Skills are the groundwork for excellence. And the mastery of any skill requires time and commitment. While innovation is necessary for progress, skills are the backbone enabling advancement.
I recently had minor surgery to get a pacemaker. The experience, skills, and attention of the supporting nurses and staff were amazing. They know their jobs and execute the needs of the surgeons superbly. In a similar instance, it appears that Damar Hamlin, the football player, was saved by the skills of the emergency team that cared for him. They integrated knowledge, experience, and teamwork to revive and save him almost immediately.
We frequently underestimate the role of knowledge, experience, and skills in solving many issues. Take the Southwest Airlines holiday disaster as an example. The lack of knowledge, planning, and care led to a system-wide meltdown and the disruption of millions of travelers’ plans, from which they are still trying to recover.
In general, we neglect the importance of balancing planning, skills, and experience with innovation and intuition. The more history, expertise, and data, the more analytical and proven methods are preferred. The more uncertainty, change, and volatility, the more intuition and innovation are required. However, our organizations seem to be moving towards more uncertainty and volatility and, therefore, require more thought in our decision-making.
Utilizing skills to forecast and plan:
While we all value analysis and A.I. to improve results, we sometimes ignore the accuracy and validity of that analysis. The pandemic has made much of the data from 2019-2021 less reliable in forecasting. Economic, political, and environmental changes can impact the assumptions and process of our analysis. For example, higher winds and higher water temperatures from climate changes have worsened the impact of weather. Structural changes like the war in Ukraine, crime, and inflation can also affect our assumptions and analysis.
Timing and situation should also greatly affect analysis versus intuition. While many understand product life cycles, we forget how age, competition, and technology can affect our progress. For example, over 60% of advertising is over the Internet rather than traditional media. Age is another factor we frequently ignore. Many politicians and managers continue to serve despite waning capabilities and energy.
With uncertainty high in many areas, requiring more intuition and innovation in our planning, we can trust that skill and experience will successfully inform intuition.
Capitalizing on innovation:
There are many opportunities to capitalize on the need for intuition and innovation. The pandemic stimulated new opportunities like work from home and virtual learning that need to be allowed to reach their potential. For example, small Universities are sharing courses with other local Universities to expand the offerings to students. These need more analysis and objective thought rather than simple opinions to have success.
When dealing with innovation and change, psychological issues need to be managed rather than feared. Hatred and threats are the tools of the extremists. They need to be managed, understood and not allowed to disrupt our efforts. In particular, we need to build positive relationships and improve communication.
The most frequent issue inhibiting progress is bias. Our enthusiasm or mindset frequently cause us to overestimate markets, ignore competition, and not consider the issues in execution. Again, the more we can rely on skill, the more we can eliminate bias.
So, how can you balance innovation with skill to improve the way you run your business?
Replace Hierarchy.
Most organizations are based on hierarchy, but this system is obsolete and, more often than not, fails. It is a structure that rewards people at the top who may not be competent rather than seeking expertise. We should constantly be striving to improve and that is impossible to do if we rely on an inflexible system. The world is constantly changing and we need to adapt accordingly.
Informed decisions require a variety of input and diverse skills to manage that input. It’s always important to consider various perspectives and options. As technology becomes more complex, additional expertise, teamwork, resources, and responsibilities are required to manage operations.
Pay Attention to Data.
Frequently, we think we know best, even when data tells us otherwise. Too often, analytics are ignored due to pride or a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset. In recent years, data is informing us that consumers want to associate themselves with and buy from socially conscious companies. Taking a stance on social, environmental, and political issues is increasingly becoming a must-have for business success and consumer loyalty.
Focus on Process Not Plan.
Many experts tout that the holy grail of a successful business lies in the plan. However, the process of implementing that plan is far more important than the plan itself. Generally, plans are static, lack insight, and are missing operational details. Not surprisingly, this results in poor execution. For example, plans seldom predict and account for rapid changes in the economy. A successful plan is flexible and can adjust accordingly when those inevitable and unexpected obstacles arise.
Consider dieting. You can design a great weight loss program, but if you can’t properly implement that program into your lifestyle, you aren’t going to lose any weight.
Balancing intuition and skill doesn’t have to be as complicated as we make it out to be. Think about an incredible guitar player. Before they can write an incredible song or play a mind-blowing solo, they need to know the basics of playing the guitar. The same goes for any endeavor. Before you can get creative, you need to master the skills that will make your innovation a success.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of Startup Connection, prides himself on his ability to define what is unique about each and every business. He works closely with individuals to develop a personalized approach that targets specific areas of concern and offers solutions based on his 40+ years of experience. His expert team will address your particular needs while working to save you time and money.
