Sense of Mission
There had been a huge interest in organisations and management in the forty years since the war. Companies expanded globally and academics turned their attention to the logistics involved. Interest in MBA courses grew and for those with the time and money, and “Self Help” publications to help the rest of us. Successful businessmen and women became bestsellers and TV personalities.
The voluntary sector was growing too. By that time the Woodland Trust had entered the ranks of the top 100 UK fundraising charities by income and was employing over 100 staff in its Grantham HQ or outposted as Regional Officers. The Trust had grown organically. As early as 1975 it had been decided to appoint a “field officer” a position only filled in 1977 with the appointment of a National Development Officer, the first employee.
The early Trustees were “old school” self-made men (and they were all men) or from the professions. Other than the military, none had experience building a large organisation. The initial setup had worked well with the Founder ambitious and prepared to take risks with his fellow Trustees acting as a moderating force. Now stresses were beginning to show.
So somewhat in desperation I turned to the management literature of the day and found that my problems were not untypical of either the voluntary sector or organisations in general. There was no shortage of advice in books or on courses. I started with academics, often American, like Peter Drucker. Then I discovered Charles Handy whose book “Understanding Organisations” was an anthology of much of the research on organisations undertaking during the twentieth century. Adrian Phillips, Director of the Countryside Commission, recommended attending Ashridge Management College’s course for Chief Executives. As a result of this I developed a great interest in the concept of the “Sense of Mission” approach to management. This had been developed by Andrew Campbell and David Young at Ashridge. The secret was to involve everyone (Trustees and staff alike) in identifying the organisation’s “Purpose”, “Strategy”, “Behaviour Standards” and “Values” – our Aims and Objectives. A strong mission, the authors believed, existed when the four elements were linked tightly together, resonating and reinforcing each other.