History of the Right Way Right Results Tool

...It all began at GE

In 1995, GE's CEO, Jack Welch, wrote in his annual letter To Our Share Owners:

"Our dream, and our plan, well over a decade ago, was simple. We set out to shape a global enterprise that preserved the classic big-company advantage while eliminating the classic big-company drawbacks. What we wanted to build was a hybrid – an enterprise with the reach and resources of a big company and the body of a big company, but the thirst to learn, the compulsion to share and the bias for action – the soul of a small company.

...The problem was some of our leaders were unwilling, or unable, to abandon big-company, big-shot autocracy, and embrace the values we were trying to grow. So, we defined our management styles, or "types," and how they furthered or blocked our values. And then we acted."

Welch wrote of his Management Types...

Type 1

"...not only delivers on performance commitments, but believes in and furthers GE's small-company values. The trajectory of this group is 'onward and upward'."

Type II

"...does not meet commitments nor share our values – does not last long at GE."

Type III

"...believes in the values but sometimes misses commitments. We encourage taking swings, and Type III is typically given another chance."

Type IV

"...is the most difficult. One is always tempted to avoid taking action because Type IV's deliver short-term results. But Type IV's do so without regard to values and, in fact, often diminish them by grinding people down, squeezing them, stifling them. Some of these learned to change; most couldn't. The decision to begin removing Type IV's was a watershed – the ultimate test of our ability to "walk the talk," but it had to be done if we wanted GE people to be open, to speak up, to share, and to act boldly outside traditional "lines of authority" and "functional boxes" in this new learning, sharing environment."

GE Management Types

Welch created his Management Styles or Types as a way to sort out his most capable leaders from those who were holding the organization back.

What is the Right Way Results Tool?

...How can we benefit from it?

"It became clear that some of the rhetoric heard at the corporate level about involvement and excitement and turning people loose did not match the reality of life in the business. The problems was some of our leaders..."

- Jack Welch

Welch defined excellence in leadership, his "Gold Standard," as both performance on commitments and furthering the GE values. By mapping performance on one axis and values on the other, he could create a grid that would be used for talent assessment and succession planning.

Since 1995, Welch's grid has seen many adaptations in consulting firms and organizations around the world. Regardless of how it might be configured, 4 boxes, 6 boxes, 9 boxes or more, the goal of Welch's Type Grid and our Right Way Right Results Tool is to provide a visual way to portray a balanced assessment of an organization's talent.

It has become a "balanced scorecard" for Leadership. Last year, McKinsey reflected Welch's Gold Standard philosophy and "A", "B", and "C: Player construct as a best practice in their War for Executive Talent research.

How Williams will use the Right Way

Right Results Tool

A Measure of Leadership Talent

The Right Way Right Results matrix that will be used to assess William's leadership talent follows the basic underlying principles originally used by GE.

Right Way

The Right Way axis will assess our executive's leadership competencies and demonstrated abilities. Our Core Values and Beliefs, Executive Performance Reviews and 360 feedback can be used as criteria to assess the Right Way.

Right Results

The Right Results axis will assess actual performance levels and demonstrated, observable results. Both financial and business results can be used as criteria and measured by individual and EICP goal achievement, operating profit, revenue targets and accomplishing objectives.

These dimensions will provide a composite of a leader's talent and provide Williams with the information necessary to build our leadership bench strength and manage our talent portfolio – one of our most important assets.