What does it take to change? As in, truly change? It is said that it takes 3 weeks or more to turn an action into a habit. And, the older we get, the more set in our ways we become. So, how then, do we enact change—within ourselves, our businesses, or even society?
In a time when being adaptable is crucial to success, organizations are changing faster than ever and, yet, it still seems we aren’t changing fast enough to keep up. This may be the result of tools that are designed to limit risk and are unable to accept compromise and open systems. For example, changes in Ukraine, mid-term elections, inflation, Trump investigations, and economic growth seem to modify our decision parameters almost daily—are our tools taking all of these factors into account in their analysis? Doubtful.
That means, in order to “keep up” with the times, we have to pay close attention to these parameters ourselves. We must not only embrace change, but be actively working to create transformative change as well.
Much attention is often given to analytics, expertise, profits, and science. However, these tools sometimes ignore critical requirements for change and better decisions: passion, focus, trust, effort, risk, and commitment. Unchecked, analytics may actually hinder transformative change.
Here are some suggestions to develop and execute more transformative change:
Consider structural changes. Society and business fail to recognize old paradigms and structures are failing. Large corporate structures, like print publications, big banks, and brick and mortar retailers, are all gradual losers, or even worse. Many large companies have tunnel vision, organizational constraints, etc., and ignore emerging technologies and opportunities. They lack the flexibility to respond to the needs of the market and use outdated solutions to new problems.
Imitate small businesses. The success of smaller, more innovative companies shows that many organizations should get smaller, or act smaller, in order to effectively deal with today’s environment. Reducing layers and creating professional cultures are a start. Boards and management need to split up organizations or create more independent groups.
Invest in innovation. Large organizations say they want excellence, entrepreneurship, innovation, risk takers, etc., but, really, they tend to encourage mediocrity. For example, short term goals, testing, and failure, which are critical parts of innovation, are punished more than rewarded. In short, organizations frequently ignore the advice, “you can’t score if you don’t take a shot.”
Look at disrupters. Mackenzie Scott (Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife who has $60 billion) is changing the structure of charitable giving. She is a disrupter in that she focuses on equality, gives only unrestricted gifts (no building or school names), and donates significant funds to lesser-known institutions, like black colleges and community organizations, to help transform their entire organization.
Implement more risk. There are more and greater opportunities. Even in sports, home runs, the three-point play, and passing in football are rapidly increasing as coaching, athletes, and analytics improve. We underestimate the potential of frequently unlimited upsides compared to limited downsides. Test more and accept that failure is frequently a requirement for success. We also need to seek transformative solutions, which may be unknown when we start a decisions process.
Embrace the relative importance of marketing over sales. Digital analysis and marketing, the Internet, and account management are examples of efforts that are replacing the good old days of personal selling and relationships.
Focus on reducing stress. The pandemic and rapid change has caused significant stress and unhappiness and we need to take action to reverse some of that damage.
Remember technology is king. Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple will survive and grow as they become even more innovative and efficient. Traditional retailers with large real estate platforms and margin requirements are at great risk. Consumers are proving to prefer the perks of working at home, fast delivery, and other convenient Internet processes. Virtual offerings will continue to expand and be utilized and, therefore, they must be integrated into our structures.
Don’t forget that service, image, andculture are frequently the biggest (and often least expensive) ways for small companies to develop a brand and differentiate themselves. Some suggestions: Focus on your target market and segment your ideal customer. Be polite, listen, and then act based on what you have learned. Become a trusted resource to your prospects by providing useful information that will help them make a good choice.
The post-pandemic changes we’re seeing should be viewed as a critical opportunity to improve sales, profit, and competitive positioning. Many include transformational change. The current state of organizations and the rapid advancement of technology are stimulating perpetual change that cannot be ignored. But, with the right mentality and a willingness to incorporate tools that will help you successfully adapt, you can thrive in this new normal.
So, where in your life, business, or community do you see a need for transformational change? And what actionable steps are you taking to fuel it? And are you committed to making those actions a habit? Because that is what it takes to truly change.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies. We guide your plans for business success and unlock your profits.Our strategy includes clear steps, and over 150 free articles and templates to facilitate your efforts and guide your process. We’re here to help you get on track and stay there as you move forward. We welcome comments, suggestions, and questions. You can write us at: bshlensky@startupconnection.net or call at 914-632-6977
Currently, everyone seems overwhelmed with stress, change, complexity, uncertainty, and disruption. The pandemic, inflation, politics, crime, and a general increase in depression are all taking a toll on us individually and as a society. With so much on our plates in the midst of all the chaos, how exactly can you improve your business?
