#15NTC NTEN Strategy, IT\Mission Alignment and Outcomes (SIMO) Presentation (Nonprofit Technology Mission Alignment)
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Does an organization’s overall strategy type have anything to do with the extent to which it aligns technology with its mission? We say yes, and a study of 244 organizations agrees. Does that connection have anything to do with how well an organization performs and achieves outcomes? Again, we think so. We would like to share those connections with you and help you see how the relationship between strategy, IT/mission alignment and performance in your organization can be strengthened to help you achieve outcomes.
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#15NTC NTEN Strategy, IT\Mission Alignment and Outcomes (SIMO) Presentation (Nonprofit Technology Mission Alignment)
- 1. Strategy, IT/MissionAlignment & Outcomes: How doyours fittogether? #15NTCitmission Thursday, March 5, 2014, 10:30-12:00 #15NTC Steve Heye Manager of Technology The Cara Program @SteveHeye Kelly Trusty Assistant Professor of Public Administration Western Michigan University @KellyTrusty
- 2. Session Details • Theory/practice jigsaw puzzle • Takeaways: • Understanding SIMO • One action step for today • Action plan ideas for the next year • Connections with at least 2 live SIMO superheroes • Please ask questions as they emerge • Session Collaboration Notes http://po.st/L6ePL4 @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 3. Somewhere inthe world… @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 4. Meanwhile… @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty Art by Steve Garcia http://imgur.com/a/eVVay
- 5. The Mission: Feed the hungry TheChallenge: Alignavailable resources tomeet the mission @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 7. Review:Make it Happen Tactical Strategic Missional Planning Focus on a solid foundation (network, hardware & software) for efficiency/stability Integrate tools, people and process to improve effectiveness, then expand to org goals Align technology and innovate to make an impact & add value Implementing Focus on IT, stability & basic support Cross Departmental, build collaboration & skills Change program/ service delivery & organization culture Budgeting Replace & upgrade based on software/hardware inventory, services & support, build IT skills Include process improvement, training and support Allow for experimentation, innovation and technology fund Tactical Strategic & tactical 7 #NTCsmack @LindsayBealko @idealware @SteveHeye
- 8. The SIMOStudy @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 9. Getting to Outcomes @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 10. Strategy – A critical link Miles & Snow’s Strategy Typologies – key characteristics @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty Defender • Secure niche in our community • Limited range of programs and services • Concentrate on doing the best job possible with the programs and services we do offer • Innovation focused on improving efficiency and effectiveness Prospector • Address broad range of needs in our community • Value innovation, want to be ‘first in’ with new programs and services • Respond rapidly to early signals concerning areas of opportunity Analyzer • Stable, limited collection of programs and services • Quick to follow a set of evidence-based new strategies to reach and serve our population • Seldom ‘first in’ with new programs or services; try to be ‘second in’ with more efficient or effective program or service Reactor • No consistent focus or service niche • Prefer to conserve resources and eliminate offerings • Try to avoid risks associated with new programs or services • Usually forced to respond to environmental pressures, rather than implementing a single strategic thrust
- 11. Strategy – A critical link Miles & Snow’s Strategy Typologies – “Self-Typing Paragraph” @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty Defender We try to maintain a secure niche in our community. We offer a limited range of programs and services and we try to protect our clients/population from other organizations that try to get them to engage. We try to protect our domain by offering high quality and superior service. We may not be at the forefront of developments in the compared to other organizations like us; we concentrate instead on doing the best job possible with the programs and services we do offer. When we innovate, we do so to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our current services. Analyzer We work to provide a stable, limited collection of programs and services, while at the same time we try to move out quickly to follow a carefully selected set of promising, evidence-based new strategies to reach and serve our population. We are seldom ‘first in’ with new programs or services, but by carefully monitoring the actions of other organizations with missions similar to ours, we try to be ‘second in’ with a more efficient or effective program or service. Prospector We try to meet a broad range of needs in our community, and we offer new services when new needs emerge. We value innovation, want to be ‘first in’ with new programs and services even if not all of these efforts have proven to be highly effective in achieving our mission. We try to respond rapidly to early signals concerning areas of opportunity, like grants and other resources, and these responses have often led us to engage in new activities and strategies. Reactor We don’t have a consistent focus or service niche. When other organizations provide similar services in the same area, we prefer to conserve resources and eliminate offerings, rather than attempt to defend our service area. Although we try to avoid risks associated with new programs or services, occasionally we develop new offerings to keep up with other providers. We are usually forced to respond to environmental pressures, like funding flow and irregular stakeholder support, rather than elaborating and implementing a single strategic thrust.
