How widespread is real, constructive, proactive behavior? Take a moment and estimate the percentage of people who might be described as custodial, maintenance managers who are married to the status quo, as opposed to proactive change agents who really make things happen. And how about organizations? How many really do "create the future," and how many are me- too followers? Today's firms are overpopulated by people who are often passive and not adequately proactive. As a successful U.S. entrepreneur told us, "A reactive person waits for someone to call and say, `I have a problem, can you help me with it?' Most workers are trained to be reactive."
Thus, the first challenge for most companies is to generate high levels of proaction. However, not all such behaviors are created equal. Some are better and more desirable than others. Too much, or misguided, proaction can be dysfunctional.
The second challenge, then, is to manage the risks--to balance and optimize. Proactivity cannot be allowed to run amok. There cannot be such a strong bias for action and change that adequate forethought and good execution fall by the wayside. And there cannot be too many unintegrated activities. Such behavior is counterproductive. Rather, there should be an appropriate balance of high levels of proaction and broad-based control. Here are some recommendations for generating proactive behavior, followed by suggestions for reducing the potential risks.