In an ideal world, each member of an organization can work autonomously and effectively, while still maintaining alignment with the company's overall mission and values. However, achieving this level of independence while still preserving organizational cohesion is challenging for many leaders.
According to the Harvard Business Review, a successful example of an organization encouraging autonomy and alignment exists in the military. Generals must ensure each solider is aligned with the greater strategy in place, while at the same time providing enough independence for soldiers to respond to changing conditions. The military's solution is comprised of two parts, according to the report.
1. The commander's intent declares the purpose of an operation and the requirements for success.
2. The doctrine outlines how soldiers make decisions to achieve the purpose.
The formal definition of the doctrine is "[f]undamental principles by which the military forces guide their actions in support of objectives. It is authoritative but requires judgment in application," according to the report.
That doctrine, despite its relevance in the business world, is often absent, according to the report. While every organization has a mission, goals and strategies to give its employees direction, few organizations have a comprehensive, contextualized doctrine to empower individual employees to make decisions.
Without such a doctrine, leaders cannot provide employees the autonomy they desire without losing control. So they turn to active oversight and supervision. However, by replacing process that control behavior with principles for empowering effective decision-making, leaders can improve engagement, productivity, creativity and commitment.
There are three steps leaders can take to develop a decision-making doctrine, according to Harvard Business Review.
1. Re-examine the organization's mission. Does the mission truly represent a shared purpose? Do you have a company narrative that outlines how the purpose will be realized?
2. Extract principles from your existing values. Values can be boiled down to principles upon which decision-making is based. Then use real-world decisions and work backward until you identify the most effective principles.
3. Find internal catalysts. Leaders and managers can help evolve the principles and demonstrate how to apply them to daily decisions.