- 12. IT/MissionAlignmentCriteria Communication Measuring IT’s Value IT Governance Partnership & Collaboration IT Infrastructure Talent Management Organizational Culture @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 13. Insights from the SIMOStudy @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty Strategy Typologies SIMO Alignment Maturity Criteria X = 0-.150 X=.151-.300 X=.301+ Reactor n≈79 Analyzer n≈429 Prospector n≈423 Defender n≈286 Communication X X X X Measuring IT’s value X X X X IT governance X X X X Partnership & collaboration X X X X IT Infrastructure X X X X Talent Management X X X X Organizational culture X X X X Overall Strategy/IT/Mission Alignment Maturity 1.67 2.17 2.14 2.16
- 14. More insights from the SIMO Study @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty Additional Character of S/I/M/O Relationships Reactor Analyzer Prospector Defender Correlation between S/I/M & O .454 .501 .529 .547 Extent of day-to-day performance .814 .551 .610 .610 Influence of technology on day-to-day performance .342 .494 .520 .506 Extent of mission-focused outcomes .142 .266 .272 .263 Influence of technology on outcomes .0003 .239 .286 .330
- 15. What does SIMOhelpus do? @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty • Know “who” our organization is in terms of its strategy type • Know how mature our organization is in its IT/mission alignment • Know what kinds of planning we need to do and actions we need to take based on our organization’s “personality”
- 16. IT/MissionAlignmentCriteria Communication Measuring IT’s Value IT Governance Partnership & Collaboration IT Infrastructure Talent Management Organizational Culture @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 18. Strategy type informs action @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty Defender • Maintain balanced levels of all alignment superpowers • ID & differentiate between strengths that are mission critical and those that have mission impact – use with strategic, situational focus. Analyzer • Keep IT infrastructure strong • Measure tech effectiveness • Balance data-speak and storytelling • Build shared understandings across the organization Prospector • Strengthen communication & collaboration • Strengthen IT infrastructure • Strengthen shared governance and strategic planning Reactor • Identify arch enemy powers that are barriers to strong IT infrastructure, start with those. • Strengthen IT infrastructure • Maintain current strengths
- 19. Taking IT/MissionAlignmentAction 1. Know where you are 2. Define your destination 3. Build buy-in 4. Make it happen and measure along the way 5. Repeat @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 20. Session Details - Recap • Let us know what you think!! Session Evaluation Survey: http://po.st/aukjGL • Share your insights and continue the conversation! Collaboration notes: http://po.st/L6ePL4 Tweet about it: #15NTCitmission • Join up! If you are interested in this topic and want to be involved in next steps (e.g. continued testing of the theoretical model) kelly.a.trusty@wmich.edu heyesteve@gmail.com AND JUST AFEWMORETHINGS>>> @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 21. Activate your superpowers • S/I/M/O Quiz • Action for today – embrace your superpower • Action for the future – share, strategize, save the world. @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
- 22. Resources • Strategy Typologies: Miles, R.E. & Snow, C.C. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. • Strategy Typology in NPOs: Brown, W.A. & Iverson, J.O. (2004). Exploring strategy and board structure in nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(3), 377-400. • IT/Mission Alignment: Heye, S. (2009). Mission first: Achieving IT alignment. In H. Ross, K. Verclas, & A. Levine (Eds.), Managing technology to meet your mission: A strategic guide for nonprofit leaders (pp. 3-36). San Francisco: Jossey Bass. • More IT/Mission Alignment: http://steveheye.blogspot.com/p/it-alignment- model.html • IT/Business Alignment: Luftman, J. (2000). Assessing business-IT alignment maturity. Communications of the AIS, 4(14), 1-50. Retrieved from http://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol4/iss1/14 • The SIMO Study: Trusty, K.A., "SIMO: Modeling and Measuring the Relationships between Strategy, IT/Mission Alignment Maturity and Nonprofit Organizational Outcomes" (2013). Dissertations. Paper 222. http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/222 @SteveHeye #15NTCitmission @KellyTrusty
Editor's Notes
- Somebody slide
- Steve slide
- Steve Slide If we called the Justice League – all the superheroes we know – and asked them to solve the problem of hunger, what would they do? Superman probably wouldn’t SWIM the food to the people who need it. Spiderman probably wouldn’t RUN the food to the people who need it. Wonder Woman wouldn’t stretch across a river to bring the people some food. Captain America wouldn’t put on an iron suit and rocket the food to them If they did, they probably wouldn’t meet their mission, because they wouldn’t align their superpowers to make it happen.