There are a few simple strategies that can help improve your business (and your life). For starters, we could all stand to be a little nicer (to others and to ourselves) and we also must learn to reduce the stress, conflict, and uncertainty in our lives.
At Startup Connection, we’ve found that, when feeling stuck or overwhelmed, it often helps to get back to basics. We can all benefit from taking a step back and reminding ourselves of the good advice we’ve gained along the way. We hope the following suggestions challenge you, resonate with you, and help improve your business and life:
Find and maintain balance. Whether it’s passion and reality, Left Brain-Right Brain, qualitative versus quantitative, analytics versus intuition, these seemingly opposing concepts are actually more similar than different. The goal is to find balance and reduce the conflict that often permeates discussions about these ideas in order to develop a more integrated approach.
Practice more civil and positive behavior. This can have significant outcomes while being fairly simple to apply. Saying please, thank you, and asking, “How are you?” can go a long way. Ensure you understand other perspectives and alternatives, listen when others are talking, and work on remembering names and biographies. And, most importantly, be kind.
Understand goals and needs. This applies to your own goals and needs as well as those of your partner(s) in relationship (both personally and professionally). In particular, ask and learn about things like price, service, quality, and reliability in any relationship. Professional sports have done a great job adding entertainment (notice how she got a jersey in the photo) and better food to the consumer experience, which can mitigate the higher costs (and the possibility of your team losing 50% of the time).
Have clear priorities. As Lewis Carroll said, “If you don’t where you are going, any road will get you there.” Reassess and renew efforts on programs that have the most potential. But,it is equally important to eliminate unproductive efforts. Focus on what you’re good at and pay less attention to your weaknesses.
Utilize the 80-20 rule. Many operations and expert mathematicians have long promoted that 80% of sales are made up of 20% of your products. However, suppliers continue to proliferate styles, colors, sizes, and models to, presumably, serve more customers and provide more features. The tough economy has produced a great opportunity to reduce proliferation of products that just aren’t producing.
Always remember measurement. Measurement is simply the increased use of models, probability, risk, numbers, analysis, and even experience and intuition to improve decision-making. In some simple cases, it has proved to be a valuable tool to understand and improve decisions or simply validate prior intuition. The bigger the data and the more complex the circumstances, the more measuring can improve decisions.
Accept that change is accelerating and is more uncertain. Understand and incorporate change like inflation, the situation in Ukraine, changing goivernment, etc into your planning and management. Encourage out-of-the-box thinking and ideas, and avoid normal day-to-day problem solving. For example, you may develop solutions by better understanding underlying causes of issues rather than their characteristics. In other words, address the root cause and not the symptoms. One of the most significant opportunities may be understanding and reacting to demographics. The country is simply getting older, more diverse, more ethnic, and more educated.
Restructure relationships. If you communicate with partners, lots of win-win opportunities can occur. In my own experience, sharing forecasts, production plans, inventory quantities, etc. is one of the easiest and most inexpensive tools that can produce the greatest of outcomes.
Remember that failure ispart of success. Brian K. Mitchell said, “If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t trying hard enough.” The experiences of the following innovators best make this point:
Steve Jobs, co-founder of the original Apple Computer, was fired from the firm.
Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors of all time, had 10,000 failed trials with his light bulb.
Stephen Spielberg, famed movie director, went solo after being rejected three times from the University of California.
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, both college-dropouts, went on to, well you know what.
Be more open. Organizations need to be open to measurement, feedback, change, and anything else that comes along. This often starts with fostering an open culture, which includes sharing financials, operations reports, and sales reports.
Put more effort into customer service. While we always focus on product, marketing, finance, and customer service are just as critical. Remember: Anyone can put a product in a store or pictures on the Internet and attempt to sell it. It’s the differences in service that frequently differentiates businesses. Focus on expanding relationships with your ideal customers and the products they support, and give less marketing attention to declining customers and unprofitable products.
