Focus Governance is a suite of Governance analysis and education tools. Focus Governance is not a governance system, the developers of the Focus Governance do not believe that any structure, process, mechanism or tool is a magic bullet or system that will result in Good Governance. Good Governance is the result of effectively and accountably focusing an organization on serving the purpose it exists to serve. Governance tools can be effective in supporting an organization being focused, effective and accountable in achieving its purpose, but no governance tool, system, structure or mechanism constitutes Good Governance in and of themselves.
Good Governance is:
- FOCUSED on Achieving the Purpose of the business or organization.
- EFFECTIVE in Achieving the Purpose of the business or organization.
- ACCOUNTABLE for Achieving the Purpose of the business or organization.
Focused Governance – Define Success
Define & Refine Purpose & Expectations
Every business or organization exists to achieve a purpose. The purpose of a business or organization is to create, produce or support value for or on behalf of its ownership. The purpose of a business or organization needs to be the focus of organizational and operational expectations, achievement and accountability because, no matter what other seeming successes a business or organization achieves or sustains, if it does not achieve its purpose, it is a failure.
Organization Types Purpose Fundamentals:
· Business – Financial Profit Organization. A business is an organization that distributes financial profit of operations to its owners or shareholders.
· Cooperative or Collaborative (Non-Profit, Not For Profit or Non-Financial Profit Organization) – An organization that creates, produces or supports non-financial values for its ownership or membership.
· Charity – An organization that creates, produces or supports non-financial values for others on behalf of its ownership or membership.
· *Government can be either a Business or a Cooperative/Collaborative Organization depending on whether the government serves rulers or is and actual democracy serving and effectively accountable to its people.
Board Lead, Management Supported
Effective Governance – Support & Achieve Success
Plan, Resource, Execute, Implement
Planning and implementation to proactively but flexibly achieve expectations. Risk and opportunity are never completely predictable.
A CEO is the operational lead chosen by the board of directors to manage the organization and achieve operational success. Although leadership is an important attribute of a CEO the fundamental role of a good CEO is logistics. Right people at the right place at the right time with the right resources, tools, knowledge and skills to achieve the right results. Leadership is important but logistics is the most important aspect of supervisory or management roles, especially the CEO.
Management Led, Board Supported
Accountable Governance – Accountability for Achieving Success
Due Diligence & Outcomes
Outcomes are measured against defined expectations. The ultimate measure of quality in a business or organization’s performance is the bottom line, and so it should be for governance as well. In businesses, the bottom line is financial profit, which is the basic function of a business or for-profit organization. For not-for-profits, charities, governments and other organizations, performance should be measured against the bottom line of the purpose or fundamental function of the organization. Performance evaluations of organizations are not effectively measured by mechanisms used and neither is quality of governance. Does it matter if a business or organization has a mission statement, a diverse board or policies if they are effectively directionless and unaccountable?
Board Led, Management Supported