Anatomy of a Successful Agency
(Autopsy of a Failed Agency)
Ron Brown, CEO
Rock Solid Foundation, LLC
www.rocksolidfoundation.net
Stated Learning Objectives
1.
Learn principles of management and leadership that will
prevent agency malfunction
2.
Challenge participants to apply lessons learned where
applicable
3.
Affirm participants in areas of agency strengths
Introduction
Rock Solid Foundation
Highlights:
We enable human service agencies to integrate license,
contract, and accreditation standards requirements into a
streamlined workflow
 Integration of all
requirements into a single
workflow is critical
 CI = continuous
improvement
As a CI company, we develop foundational resources
upon which to build your agency.
Ron Brown - CEO
Mark Glenn - COO
 Combining industry
experience with technology
Introduction
Participant Survey
Location?
Agency Mission?
Role?
What do you want out of the session?
GOOD NEWS: Everything works together for good . . .
Assumptions Being Made:
 Degree of relevance to
your situation
The Perfect Storm
•State budget shortfalls
Assumptions Being Made:
•Political pressure to hold agencies accountable
•Large, visible agency with eight offices directed by
relatively “green” supervision
•Founded a for-profit “management company” with a
contract with the non-profit agency
•The agency had weaknesses (below)
We don’t know what we
don’t know
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Question:
Who else has failed this way before, and how can
that person help me?
Lesson:
Party(s) responsible for dysfunction is (are) the least
able to assess the dysfunction
Assumptions Being Made:
Safety in multitude of
counselors
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Question:
Did I fall short of an unrealistically high standard or
goal?
Lesson:
Desire to grow without detailed knowledge of
requirements leads to growth without strong
foundation and infrastructure
Assumptions Being Made:
Minimum standards must
be met first
Lessons Learned
16 Principles
Principle #1
Submission to Authority
Test: Do you view regulatory entities as adversaries?
Implication: They will dig deeper
Application: What is the “buyer” telling me?
Principle #2
“Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure” (Ben
Franklin)
Test: Do you see non-compliances or serious incidents as isolated
events?
Implication: Non-compliances (or serious incidents) will likely recur
Application: What/Who has caused each citation (or incident)?
Principle #3
“Things hidden shouted from rooftops” (Luke 12:2-3)
Test: Are you relieved when authorities don’t discover known,
unaddressed problems, or do you attempt to hide or camouflage errors
and omissions?
Implication: Non-disclosure leads to mistrust and intensified external
monitoring
Application: Guidelines of self-reporting
Principle #4
Call to Excellence
Test: Is a certain number of non-compliances, investigations, incidents or
outcomes shortfalls expected or accepted?
Implication: Culture of Complacency
Application: Benchmarks for outcomes
Principle #5
Enforce Healthy Boundaries
Test: Do Related Party transactions (if any) not comply with policies and
procedures?
Implication: Lack of accountability
Application: CEO/BOD Performance Review process
Principle #6
“Trust but Verify” (Old Russian proverb; Ronald Reagan)
Test: Do you depend on a single, non-integrated point of failure?
Implication: “Garbage in; garbage out”
Application: Where is the weak link in monitoring?
Principle #7
Delegate Authority, NOT Responsibility
Test: Does anyone have little or no accountability?
Implication: Pay the price for lack of performance
Application: What can happen unbeknownst to me?
Principle #8
“What’s in it for me?” (everyone)
Test: Do you believe that your staff is motivated primarily by your vision?
Implication: Fragmentation into individual visions
Application: Ensure right priorities are rewarded (and others are not)
Principle #9
“Tower of Babel” (Gen. chapter 11)
Test: Does hard work impress you?
Implication: Results will reflect nature of the effort, not necessarily
desired outcomes
Application: Ensure activities positively affect right (desired) outcomes
Principle #10
“Count the Cost” (Luke 14:28)
Test: Have you [not] identified the agency’s requirements for desired
outcomes?
Implication: Insufficient resources and/or counterproductive outcomes
Application: A [monitored/integrated] strategic plan
Principle #11
Strength in Unity
Test: Do any key stakeholders not support your mission?
Implication: Sabotage will erode the foundation
Application: Whom do I need to confront?
Principle #12
“A sound heart is life . . . “ (Prov. 14:30)
Test: Are you more interested in your success than others’?