Maximize operations. Effective logistics and operations planning starts with determining key issues, understanding tradeoffs, and developing goals and standards. The recent supply shortages in diverse area like airlines, baby food, and computer chips that are crippling our economy exemplify its importance. Scheduling staff, services, and supplies correctly to meet customer needs without incurring excess expense is critical. Customers who wait or walk out of a business because of delays generate the most complaints. Reducing lead times, improving flexibility, and planning can improve effectiveness and lower costs.
There’s always room for improvement. What are some ways you’d like to improve your business? And what are you going to do to successfully accomplish those things?
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of Startup Connection, prides himself on his ability to define what is unique about each and every business. He works closely with individuals to develop a personalized approach that targets specific areas of concern and offers solutions based on his 40+ years of experience. His expert team will address your particular needs while working to save you time and money.
A year or so ago, I wrote about how fast change is occurring and how we needed to adapt faster. At that time the pandemic, unemployment, economic growth, and unequal worldwide wealth were among the key issues. Fast-forward and change is still happening faster than we seem to be able to adapt. However, the issues are also changing. Today, inflation, the war in Ukraine, crime, trust, and mental health seem to have taken over our focus.
In any discussion about change, it’s imperative that we look at the process of managing change as well as the specific issues being affected by it. In particular, we need to consider parameters, institutions, and processes.
When it comes to disruptive change, we must remember that parameters change. For example, inflation (which was a key economic factor, but has been relatively dormant) has suddenly become relevant again. The concern is that we may view inflation as too much of a crisis rather than a parameter to be considered. For example, decades ago, I supervised a company in Mexico that collected payments every day because inflation could eat up their profits.
A critical issue in managing change is the increased impact of social, economic, and political volatility in our institutions. In particular, the social aspects, which are frequently disruptive and somewhat new, have been underestimated. These include the pandemic, partisan politics, increased income inequality, and crime. Commodities like lumber and wheat, which traditionally trade in narrow ranges, are doubling and halving in a few months. Disruptions like supply chain, labor shortages, chips, and baby formula are happening regularly. In addition, these disruptions can take months rather than weeks to resolve.
The pandemic and economic recovery have produced imbalances in processes that analysts have failed to consider adequately in AI and other tools. Timing and reacting to special events have been a major missing element, especially where supply chains have long lead times. In addition, the problems are not recognized early in the process and the extent of fixes is underestimated. We also misjudge the interaction among factors. For example, rates and shipping times are not balanced in considering ocean shipping issues. We also underestimate the impact of virtual monopolies in industries like baby formula and computer chips. Thus, minor disruptions can cause major crises.
AI and other tools also assume you have proper information and can develop accurate analysis. The biggest problem is bias, which is frequently unknown or unintentional. I am reading about Apple after Steve Jobs and finding that the analysis, expertise. and skills are very impressive. However, their efforts are guided by many strategies, expectations, and even, “What would Steve do?” As a result, the analytical decisions can be compromised.
Focusing on the processes and solutions relating to change can improve our responses:
Parameters need to be managed to improve decisions.
Understanding the risk, the rewards, and the importance of interconnected issues can improve outcomes.
Don’t allow fear, uncertainty, or tradition to lower your potential and prevent you from trying something new.
This goes for both analytical and social issues. The realities and changes in parameters like populations, the economy, political environment, and social values should all be reviewed and considered regularly. The most important thing to keep in mind is that many variables are changing faster and more often than ever before. So, not only do you need to understand parameters, you need to keep up with the latest ones!
The bottom line is that change requires management and not just reaction. We can’t predict the future, but we can prepare for the unknown. Because how things change is just as important as what things change. When you have a better understanding of the “how,” you will be better equipped to respond to the “what.”
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies. We guide your plans for business success and unlock your profits.Our strategy includes clear steps, and over 150 free articles and templates to facilitate your efforts and guide your process. We’re here to help you get on track and stay there as you move forward. We welcome comments, suggestions, and questions. You can write us at: bshlensky@startupconnection.net or call at 914-632-6977
What’s an easy decision? Do they exist? Perhaps, deciding whether you want chocolate or vanilla ice cream… You have two choices, which do you prefer? Seems pretty simple and straightforward. Now, what if you’ve set a goal to eat less sugar… The scale tips toward vanilla… but, you’ve also set a goal to save money and the chocolate is on sale… Now, there’s even more to consider.
Although choosing an ice cream flavor may seem trivial, is exemplifies a very important point: The more moving pieces involved in a decision, the more difficult it is to make. And while more information enables better decisions, more variables make the decision-making process more complex.
