Free Custom «Individual Excellence» Essay Paper

Current situation: the use of polythene has had an adverse effect by clogging sewage pipes, rivers and being an eyesore in nearby lakes.

Driving forces

• Clogging of sewer pipes leading to spillage
• Clogging of polythene papers in rivers
• Death of marine life (fish, birds etc) through suffocation
• Achieve long-term solutions

Desired situation: ensure a clean water environment

Restraining forces

• Cultural beliefs
• Budget issues
• Lack of willingness across the board 

Planning and Program Design

Current situation: there are no planning and program designs in place to help in running the organization

Driving forces

• Be able to define the problems to be addressed
• Describe the solutions
• Define how to measure success

Desired situation: ensure a systematic and planned program design to reduce recidivism while being able to meet program goals

Restraining forces

• Budget constraints
• Job interference

Organizational Design

Current situation: there is a lot of resource duplication

Driving forces

• Duplication of resources
• Overstepping of mandates

Desired situation: ensure a carefully crafted and planned organization design to avoid duplication of resources and efforts

Restraining forces

• Lack of a qualified coach to design the program

Human Resources Development

Current situation: there is a haphazard learning activities within the organization slowing personal growth

Driving forces

• Increase areas of career development
• Increase training

Desired situation: maximize the productivity of our physical, financial and information resources

Restraining factors

• Budget constraints
• Job interference
• History of interference from senior managers (Rouda and Kusy). 

Supervising

Current situation: no clear supervisor or channel of communication

Driving forces

• Separate powers and
• Define exact roles for each senior in the company

Desired situation: ensure harmony and respect between seniors and juniors

Restraining factors

• Job interference

Financial Management

Current situation: the international standard of accounting is not followed in making of financial statements

Driving forces

• Loss of petty cash
• Accountability

Desired situation: ensure accountability and a corruption free environment

Restraining factors

• Lack of qualified staff

Information System

Current situation: loss of important files through proxy

Driving forces

• Use of paper filing consuming a lot of time
• Leakage of private matters to outsiders

Desired situation: use of the sophisticated information system to communicate within the company ensuring that private matters are kept as that

Restraining factors

• Cost factors to install a new IT system
• Lack of qualified staff to maintain the system

Program Evaluation

Current situation: there is no blue print on how to conduct a good program evaluation

Driving forces

• The program does not meet clientele needs

Desired situation: to ensure that the resulting information is useful and that the programs are relevant and operate efficiently

Restraining factors

• Lack of qualified staff to oversee program evaluation
• Budget factors   (Powell, Steele and Douglah1996).

Leadership and Organizational Change

Current situation: there is leadership struggle within the organization

Driving forces

• Open quarrels pitying senior managers in the organization as who senior than the other 

Desired situation: follow a strict laid down procedure and mutual respect among all employees

Restraining factors

• Fear factor amongst the senior employees
• History of infighting in the organization 

Senge’s Five Disciplines

1. Personal mastery (personal growth and learning)

I believe that people are able to learn through others who learn. Personal mastery therefore can be seen as the discipline of always trying to clarify and deepening our own vision. We should thus focus our energies to develop patiently while seeing things in an objective way. Mastery is thus a particular kind of calling which involves continual learning(The core disciplines).    

1. Mental models ( deeply held images about how the world works)

The deeply held mental images can sway our way of thinking and how we understand who we are and the world we live in. we need to develop the ability to reflect in and on our actions in order to know how to take the appropriate action. By unearthing our mental pictures, we can then have the ability to carry on a meaningful advocacy. I believe that if am to develop a capability to work with the said mental pictures than I will have to learn new skills while developing new orientations. It is thus important to develop openness but seeking to retain control and coordination (The core disciplines). 

1. Shared vision ( alignment of personal visions)

An idea is able to inspire people or organizations for several years if the idea has the capacity to hold a shared picture of the future that one seeks to create. I believe that the said idea must have the vision to uplift while encouraging innovation. A genuine vision thus will help one to not only learn but excel as that is what the people want to achieve. One therefore needs discipline to be able to translate the vision into a shared vision under some guiding principles. There should be a reinforcing process to ensure that visions spread with increased enthusiasm and commitment. In this way, vision can be brought into fruition (The core disciplines).   

1. Team learning (using dialogue to address difficult issues)

I believe in team learning as it should be seen as a process of developing and aligning the capacity of a team to create the results that are needed. This is built on the above personal mastery and shared vision while we act together. By learning together with others, we can grow and rapidly as a team as opposed to learning singly. By ‘thinking together’ we are able develop discipline and learn recognize learning patterns. And in this way we can easily create a language that is more suited to deal with complexes instead of focusing on personal leadership style. I therefore believe that dialogue is a central feature in team learning (The core disciplines). 

1. Leading the learning organization

Lastly, as leader, I am required to oversee things. Like in the traditional past, leaders are important in setting the direction, energizing others from an individualistic view and in making key decisions. Therefore, leaders are the designers, teachers and stewards responsible to build others to understand their complexities, clarifying vision and improving shared mental models (The core disciplines).