- Kelly Slide The mission that the justice league has to accomplish in our present scenario is to feed the hungry. The challenge is to get them to align their unique superpowers, their resources, in order to meet the mission. Steve knows a ton about mission alignment. He and his fellow NTEN rockstars, Peter Campbell and John Merrit, have spent the past few years talking with you about aligning technology’s superpowers with YOUR mission. Steve is going to provide a bit of a review of where we’ve been to date in aligning technology with mission, then we will move on to what we’ve learned since then.
- Steve Slide
- Kelly Slide I learned about Steve and his colleagues’ work on IT/mission alignment when I read the first chapter of Managing Technology to Meet Your mission. I was intrigued, and I was also looking for a realistic, useful topic for my Ph.D. dissertation. I tracked Steve down to ask him more about the five levels of IT/Mission alignment and where they came from. It turned out that the five levels have their origin in the business sector, in a model created by Jerry Luftman at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Luftman found that organizations that aligned technology with their business goals achieved greater financial outcomes. He also found that focusing just on technology and strategic technology planning wasn’t the key to IT/business alignment. Rather, he found that there is a collection of organizational behaviors that can either enable or discourage IT/business alignment. He found, through thousands of applications of his model through a survey he did with businesses, that if business organizations strengthened or matured in those organizational behaviors up through the five levels, they could increase their IT/business alignment and their outcomes. But they first had to figure out what areas they needed to strengthen. Other researchers, Sawhill and Williamson asserted that organizations’ strategy type, the structures and processes they used to make decisions, contributed to their effective adoption and use of technology AND their financial outcomes. That all makes sense in the business sector, and, based on the work Steve and his colleagues had done, the five levels of maturity make sense in the nonprofit sector. I asked Steve a few tough question, though, after learning about the organizational behaviors and strategy types – did strategy types matter in nonprofit organizations? And, did nonprofit organizations need to improve those same six organizational behaviors in order to improve their outcomes? Also, if we want to say that IT/mission alignment is good for nonprofits, how do we know? In the business sector, we can measure improved outcomes in terms of financial results. We can’t do that in the nonprofit sector, because we measure social outcomes, not financial outcomes. I kept thinking, and I kept talking to Steve, and Peter and John, and Holly Ross. I called Jerry Luftman and asked him if he thought we could translate his model directly to the nonprofit sector. He said, Sure – but you’d need to come up with a metric to measure nonprofit outcomes. Well, yeah, we did need to do that. And we also needed to look long and hard at the original survey that was used in the business sector. If we would have given that survey to nonprofit folks, they would have looked at us cross-eyed, because it had a bunch of terminology that had nothing to to do with nonprofits. I wanted to see if these three things – strategy, IT/mission alignment, and organizational performance (outcomes), had the same relationships in the nonprofit sector that they do in the business sector. So I started with Luftman’s survey, took it apart and put it back together in a way that would make sense to nonprofits. I rearranged some questions and added a 7th organizational behavior criteria, organizational culture, and had an instrument to measure IT/mission alignment. Then, I found some definitions of Miles and Snow’s four strategy types that had been adapted to fit the nonprofit sector. And I added strategy typeology to the survey. Then, I thought about performance – saving the day – getting to outcomes. How could we measure that in nonprofits?
- Kelly Slide I decided to use my old friend the Logic Model to frame some questions about outcomes. When we think about where technology is aligned with mission, we know that we use all these great tools to do things like Engage stakeholders (social media, websites, e-commerce, meetups Build capacity (CRMs, accounting software, back room functions) Deliver activities (online learning, advocacy, health promotion) Measure outputs (CRMs, analytics, data vis) And if we improve how we do these things, then we are more likely to get to our intended outcomes. So I created questions that asked the extent to which technology improved efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction of these day-to-day activities And I created questions that asked the extent to which technology improve the extent to which organizations achieved their intended outcomes. I put an 87 item survey together, piloted it with a dozen amazing nonprofits across the country, did some preliminary validity and reliability testing, then asked 2,000 organizations to complete it. 244 completed the whole thing. Some of the others completed some of it. And I used the data to see whether strategy and IT/mission alignment had any relationship to outcomes. So the model looked at the relationship between STRATEGY, IT/Mission alignment, and Outcomes – SIMO. Let’s take a closer look at each one of these elements, first Strategy – all superheroes need a strategy. When we put superheroes together, each group will have a different kind of strategy. Likewise, when we put nonprofit superheroes together, they have different kinds of strategies. Let’s see what those strategy types are. Then we’ll look at the superpowers that come together to create those strategies.
