What is Organisational Attention?

Organisational Attention

Organisational Attention is a powerful new way to understand organisations and how to change them.


Primarily aimed at senior leaders and change agents, it will also be of interest to anyone keen to learn more about how organisations work.
Key Points:
  • All organisations have a unique and powerful focus of attention
  • The focus of attention is hardwired in to the whole organisational system
  • To change an organisation you need to change the focus of attention of each individual on a moment by moment basis
  • Succeed in changing the focus of attention and eventually the organisation will change too
Organisational Attention

Organisational Attention is a way of looking at organisations through a new lens.

Learn to see the focus of attention within the system and you can see more clearly why some things succeed where others fail.

Learn to shift the focus of attention and you can truly change the way it works.
There are 4 fundamentals to working with organisational Attention. 

Read the overview here, then choose from the related articles when you wish to explore these concepts in more depth.
Attention:
  • the quantity and quality of time, energy and focus that we bring to something
Attention is something we largely take for granted, both as individuals and as organisations.

Yet, it has almost magical properties. 

As individuals, what we give our attention to, and who we receive it from, truly defines our lives.

We bask in it when we are lucky enough to receive it and we are each unique in the way we give it.

It is the precursor to growth, adaptation and performance.

Bring us together into some form of organisation, or other social system, and our attention can be channelled to achieve powerful results.

1. All organisations have a unique and powerful focus of attention

Organisations are defined, not just by their purpose, but by how they choose to focus on:
  • their customers
  • their employees
  • their processes
  • and, their competition
Every organisation does this differently.  

It defines what they are good at and how they respond to the world around them.

Take any two organisations operating in the same sector and you would expect to find similarities in the way they operate, yet it is their differences that define them.

They will each be catching and dropping different balls.
Organisations have a specific focus of attention
One may be extremely customer focused but not so great at getting new products to market quickly.  Another may focus on developing efficient processes but be poor at responding to individual customer needs.

2. The focus of attention is hardwired in to the organisational system

Few of us give much thought to how the organisation we work for focuses our attention.

Yet, as we walk through the door of our workplace, our heads are likely to be filled with a myriad of personal issues all demanding our attention.

For an organisation to be successful it has to quickly refocus that attention away from our personal lives and onto the job in hand.

Any organisation has many roles that combine to allow it to fulfil its overall purpose. 
Attention is 'Hardwired' into an Organisation

The organisation is designed to channel the attention of each individual to produce the desired outcome.

How it does this is hardwired throughout the system.
It is locked in to the 'mechanics' of the organisation:
  • systems
  • processes
  • reports
  • data and other forms of information
It is locked in to the way the organisation is structured:
  • hierarchy
  • job descriptions
  • objectives
  • rewards
It is locked in to people:
  • skills
  • experience
  • underlying strengths
  • habits
  • sense of self worth
It is locked in to history:
  • the stories people tell
  • shared successes
  • shared failures
3. To change the way an organisation operates you must change the day to day, minute by minute focus of attention of every individual involved

For example, if you want to become more customer centric then every customer service representative must change their focus from the minute they walk in to work to the minute they leave. 

You won't achieve this by:
  • setting a new strategy
  • creating a new set of values
  • employing a new customer service director
  • changing people's objectives
  • sending everyone on a training course
  • or even, changing your reward structure
All these might be important, but they are unlikely to change the moment by moment decisions that each employee makes.

The overall organisational system dictates what people focus on and how they behave.  That system is highly resistant to change. Often it seems no matter how hard you try it always bounces back to it's original shape. 

So what is the answer?

You must find something that trumps the system and supersedes its power to focus attention.

It is both achievable and often remarkably easy to do.

4. Change the focus of attention for long enough and the organisation will change too

Imagine the organisation as an hour glass.

Changing the focus of attention
You can nudge it, you can tilt it, you can even give it a good shake, but the sand will always settle back to the bottom.

Turn it over however, and little bit by little bit the sand will run through.  Turn it back too quickly and any progress is quickly lost.

Changing the focus of attention is the organisational equivalent of turning the hour glass.  Hold it for long enough and the organisation will change.  Systems, processes, skills, eventually even people.

How long you need to maintain the new focus depends on the size of the change.  If it's a large and complex organisation it could take ten or even twenty years.
Created 28/07/2018
Last Updated 07/08/2018