The same applies to goal setting and measurement. We all recognize their importance, but achieving accuracy is more complicated. Setting goals and measuring used to be fairly simple as they usually related to maximizing and measuring dollars in a particular period. But, as is often the case, times change and now traditional guidelines are almost obsolete and need revision.
For example, in our growing and more complex economy, millions of workers have been leaving their jobs and pursuing other options. Work at home, lifestyle expectations, stress, and work environment are all supplementing wages as key factors in employment and turnover decisions. Additionally, climate change, current events with Russia, inflation, COVID, the stock market, politics, and diversity are all experiencing rapid changes and simultaneously impacting our economy and lifestyles.
Consequently, these societal changes also affect goal setting and measuring.
So how do we improve goal setting and measurement to make them work for us?
Consider the details surround a goal: Long-term versus short-term, quantitative versus qualitative, risk, and objective versus subjective. We also need to think about the process and complexity of setting goals. For example, do you want realistic and achievable or stretch goals? If goals are too simple, they can ignore important aspects of a situation. On the other hand, if there are too many aspects to consider, there can be a lack of focus.
Focus on key elements: Measurement has become quite complex. Ask yourself how important are the results, speed, innovation, and quality when measuring performance? For example, I believe automation has improved the speed and efficiency of many customer service processes. However, customer service and satisfaction are frequently sacrificed. How many times have we been completely frustrated with ineffective electronic customer series efforts? There is a trade off here that needs to be taken into consideration.
Make communication a priority: In most efforts and organizations there are multiple goals and demands. With so much to manage, critical issues can arise in the areas of prioritization, comparison, and measurement. Communicating goals and their measurement throughout an organization is frequently a secondary priority. Why have them if you don’t manage them?
Examine alternatives and change: Do we understand and really believe our goals? For example, nearly everyone acknowledges that the college admissions and decision processes are a mess. Measurements gathered from a broken process don’t tell us anything useful. Reevaluate a system that isn’t working and set new goals that will yield worthwhile measurements.
Get specific: We all understand the importance of goals, purpose, and direction in cultivating commitment, success, teamwork and coordination. Yet, somehow the execution often goes awry. One common reason for goals not being set correctly is that it can be a difficult process. One of the advantages of professional sports is that the goal of winning is simple and clear. It’s not always quite that simple in other businesses, but the more specific you can get, the easier it will be to execute.
Consider various angles: Short-term versus long-term goals is the best example of how goals may conflict. Much of the financial crises in 2008 resulted from short-term greed conflicting with long-term rationality. Remember to look at things from various perspectives and how time may affect progress.
Don’t forget about bias: Bias is, perhaps, the biggest culprit in unreliable results. For example, customer service surveys are notoriously designed to create positive publicity rather than fair evaluations. The purpose of measurement should never be to confirm your positive bias.
Goals and measurement need to be a tool for business improvement rather than an end in itself. Goals are not easy to develop or measure, but the process is critical to organizational success.
Set goals to motivate you and your team to grow and use measurement to genuinely gauge where you’re at and where you need improvement. Ask yourself (and answer honestly), “What am I measuring? How am I measuring? And what is the purpose of my measurement?”
Whether it’s sales, profits, service, customer satisfaction etc., reliability and measurement over time are vastly underrated!
Make goal setting a priority and communicate your goals to those involved. Be certain to understand the different needs of different situations. Use clear and simple measurement tools, and be sure to utilize the process for improvement, rather than a tool for criticism. And remember, we set goals to make progress and even if we don’t achieve what we set out to accomplish, we still end up further along than where we started. So, stay focused on your goals, make them word for you, measure your progress, and keep moving forward.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, President of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience, skills, and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies. We guide your plans for business success and unlock your profits.Our strategy includes clear steps, and over 150 free articles and templates to facilitate your efforts and guide your process. We’re here to help you get on track and stay there as you move forward.
We welcome comments, suggestions, and questions. You can write us at: bshlensky@startupconnection.net or call at 914-632-6977
If you think are you aren’t susceptible to denial, you’re in denial. It’s a difficult thing to manage, compared to simple lying, because much of denial can be unconscious and, as a result, more difficult to recognize and change. But, change we must, because denial prevents us from seeing and addressing critical issues that could greatly affect outcomes, both personally and professionally.
I find that, except for the news, we favor positive circumstances and sometimes deny challenges. We “see what we want to see” by checking the stock market or the score of the game only when we’re ahead. We look for positive weather forecasts and focus on the great things about our kids. This type of tunnel vision can make it hard to see the whole picture. It can also affect decision-making in cases where positive bias greatly alters assessments.
