A virtues-based approach for the comprehensive management of sustainable performance.
Performance is one of those concepts that most of us believe we understand well. However, we only have to try to define performance to see the deficit in our true understanding of it.
We may define performance in terms of decisions, actions and behaviours, and then try to assess performance by comparing it against some quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as SMART goals and KPIs. However, is is a rather shallow and ineffective approach as we usually don’t consider the fundamental parameters of performance on which all its other aspects – attitudes, emotional responses, motives, etc. – rely on.
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Being willing is not enough, we must do” – Leonardo Da Vinci
Our real performance is much more than a predefined set of decisions, behaviours and actions. It consists of all our thoughts, our emotional and bodily reactions, our behaviours and actions in a specific place and time. However, since not all the elements of performance can be objectively observed, when others seek to identify and measure our performance, they have to rely on those elements alone that can be observed and measured objectively against set criteria.
However, the fact that some elements of our performance are often not identified nor measured does not make them less important. In fact, our every thought, attitude or emotion (whether expressed or not), our every action and behaviour (whether monitored and assessed as a performance indicator or not), defines our actual performance because they impact directly or indirectly on important facets of that performance.
A thought might affect an attitude or vice versa, while an attitude or action might affect an emotion or vice versa, and so on. And all of these unconscious changes interfere with our ability to effectively and efficiently employ our capabilities—both external, like processes, structures, tools and opportunities, and internal, such as past experience, knowledge, talents and competencies–to achieve the desired results.
Developing capabilities is not enough.
Unless we develop the fundamental capability to use all our capabilities effectively and efficiently to consistently meet our standards and requirements and to continually best serve our purpose, goals and benefits for all stakeholders of our performance, including ourselves.
How we manage these parameters makes the difference between average performance and excellence.
Because to consistently optimize performance, we need to maximize all the capabilities available to us in order to produce the desired results within the particular context. Furthermore, any of these performance parameters may seriously impact on our state as performance agents by affecting our health, the quality of our relationships with others, our willingness to promote a safe and supportive environment, our emotions, motivation, the quality of our motives, etc.
This is how these generally overlooked performance parameters not only shape our actual current performance, they also impact decisively on our future performance (both overt and actual). This is because they define our capability to pursue desired results in the future. All of which makes it clear that we must manage these internal and personal parameters in order to sustain optimum performance.
To some extent, we all know that such individual parameters are at least as central to our performance as KPIs. So, to improve performance and sustain it at a level of excellence, we need to assess, monitor, and manage them in some way. Until recently, there was no professional system available for managing this diverse set of “personal parameters” in the same comprehensive and systematic way in which we manage other performance parameters such as technical knowledge and competencies. This was mainly due to the lack of an adequate theoretical and methodological framework.
The CAVE Approach© has filled this gap through the use of the theoretical framework of the Aristotelian virtues, which are given equal status to any other parameter of performance management. The virtues offer us the possibility to assess, monitor and control all these parameters (e.g. our attitudes, emotions, behaviours, reactions, desires, etc.) in a meaningful, structured, and systematic way, while the CAVE Approach© provides us with the capability to do so. Developing the virtues systematically allows us to manage these personal parameters systematically, and to ensure they always function as enablers, not disablers, of our performance.
The best thing about following a virtues-based approach to performance improvement is that, regardless of which area it is originally applied to, it will have multiple benefits for all other areas of performance in both our professional and personal life. It is the most human-centered approach in performance management, because what it provides, in essence, is a methodology for attaining a eudemonic life, sustainable success, and happiness.
Why develop the Aristotelian virtues?
Aristotelian virtues refer to fundamental human qualities that are imperative for the development and application of any knowledge and skill and our overall efficient functioning in any context. We might continually enrich our knowledge and skills on various subjects, but our success and happiness do not rely on them per se but rather on whether and how we use them in our everyday life. The virtues aim to assure that we consistently apply and use our knowledge and skills, as well as any other available capability, in an efficient way in every context to set goals, make decisions, behave and act in ways that promote our best interests and wellbeing while promoting the common good.
So, Aristotelian virtues can provide us with a unified platform for personal development and excellence in every context, and for the sustainable development of any kind of social structure such as businesses, organizations, educational and academic institutions etc.
How can I develop Aristotelian Virtues?
The CAVE Approach© follows a structured and systematic methodology that is comprised of 3 phases:
- Assessment: The CAVE© Assessment (Individual or Group Reports)
- Training: Educational Programs & Interactive Workshops
- Dialogues of Development: One-to-one/Group Mentoring
These phases aim to serve the CAVE© Approach’s goals by:
- Assessing people’s needs of virtues’ development
- Providing a framework for virtues’ development (cognitive understanding of the virtues and their practical value)
- Supporting and enhancing people’s effort for virtues’ application in everyday life
- Monitoring and evaluating the progress of virtues’ development and expected results.
