The Center for Creative Leadership's DAC Model vs The Framework. Part 2.

This is a brief follow-up on the CCL's Direction - Alignment - Commitment Model (DAC).

As we asserted in Part 1, there is a lot in common between the DAC and the thinking embodied in the Prometheus Framework, but the DAC takes a more narrow slice of the whole that Prometheus highlights.

This article explores that a bit more.

Locating the DAC in the Framework.

The image above represents the two dimensions that are organizing principles in the Prometheus Framework . The "organizing" is how the Framework constructs coherence across the dynamic systems that constitute leadership. And the graphic also shows the intersections of those dimensions that naturally form a set of twelve "Lenses" that afford us to focus on parts of the whole of leadership without losing coherence.

The language of the DAC is decidedly action-achievement-focused and well-suited for the conventional context of rallying resources and forces to a goal.

This rallying is also part of the action of leading, but only in relatively contained contexts where the group's agency and influence are likely to cause an outcome.

We want groups and individuals to recognize these opportunities and have the motivation and ability to realize them. So, there's no argument there.

The Framework also breaks from the conventional hero-leader assumption and speaks more to what is done, vs who is doing it. In our view, what needs to be done is clear but who does what is completely situational. Anyone can lead and more than one person can lead.

The Framework makes other possibilities explicit.

If you look from left to right across the Lenses of the Framework (from the circled focus in the graphic that is also the focus of the DAC), you would find other strategies that are suited to less concretely defined and controlled contexts.

Walking from that lower right corner of the Lens grid, you would acknowledge that some leadership action is less getting results and more setting conditions so the intended result is more probable. Any executive will recognize this challenge. Complex organizations, products, and markets are not easily moved with a structured plan and direction; alignment and commitment are harder to achieve and less obviously gratifying.

Walking further implies that there is knowledge, practices, skills, and experience that ready you and others for the challenge. Sometimes, we are well prepared with embodied strengths. Other times, our efforts show us there is more necessary, or more that can raise the probability, lower the effort, or lessen the time invested to those intented ends.

Lastly, a further walk to the left may remind us that what we carry as humans, our mindsets, and our energy may be part of the ingredients that enable outcomes or derail them.

Pragmatic DAC

DAC authors probably understand most of these points. Still, they focus on the more straightforward context and conventional actions for pragmatic reasons— this suits younger audiences and probably the buyer's preferences.

We would ask that when you are immersed in content like the DAC, you recognize its limitations to context and the alternative broader whole that you can also consider on your journey as leaders.

You may find that DAC content seems right, logically, but pragmatically does not fit to shift your situation. Just going for a decision (for example) make seem like a low-probability win. So, the other choices you can make are best guided by these other Lenses.

#leadership #centerforcreativeleadership #prometheus