After living in Moldova for nearly a year and developing a new strategy for a microfinance institution, I thought it would be interesting to discuss the process of organizational change in implementing the strategy. It may look slightly different in a former communist country, but the key elements span the cultural divide.

I have been asked about strategy review meetings on a more frequent basis. The most recent one was "Tell me about the best strategy review meeting you have seen. Why was it so good?" It got me thinking that there are multiple ways to conduct a strategy review meeting: Review objectives that are off track, review everything, review by theme, and review just one objective. In this blog, I'll focus on reviewing items that are off track.

A few weeks ago, we hosted "Managing for Performance," which focused on how performance management can help districts optimize the performance of their central office, school zones, and classrooms. Hosted in partnership with the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and the District of Columbia Public Schools, the event convened districts from around the country on the critical topic of performance management.

What makes a good Balanced Scorecard report? I have written in this blog many times about the need to have regular reporting and how to prepare for the report, but I continually get the question about what is a good one or bad one? Let me quickly state that a good report is one that provides useful information to the leadership team of an organization so that they can discuss and make decisions about their strategy. Well, if you know anything about Ascendant and the Balanced Scorecard, you have probably read or heard that answer before. This blog attempts to provide a few more details.

Uncommon Schools just announced its 2009-2010 education results. For those of you that do not know of Uncommon, they are a charter management organization that manages 24 schools with almost 5,000 students. Their schools operate in New York City, Newark, NJ, Boston, and upstate New York. They focus on creating a rigorous and joyful education environment, where the teachers can focus on teaching and most administrative functions are managed centrally. Like many charter organizations and public school reformers, they believe that all students can achieve, regardless of their background, race, or economic circumstances.

The city of Charlottesville, VA is in the process of rolling out a performance management and measurement initiative. This initiative is managed by the Office of Budget and Performance Management and is called P3 within the city. It stands for "Plan, Perform, Perfect."

Many non-profit organizations, associations, and government agencies use the Balanced Scorecard as a way to overcome the strains and varying pulls of their combined energies. But have you ever considered that the Balanced Scorecard can help you outside of work as well?People are busier than ever before – we're working longer hours, we're becoming ever more stretched by Outlook, Facebook, and even that business trip you took. And all of us, in one way or another, are trying to do more with less. One challenge of modern life is that it can be hard to take a step back and look at the "big picture" of our lives. Using a Balanced Scorecard approach can help, just by considering the simple questions:

• Are we really making time for the people that mean the most to us?
• Are we really shaping our lives in a way that will bring peace and fulfillment?
• Are we saving for the future, both emergencies and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities?
• Can I build a stronger, more confident, yet more caring family too?

Let's look at an example Balanced Scorecard to see how this technique might apply to a typical family... To make a Balanced Scorecard with your family, consider using the following Balanced Scorecard Perspectives – this is similar to a typical organization's Balanced Scorecard Perspectives, but replacing the generic "Customer Perspective" with Family Happiness" instead: Finances & Risk Management: What are the various financial goals that you are trying to achieve for your family? For example:

• Emergency funds: Most financial planners recommend having at least three months of salary in the bank. Do you have it?
• Long-term savings: This includes lifelong goals like retirement, college funds for children.
• Discretionary spending: How much do you get to spend each month? Are you happy with that number, or do you feel stretched, stressed, and too close to the line?
• Time off: Do you want more time away from work? Can you adjust your finances to "buy" more time?
• Insurance: Are you and your family protected against the risk of catastrophic loss? Whether it's your home, your life, your car, or your health, make sure you're covered.

Family Happiness: Your family, be it your parents, your significant other, and even your pets should be a safe haven from the dangers of life. So many times though, family is only seen as another source of stress. Imagining you and your family all as customers of this "organization", can any initiatives build better bonds?

• Family dinners: how often do you and your family sit down together at the dinner table? Are the dinners boring and rigid, or is everyone excited to bring their stories of the day?
• Service to others: Does your family get involved in the community? Do you make time to go visit relatives? When was the last time your family volunteered at a soup kitchen or made a donation to a charity?
• Spiritual life: Do you attend religious services with your family? If you do not belong to an organized religious group, how can your family better share affection and emotional comfort, and express gratitude for your lives together?

Learning and Growth: How can you do more to invest in the "human capital" of your family? What do you want to learn from, and teach to, your loved ones?

• Music: What musical instrument would you like to learn to play? What about your children? Music has been proven to relax the mind after a long day at work.
• Reading: What magazines do you love to read? Who are your favorite authors? How can you encourage your children to spend more time reading for fun?
• Travel: Where in the world would you most like to go during your lifetime? What are your favorite annual travel destinations?
• Friends and connections: Invest in your family's "social capital" – your network of all the friends, acquaintances and contacts who might be able to help you (or your family) in the future – and who you would gladly help as well. When was the last time you invited some good friends over for dinner?

Internal Processes: How well does your family "work?" What are the internal systems and processes that affect how smoothly and harmoniously your lives go at home?

• Managing the Household: Do you have a regular system of assigning chores? Who does which tasks? How do you decide? Does everyone know their responsibilities?
• Trying new things: How "innovative" is your family? Are you open to new ideas, or stuck in your ways?
• Relationship management: How strong are your family's connections with other family and friends? Do you often socialize with others, or do you keep to yourselves?

Using a Balanced Scorecard approach to your family and personal life can present some important questions. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers, but you can make some powerful changes by understanding expectations and how to maximize the strength, safety, and support of a family while minimizing the financial and emotional stress of maintaining lifelong companionship. Here's to a happy, healthy, and fulfilling future!

Leadership at a non-profit or government agency is not always about high-level thinking and flying-by-wire; sometimes you need to get up close and personal with a pesky problem or uncooperative trends and measures. Leaders especially need to know how to identify the root cause of a problem. Go beyond the symptoms and surface appearances and find the deeper reasons for the problem – this is what we mean by "root cause analysis."Here are a few key elements of root cause analysis: Look at the big picture Whatever the problem – whether it's a challenge related to finances, motivation, education, or hiring & firing – you need to make sure you understand the full details. Ask questions. Get the perspectives of a number of people involved with the problem – don't fully accept the first story you hear. Ask "Five Whys" This basically means that in order to uncover the root cause of a problem, you need to ask "why" at least five times, in order to drill down deeper and discover the true causes of a problem that lie beneath the surface. For example – consider a non-profit organization that was having trouble meeting its fund raising goals. The first "why": "Why aren't we raising as much money this quarter as we did last quarter?" "Well, I think it's because we only sent two fund raising pamphlets this quarter." The second "why": "Why did we only send two fund raising requests?" "In this case, I think it's because our fund raising manager has been re-assigned to Member Relations two days a week." The third "why": "Why was she re-assigned?" "Because the program director decided that building member relationships was more valuable than direct fund raising appeals." The fourth "why": "Why did they make that decision?" "Because a lot of our members were giving us feedback that the fund raising appeals were too impersonal and too frequent – they wanted a more authentic connection with our organization." The fifth "why": "Why are we having trouble creating a more authentic connection with our members?" The answer to the fifth "why" is essential – this shows how the conversation (which was originally about money and fund raising appeals) actually needs to focus on something that is ultimately more essential to the organization – the authentic sense of connection and identity between the organization and the members it serves. If that sense of connection is there, the money will follow. And Remember- It's Not All Bad Root cause analysis is not just about examining what is going "wrong," it's about learning from what is going "right." In addition to troubleshooting and identifying problems, root cause analysis offers you the chance to find out what is going well within the organization, and then duplicating those successes elsewhere! Have You had problems with obscure root causes? If so, we would love to hear your story at the BSC Community Ps. A great video link is posted there too!

Rochester City School District is in the process of reinventing itself, and perhaps, reinventing the way that educational leaders across the country think about K12 educational performance. Rochester is on its way to improving its graduation rate, growing it from an abysmal 39% to an acceptable 75%, but Rochester's ambitions do not stop there.

While we swelter this week in 90+ degree temperatures, many organizations are also sweltering under the heat of their stakeholders to demonstrate that they are making an impact. Nonprofit executives are usually trying to show their boards and funders that the work they are doing is having an impact. Federal government organizations have been told to demonstrate their performance, starting in 1996 under the Government Performance and Results act, and continuing today in some new legislation introduced this year (not passed yet) called the Government Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Performance Act. For profit organizations of course have to report to their stakeholders as well, and the demands are increasingly more than just financial.

Let's start with nonprofits. Tactical Philanthropy, a popular nonprofit blog, written by Sean Stannard-Stockton, wrote on June 29, 2010 about the difference between outputs, outcomes, and impact. Outputs are the typical measure of nonprofits. These are the equivalent of the number of people served. Outcomes show the effect of the outputs. This is a stretch for most nonprofits. If you are a homeless shelter, you output might be the number of beds filled. The outcome would be a reduction in the homeless population in the area where you serve. Impact is the overall societal benefit that comes from the outcome. So a homeless shelter would want to say that quality of life in the city is improved by having fewer homeless people. The economy would grow while crime would decrease. The link from having a productive homeless shelter to a decrease in crime is the holy grail, argues Stannard-Stockton. This is a great start to the nonprofit measurement challenge, and in my experience, most nonprofits struggle in this way. The Balanced Scorecard helps an organization think about the drivers and activities that produce the outputs and outcomes an organization is trying to achieve. Few have been able to clearly demonstrate the impact of their efforts.

In the federal government, Congressmen Moore and Cuellar have introduced a new bill that requires performance improvement officers across government agencies. Imagine if each government program were reviewed once every five years to assess their performance and improve operations. I think every administration in recent memory (but maybe EVER) has claimed that they want to cut wasteful spending from the federal government. This proposed act would require assessments, comprehensive reports, and improvement plans for each program. A good idea, yes, but it will require quite a bit of effort. The nice thing is that each agency would need a performance improvement officer. This role is already being created, as I know several people interviewing for or currently in these jobs. Now they just need a common framework from which to manage and be able to share best practices. This would be a great way to initiate the idea of the "performance improvement council" that is in the proposed bill. Imagine choosing a proven framework like the Balanced Scorecard, with hundreds of cases in the public, nonprofit, and private sector. Then you would see a sustainable system across the government where politicians could come and go, but performance management would be here to stay.

Finally, and it hardly needs mentioning, but the private sector is also sweating out performance results this summer. As the economy threatens to double dip, economists and industry leaders are searching for those leading indicators that the country is stabilizing and companies invest in the future. The Washington Post today reported that companies are holding $1.8 trillion in cash, the most by any comparable measure in the last 50 years. Each company should have their set of strategic measures: inputs, processes, outcomes, and risk measures that will allow them to position themselves to deliver great results in these challenging times. Those organizations that use a balance of measures are beating the odds and executing their strategy.

Yes it is hot outside today, but hopefully in your organization, you have a framework that allows you to execute on your strategy. Hopefully you can confidently report back to your stakeholders about your strategy and the progress you are making this summer and through these difficult times. You owe it to your organization to have the strategy management system (both measures, meetings, and a decision making process) to give you the confidence to report on your results.