Psychologically, denial is a mechanism that results from the inability to cope with reality. However, there is an immutable fact about denial: it does not work as a long-term problem-solving mechanism. Reality always wins. And when it does, the next step in the process is blame, which shifts responsibility onto someone or something else. Blame eases the pain when reality bites. But, we need to take ownership of our actions and recognize that if we work to avoid bias and denial, we can often avoid having to face a harsh reality down the road.
Bias is one of the greatest deterrents of accurate scientific analysis. I also believe social bias can be more impactful than statistical. These include our preconceived perceptions and assumptions. I am always amazed that many programmed employee selection tools outperform interviews, especially in jobs requiring specific skills. Similarly, the perceptions of many presentations are established in the first minute or so.
Cultural and environmental factors also affect bias. Dress, demographics, weather, location, and culture all affect perceptions in the decision-making process. These can also be used to your advantage when talking to colleagues by increasing bonding with similar people. Whenever I meet someone who is also from the Southside of Chicago like I am, agreement on differences becomes much easier.
Denial is more prone to happen when there is more complexity and variables involved in a situation. Our brains try to counter this by attempting to create simplicity. Once we understand that this is what is happening, we can use to our advantage. For example, we all know simplicity can help decision making by prioritizing, focusing, and pursuing clear goals. On the other hand, we need to consider multiple factors like rewards, probability, environment, resources etc. in making our decisions. Here are some examples where the two strategies can be complementary:
The 80-20 rule (which states 80% of results are from 20% of effort) calls for focus to be more important than ever. Eliminating unproductive efforts is the most important aspect of the 80-20 rule.
More data, variables, and analysis are generally good, but it must be useful, valid, and correct. For example, if you are measuring an outcome, pinpoint the important factors rather than trying to measure everything. In particular, you should be careful to avoid random relationships and misinterpreting cause and effect. For instance, pre-pandemic data may be less relevant than before.
Most efforts have multiple goals like sales, growth, profit, quality, good will, satisfaction, etc. What is the priority and importance of these goals and how are you measuring them? Personally, I am always battling writing long blogs that are intellectually interesting versus short practical blogs with specific recommendations.
There are tradeoffs among innovation, experience, excellence, risk, and quality. Quite simply, the more innovation you pursue, the more trial and error. In contrast, you want experience and quality if you are doing things like open-heart surgery.
Denial reduction can also be affected by our attitudes and mood. Don’t underestimate the benefits of just taking a break or getting enough sleep in developing a more realistic approach. One of the side effects of working from home may be an endless workday and a lack of distractions, which provides no time to relax and reenergize.
Balancing simple and complex tasks can be improved by focusing on your strengths and paying less attention to your weaknesses. For example, I have a client who has the best product in the industry, but charges a little more money. She has achieved success by moderating some prices, but mostly developing messages that explain her quality difference.
Don’t underestimate intuition, which is quite different from denial. While we continually get more data to make better decisions, we should not forget our gut feelings. Someone does win the lottery and some of the best outcomes come from low probability efforts. For example, the pandemic has caused great uncertainty about 2022 and there are lots of opportunities to take a little more risk.
The use of virtual rather than rigid models can help deal with complex issues. They are easier to understand, diagnose errors, and manage multiple situations. In general, we are moving towards more flexibility in decision-making.
Openness can also facilitate avoiding denial. Organizations need to be open to measurement and feedback. Observing, understanding, and sharing financials, operations reports, and sales reports are the first step. Simple research tools that social media can provide can be used regularly. A management style such as the “walk around” and asking simply, “how are you doing, is there anything you need?” can be priceless. Look for alternatives and ‘what if’ discussions.
We all experience denial, but it is our responsibility to admit when we’re allowing our own biases to influence us or giving in to our brain’s desire to simplify complex issues. Therefore, we must constantly work to develop safeguards that will help recognize, test, and avoid denial. Because when we can see the full picture clearly, we are able to react and respond in the most effective way.
When you want to stand out, reach out to Bert for the tools that will build your “sticky” brand. My focus is on understanding and analyzing your dilemmas and challenges, so your company becomes profitable faster.
Call (914) 632-6977 or email me at bshlensky@startupconnection.net. Don’t leave without signing up for our useful free eBook!
Feeling stumped or overwhelmed? Contact Bert at (914) 632-6977 or Email to start the process. Thanks!
