Best practices come at a range of levels, from organizationwide visions to specific operational practices.

NDMA works at the higher levels. Specifically, we offer two databases of best practices:

• Vision: what is expected of an organization if it's to be called "world-class"....
  This database describes best practices at the organizational level.

• Culture in Action: behavioral principles that apply to everybody in an organization....
  This database describes best practices at the individual level.

Beyond Best -- Ideal Practices

"The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground."

Winston Churchill

In both cases, the focus is on "ideal" practices. Thinking was not constrained by what others are doing today (the "lemmings" approach to leadership).

While all are practiced somewhere, together they add up to a vision so powerful that no organization can claim to fully "be there." It's a long-term goal, beyond being only as good as today's best.

Think of it as ideal practices, or "best conceivable practices," not "best current practices."

Crowd-sourcing

We don't take credit for the ideas in these two databases. They came from "crowd-sourcing" NDMA's clients -- thoughtful leaders in diverse organizations.

Each leadership team brainstormed their own ideas, crafting principles that would address their real-life concerns and embody their aspirations. This maximized relevance. It also maximized creative thinking, since their brainstorming wasn't constrained by what others had done.

Then, those executives were given the then-current database. They used it to help them better word their ideas, and to consider others' ideas that might also be relevant to their organizations.

With each organization that went through this process, the databases evolved. Discussions revealed ambiguities, questions, and objections; and the wording of the principles was refined. And new ideas emerged and were added to the databases.

The result: a compilation of the best practices -- and the best vision -- of over a thousand executives in dozens of corporate, government, and not-for-profit organizations over the course of three decades.

Availability

Both databases are available under license from NDMA.

NDMA also offers consulting services to help organizations implement these exemplary principles.

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