing basis, the level of integration of these factors and dimensions into the organization's way of life. One practical approach is to use a multi-stage, culture-themed organization workshops and roundtables to explore the key factors and dimensionspoise factors, agree their definitions, identify their core applications and integrate them with the organization's way of life—in the context of your strategic and competitive realities.

Integrated with the culture-themed organization workshops may be a periodic review, say once in three years, of organizational culture, health, and effectiveness using the Organizational Health and Effectiveness Inventory developed as highlighted earlier. This would help your business keep track of its performance on the dimensions and metrics of organizational health and effectiveness.

You may find it helpful and organizationally effective to build the capacity of your organizational development and HR specialists to facilitate organizational culture, leadership and performance.

Proactive Collaboration and Productive Engagement

Technical Assistance and Partnership

Need our technical assistance or partnership towards facilitating organizational culture, leadership and effectiveness? Get Help:info@odsynergy.com

Contact Us