There are four performance dimensions in the Effectus framework: COMBAT (survival); SUBLIMITY (beauty); RELIABILITY (function); and PURPOSE (morality). These four dimensions are primitive drivers of performance – the most basic reasons why anyone does anything. Organisations with a strong orientation to one or more of these dimensions have a clear and powerful reason to exist which, if harnessed to an effective performance system, can deliver great results.
Business, the activity of making financial profits, is not a primary dimension of performance. Money is not an end in itself: it must be used in the service of a performance objective.
Failure to draw this distinction is the reason why many commercial enterprises find it difficult to deliver strong performance from their organisations. Financial targets, market share objectives, Wall Street expectations, etc., don’t motivate people to perform in the same way as a fundamental driver would. Performance in these cases is not a matter of life or death; right or wrong; safety or disaster; beautiful or hideous. Establishing a performance system on secondary, derivative performance objectives is bound to lead to weak performance outcomes and a general question of ‘why are doing this?’ in the minds of people.
All organisations need to get down to the basic performance drivers as the foundation for their performance model. The structures that are placed on top of this will be more secure, and the outcomes more valuable.
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