- Kelly Slide Have participants start the assessment here – choose the strategy typology that best fits their organization, write a few examples, and share with a small group (it is likely that few of them will be reactors, based on the characteristics of the participants)
- Kelly Slide Some nonprofits, like mini-justice leagues, are Defenders. Some are analyzers Some are prospectors Some are reactors. We’d like you to take a few minutes to think about what strategy type you would use to describe your nonprofit organization. You have an assessment packet in front of you. Let’s start on the first page. Read the paragraphs that describe each of the strategy types. Then think about how your organization, generally, goes about its day-to-day planning and decision-making. That should tell you what strategy type your organization generally operates with. I can give you an example of an organization I worked in, I ran it, actually, for almost 10 years – my first gig as a nonprofit executive director – an executive director who had previously been an elementary school teacher, with absolutely no knowledge of IT/mission alignment or strategy or change management, or effective talent management. My organization was a prospector. Actually, I was a prospector – a champion with a cause. In the 1990’s were so many great technology tools out there, and there was all kinds of grant money to be had for programming. I knew those resources could take us to the next level, oh yes they could. I gave my board a snapshot of the great things to come, didn’t really prep anybody or train anybody – just brought great tools and great program funding in to the organization. We did a lot of working backwards to catch up the organization with my great ideas. A typical prospector. You decide which of the four strategy types describes your organization. Then, think of a few specific examples of behaviors or decisions through which your organization demonstrates that strategy type. Write them down in the box next to the strategy type you chose. You can write down behaviors for the others, too, if you want. Take about 5 minutes to do that. Now, we’d like you to share your mini-assessment with 2 other colleagues – tell them what makes you THAT strategy type. ASK – How many Reactors do we have? How many prospectors? How many Analyzers? How many Defenders? Excellent. Now we know about our strategy types. Now let’s look at our super powers.
- Kelly Slide Everyone is good at something. In this room, everyone is excellent at at least one thing. Based on what we’ve learned about IT/mission alignment, not everyone is good at everything, especially when it comes to organizational behaviors. But when we’re good at them, they can be superpowers. Here we have the 7 organizational behaviors that Luftman found, and my research supported, contribute to, or reduce the likelihood of IT/mission alignment. Let’s learn about each one of them. Communication – We’ll call Batman’s superpower Communication – because he uses a Batphone. Measuring IT’s value --We’ll call Superman’s superpower Measuring IT’s Value because he’s strong – he can pick up things that have a lot of weight – a lot of value (I know I’m stretching a bit) IT Goverance -- Captain America’s superpower is goverance because – America Partnership and Collaboration --Who does it better than the Wonder Twins IT Infrastructure – Ironman -- Exoskeleton – light up fake heart – it’s pretty much all the same Talent Management -- Wonder woman – has a golden lasso to rope in lots of great talent Organizational Culture -- Spiderman – spins a web of culture across the organization And I would like to give a special shout-out to Steve Garcia, a college student and comic artist who created these silhouettes – he graciously allowed us to use them for our presentation. He also makes and sells prints and commissions of other really cool silhouettes – check him out if you need great artwork. We’d like you to take this opportunity to assess your organization’s superpowers. Take a few minutes to read the questions in your assessment next to each superpower. Think about the extent to which your organization demonstrates the behaviors in each question. If it doesn’t demonstrate it at all, the level of that behavior would be Zero. If your organization is AMAZING in that behavior, the level would be a 5. Rate yourself in each of these categories. Then, add up the scores for each category, then divide by the number of questions – that will give you your alignment maturity level for THAT behavior or criterion. THEN, when you’re done assessing all five levels, you can transfer your maturity levels to the chart on Page 5, to get your overall level of IT/Mission Alignment Maturity. We’d like to do an informal assessment – feel free to participate if you wish. Who had their highest level in communication? In Measuring IT’s Value? In Governance? In Partnership & Collaboration? In IT Infrastruture? In Talent management? In Organizational Culture? See, you all have some superpowers, too! Let’s see how many of you have an alignment maturity level of 2 or above (this is voluntary)? 3 or above? 4 or above? 5? Excellent! Because we aren’t going as far as to do a partial least squares analysis of your scores, we won’t be able to tell you about the relationship between your IT/mission alignment score and your strategy type, but I can tell you what I found in my data set.