Implication: Dispassionate and/or disloyal team members
Application: How can I provide opportunities for others?
Principle #13
“For such is the Kingdom of Heaven“ (Matt. 19:14)
Test: Do you believe that moving children to a lesser restrictive
permanent outcome is:
a) not an option for some children
b) financial burden on the agency
Implication: Undesirable outcomes
Application: What belief(s) assuage(s) the most desirable outcome(s)?
Principle #14
Proficient Leadership
Test: Are the people that helped get you there unwilling/unable to go to
the next level?
Implication: Responsibilities outpace capabilities
Application: Viable plan of succession
Principle #15
Humility: No more or less than reality
Test: Do you believe that your agency is unique/indispensable?
Implication: Arrogance and complacency
Application: What would be missed if we quit/failed?
Principle #16
“. . . Greater things than these” (John 1:50)
(Leaders beget [better] leaders)
Test: Does the agency have full and total confidence in the Executive
Director/CEO?
Implication: The weak link is the ED; when (s)he fails, the agency fails
Application: How would my agency do if I left?
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Did I fail because of:
Another person?
A situation?
Myself?
A ‘sacred cow’?
Application:
Who/What is the weakest link in my agency?
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Am I grateful?
Lesson:
One cannot see clearly until (s)he has reached the point of gratefulness
Application:
What experience(s) do I need to grieve? (What hurts when I recall it?)
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Where did I succeed?
Lesson:
“Failing forward” requires both knowing what to do as well as what not to
do
Applications:
•What strengths can I bring to bear in order to overcome my challenges?
•How can I create and/or cultivate an environment in which it is safe to
fail?
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
How can I turn this failure into success?
Lesson:
I help myself by helping others
Applications:
•How can I help others?
•Whom can I help?
Questions Asked – Lessons Learned
Where do I go from here?
Lesson:
If grieving process is successful and [above] questions are answered,
life’s path will become visible
Application:
Which question(s) remain unanswered?
Recommendations
Do only what you do best
Lesson:
Concentrate best resources on opportunities (not problems)
Find the right people
Applications:
•Where am I investing my energy foolishly?
•Where should I increase my investment?
Recommendations
Do only what you are passionate about (because one does what
one wants to do)
Lesson:
•Sustain the agency despite barriers
•Attracts the right people
•Keeps focus on the right outcomes despite temptations to
compromise
Application:
Does my passion match the obligations of my agency?
Recommendations
Cultivate a culture of discipline
Lesson:
•Face the facts
•“Facts are better than dreams” – Winston Churchill
•Manage the system, not people
•Because they are the right people, right?
•Take prompt, disciplined action, no matter how painful
•Pruning promotes fruitful growth
Applications:
What am I afraid to acknowledge?
What am I afraid to do?
Recommendations
Build on timeless principles
Lesson:
•Focus on outcomes, not growth
•Focus on process, not events
•Commit to core values
•Create a climate in which truth prevails
oBuild the “red flag” mechanism for critical information
oConduct autopsies without blame
Application:
What way of thinking do I need to change?
Recommendations
Build a legacy with tenacity and humility
Lesson:
Personal Humility:
•Unwavering resolve
•Sets uncompromised standards
•Accepts responsibility
Application:
What standard(s) have I compromised?
Recommendations
Great Leadership builds a legacy via personal humility and
professional will
Lesson:
Tenacity:
•Acts on inspired standards, not charisma
•Channels ambition into agency, not self
•Sets up successors for even greater success
•Attributes success to external factors, not self
Applications:
To whom or what goes the credit (and discredit) in my agency?
To what standards do we adhere?
Who’s up next?
Celebration of Successes
•Agency placed a third of the children placed for adoption in the
state
•None of the work went to waste—foster-adopt families, staff and
clients transferred to other agencies
•Thousands of children were served successfully
•We had the time of our lives
Stated Learning Objectives
1.
Learn principles of management and leadership that will
prevent agency malfunction
2.
Challenge participants to apply lessons learned where
applicable
3.
Affirm participants in areas of agency strengths
Contact Us:
Rock Solid Foundation
1460 E. Whitestone Blvd., Suite 120
Cedar Park, Texas 78613
512.524.3001
Ron Brown, CEO
rbrown@rocksolidfoundation.net
Mark Glenn, COO
mglenn@rocksolidfoundation.net
www.rocksolidfoundation.net