Understanding How Most Organizations Think & Act

How we think determines how we interpret incoming data and the insight we gain from that data.
Our style of thinking is not so much a factor o f intelligence, rather it is how we were educated to analyse data and identify the logic bounded by that data.

We often fall into the trap of spending too much time trying to understand historical data, and not enough time analysing the insight the data provides to apply to the context of today's business environment.

Most of us have been educated in a very Socratic, linear style of analysis, where there must be one possible outcome.

Today, we recognise the value of taking a more lateral approach to analysis and decision making, and explore multiple, parallel streams of options that result in a more innovative output.

This analysis is not done by ‘experts’ who are bounded by rationality, but by collaborating with people of different skill sets that add more perspective to our analysis.

Once a final outcome is determined, it must be executed flawlessly. Too many businesses spend weeks every year determining a detailed strategy, only to fail in its execution.

Most of the formal change management theories in the past fail to account for the new style of thinking and working of the newer generations. Today, companies that perform well understand the need for their people to feel involved, and appreciated, and seek out internal informal influencers to assist with uptake of radical new ideas.

Providing individuals with tools to measure and manage their own performance is far more effective than the old style of management, and provides a much more agile environment in which an organisation can continue to reinvent itself as trends change.

Companies must be equipped to rapidly identify change drivers and the opportunities these changes present in terms of new products and services. In turn, they must be sufficiently agile to adapt their internal capabilities to deliver these new products and services. This requires not only supportive management and corporate structure, but a culture of corporate citizenship shared by all those who work for the company.

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