- Kelly Slide I found that no one had a super high alignment score, Analyzers, Prospectors and Defenders had a statistically significant higher score than reactors. I also found some interesting patterns among the superpowers. Defenders have relatively equivalent levels of the seven organizational behaviors – they have a balance of superpowers. Prospectors are relatively even in all of the organizational behaviors BUT communication – they do a good job balancing their superpowers, but there isn’t always a lot of communication between those that are planning/adopting technology and the rest of the organization – Steve has a quote he wants to share. Analzyers have really strong infrastructure – they do a lot of planning, they do a lot of data collection, they make really informed decisions about technology. But, communication tends to be a rough spot, likely because they have a tough time balancing data-speak and real, authentic communication that everyone understands, including leadership and program staff. Reactors, on the flip side, have some superpowers that are REALLY high, and some that are REALLY low. The difference is so significant that it is likely that even though some superpowers are high, the ones that are low are probably creating barriers to effective alignment, especially in the area of IT Infrastructure, which is critical. If they don’t communicate, if they don’t plan well, and if they don’t measure IT’s impact, they can’t make good decisions about technology they continually fight fires.
- When I compared the Strategy types of each organization with their IT/mission alignment and their outcomes (using some ridiculous statistical procedures), I found that the strongest relationship between It/mission alignment and outcomes was for Defenders – remember that they have a balanced level of all of the superpowers – that balance pays off in effectiveness and efficiency and quality of their stakeholder engagement processes, their capacity-building, their activity delivery, and their measurement of outputs. They use technology well for their day-to-day processes. Again, on the flip side, there is a significantly lower correlation between reactors’ IT/mission alignment and their outcomes. They might have great day-to-day performance, but they don’t attribute it to effective use of technology. So they might be doing some stuff really well, but technology isn’t helping them do it. That reflects on their outcomes – they don’t measure them, and they don’t achieve them. Whereas the other three strategy types achieve outcomes, and we found that defenders perceive technology as having the greatest amount of influence on outcomes. So the model shows us what we want to know - What organizational behaviors, or combination of organizational behaviors enables IT/mission alignment for different strategy types - How technology/mission alignment influences day-to-day performance for different strategy types - How technology/mission alignment influences outcomes for different strategy types Now What does simo help us do in the field? Research to practice – what does it all mean?
- Kelly Slide/Steve Slide
- Kelly Slide So as we take this knowledge into the field, back to our organizations, we can think about what organizational behaviors can help us increase our IT/mission alignment, which can help us get to to outcomes. Steve We could look at this one of two ways – we could fix our weaknesses, or we could strengthen our strengths. It’s always best to go with what we’re good at – use our superpowers!! But, in the case of reactors, it is a good idea to look at our danger zones, our really low areas of organizational behaviors, and see if they are barriers, fix them first, then work on strengthening our strengths.
- Steve Slide Revisit this Discuss the character differences in the strategy types, e.g. Defenders need to focus on tactical, Prospectors need to get buy in on their strategy, Defenders can strengthen all to move toward missional…
- Kelly Slide Key suggestions for each strategy type Steve talk about mission critical and mission impact Kelly We could stay here for the rest of the day and talk about strategies you could use to take these actions… but we are not the experts in organizational behavior, and you have other things to do. So we’ve put together a resource manual for you, an Alignment Guide, that goes through all of this information PLUS has a TON of resource links that we’ve curated to help you think about how you can work on each of the superpowers. There are links to reports, how-to’s webinars from Idealist, Beth Kanter, Katie Paine, NTEN, and tons of others. Please use and share those links with people in your organization that will find them helpful – your board, your staff, your IT team, your help desk – use them to start a conversation and an action plan.
- Steve Slide
- So let’s see whether we’ve accomplished our mission for today – First – a quiz – what is SIMO? What does the acronym stand for ? Second – we all need to embrace our superpowers – you have a sheet of stickers in front of you . The left two columns are our SIMO superpowers. Find the one that matches YOUR superpower, and wear it with pride! And you can do whatever you want with the Plasticman sticker!! Third, as you go back to your organization, use this information. Share this information. Ask some of your board members and staff to take the assessment, then compile the results to get a clearer picture of your superpowers. Then use the rest of your stickers as goals for how you might proceed in addressing and increasing your superpowers. Don’t forget the Alignment Guide. It’s on the NTC website, with a copy of our presentation and the assessment, under our session. Finally, we can all take just a minute to strengthen our partnership and collaboration superpowers. On your desk you have a Wondertwins ring. Put it on, find others in the room that have the same Wonder Twins ring, stand really close to them, and get ready….