Mar 2011: Connections - Saybrook University

15
By Chris Crosby, MA
Under-Functioning:
Its Role in the Sponsor Agent
Target Advocate Theory
Chris Crosby, MA
(LIOS ’96, ’97), In 1992, Darryl Conner
is a graduate of
published his famous book
both the Managing
titled “Managing at the Speed of
and Consulting
(’96) and the
Change,” which is about managing
Systems Counseling in fast-moving organizations. The
(’97) programs. book outlines his theory of change
He has been an
called Sponsor Agent Target Advocate
organizational
development
(SATA). SATA highlights key roles
professional since around daily tasks, projects or
1993, including eight changes that are both universal to all
years internal with
organizations and critical for success.
Alcoa CSI, one of 22
business units within
Alcoa. Chris currently The roles are:
is the West Coast
The Sponsor (initiating or sustaining),
President of Crosby
& Associates. His who legitimizes the change or work
e-mail is c_p_crosby@ The Change Agent, who facilitates
yahoo.com.
the change or work
The Advocate, who has an idea or wants things to be different
The Target, who carries it out
No matter what official role or function you play in an
organization, you are also in at least one SATA role, which
has specific behaviors needed for successful work, projects or
change. The dilemma, of course, is that the majority of us are
unaware of the SATA roles we are in and are thus unsure of
how to leverage those roles for success.
Two years later, in 1994, Robert P. Crosby published his
book titled Solving the Cross-Work Puzzle, which took
Conner’s work and combined it with Crosby’s theory of how
authority works within organizations. [Ed. Note: Robert
Crosby is LIOS’ founder and is the author’s father.] The
clarity added here (and verified in a conversation between
Conner and Crosby) was about the role of Sponsor—
specifically, the critical distinction being that you can only
“sponsor” your direct reports.
Another critical component about sponsorship is the
distinction between the sustaining and initiating Sponsors. The
initiating Sponsor is a single person above all people who must
do the task, project or major change, while the sustaining Sponsor
is the direct supervisor of the Target. The clarity that Crosby
created highlights the importance of building sponsorship at the
sustaining Sponsor level.
SATA, with Crosby’s adaptation, has influenced everything I
[have done] as an organizational development consultant over my
15-plus years of practice. Using SATA to chart out a problem or
dilemma has proven to be an important analysis tool in building
strategies for success. In SATA terms, I have lived my professional
life in the role of a Change Agent with no authority over anyone
with whom I am working. What I do have is lots of influence
through technical, interpersonal and referent means. (“Referent”:
is the word-of-mouth stories told about you.)
As a Change Agent, I have always been heavily influenced by
SATA and the concept of “over-functioning.” Essentially, overfunctioning
is when you, without having authority, tell others
that they have to do what you say. It is acting as if you are boss
when you really aren’t.
Over-functioning happens all the time and creates all sorts of
problems in organizations. Its dangers have always been taught as
a core part of SATA.
During my years of internal and external consulting, I began to
notice a pattern in organizations beyond what is traditionally
taught in SATA. Over-functioning helps explain some aspects of
how systems get stuck with unclear and confused authority; yet
it misses other aspects. Many people allow things to slip or go
unnoticed. These employees are acting under the real authority
they are expected to take (whether clarified or not).
Not stepping up and taking appropriate authority adds a critical
piece as to why tasks don’t get done, projects slip and changes
fail. I call this behavior “under-functioning,” as it amounts to
letting things slide.
Here are some examples of how under-functioning has impacted
some fairly common work situations: