Slow Down Your Strategic Planning So You Can Go Fast

Bias is defined as "prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair." In the business world, this definition also applies to concepts and ideas.

As business leaders we like to think we're impartial, open-minded and objective in regards to new ideas, but the human brain doesn't work that way. Our brain has a strong bias for information that supports our existing view of the world. It actively seeks out data that supports our viewpoint, and often ignores evidence that contradicts it.

In addition, we're trained from a very early age to think in rigid ways and seek THE right answer. Remember in 5th grade how good it felt to raise your hand in class and get praised by the teacher for getting THE right answer? And remember how bad it felt if you got it wrong? Your ‘wrong' answer may have been very creative and right in a different way. But if it wasn't the answer the teacher wanted, you didn't receive the public pat on the back, and you were less likely to raise your hand the next time.

Unfortunately, this training does not serve us well as leaders.  In the business world almost all problems or challenges have multiple solutions. Some are better, easier, cheaper, more feasible, etc. than others. But very rarely do we encounter situations where one option is the only right one. And when we constantly seek THE right answer, it becomes much easier for our biases to get in the way.

Not surprisingly, bias is a leading contributor to poor business decisions, especially during the strategic planning process. Which is why I constantly urge business leaders to make it a habit to identify their assumptions, biases, and beliefs, and test them against current reality before making any major decisions. Now there's further evidence supporting the value of this approach.

A survey by McKinsey Consulting asked executives to rate the outcome of a recent strategic decision at their companies as either satisfactory or unsatisfactory, while focusing on the role that various biases may have played. The survey found that satisfactory outcomes are associated with less bias, thanks to "robust debate, an objective assessment of facts, and a realistic assessment of corporate capabilities."

According to the survey, companies that produced positive outcomes did a better job of forecasting consumer demand and assessing their own abilities to implement the decision. The best decisions included both strategic and financial targets, and ensured that individual incentives were aligned with the strategic objectives. In addition, possible competitor responses were analyzed and factored into the decision.

Companies that reported favorable outcomes were also more likely to engage in certain activities that minimize bad decision-making. These include:

• Actively seeking out contrary data to ensure that key decision makers had all the information they need to make the best decision
• Allowing people with conflicting points of view to openly express their opinions
• Thoroughly reviewing the business case for the decision, even when senior executives strongly supported the decision
• Establishing processes and lines of communication to ensure that truly innovative ideas reach the senior management level

These kinds of behaviors seem counterintuitive. Partly because they contradict the unspoken biases and assumptions that tell us we already know what we need to know. And partly because they lengthen the planning process.

It takes time to gather and analyze information, especially data that we don't want to see or hear. It takes time to listen to everyone's point of view, especially those that would seem to be nay-sayers. And when senior managers are chomping at the bit to make the decision and move on, it takes time (and courage) to stand up and say, "I think we need to look at this some more or in a new way."

The power of pause

In today's world, we're all running so fast that pausing to engage in these kinds of processes feels like we're falling behind. But if we don't take the time to evaluate how we gather information and how we reach conclusions based on that information, we end up making decisions that can have disastrous consequences. And this is the process I call "slowing down in order to go fast."

Slowing down to go fast starts with actively seeking out information from a variety of sources. Pay attention to trends and events outside your industry. Then look for ways to apply that information to improve internal systems and processes or to add value to customers in new and better ways.

In meetings, don't just tolerate opposing points of view, actively encourage them! Tell people, "This is the way I see it. Now I want to hear from those who see it differently." Make it safe for people to express their opinions, even when they contradict the prevailing point of view.

The stronger you feel about an issue, the more likely it is that unspoken assumptions are driving your position. Expose your thinking on the issue and have people push back.

How did you reach that conclusion? What about the data leads you to believe that? Have you looked at it from this angle? Even when everyone seems to be in agreement, pause and ask, "Are we missing something here? Is there another answer to this problem? Is there a better answer or set of answers we should consider?"

The next time you undertake the strategic planning process, slow down in order to go fast. And remember to check your biases at the door, or at least expose them to everyone!

 

 

About the Author

Holly G. Green is author of "More Than A Minute," and the CEO and Managing Director of The Human Factor, Inc. She has more than 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She was previously President of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a global consulting and training organization as well as LumMed, Inc. a biotech start up. For more information, visit her at http://www.thehumanfactor.biz and http://www.morethanaminute.com

Eliminate Your But!

I would love to see the following sign outside every strategic planning conference room:

 

Strategic Planning Session in Progress

No Thought Bubbles Allowed!

 

Of course, it will never happen because we can't get rid of our thought bubbles. What we can do is take a careful inventory of them and update those that no longer align with current market conditions. That way, our thought bubbles won't derail our strategic planning processes by causing us to make decisions that have no foundation in reality.

 

Thought bubbles are the deeply held beliefs and assumptions we have about every aspect of ourselves, others, our organizations, and our lives. Operating just below the conscious level, they determine how and what we perceive, and guide how we think and act.

 

Thought bubbles tend to be self-reinforcing. They are always incomplete. They can limit our ability to achieve results. And they require constant updating to remain current.

 

During strategic planning, thought bubbles typically manifest themselves through hidden biases that affect how we analyze data and make (or don't make) important decisions. Here are some examples of common strategic planning biases and the thought bubbles that might accompany them:

 

Bias: Status quo comfort.

Description: The tendency for people to like things to stay relatively the same.

Thought bubble: "We've always set goals at 5% higher than last year. Why should we change now?"

 

Bias: The bandwagon effect.

Description: The tendency to do or believe things because others do the same.

Thought bubble: "Nobody else in our industry is doing that. Why should we?"

 

Bias: Hindsight bias.

Description: The inclination to see past events as being predictable.

Thought bubble: "I knew that was going to happen! Why didn't anyone listen?"

 

Bias: Information bias.

Description: The tendency to seek information even when it can't affect action.

Thought bubble: "We can't make a decision now, we need more data!"

 

Bias: Projection bias.

Description: Unconsciously assuming that others share the same or similar thoughts, beliefs, values or positions.

Thought bubble: "I'm glad everyone's with me on this one." (without checking for validation)

 

Bias: Technical myopia.

Description: The tendency to look at things according to the conventions of one's own profession, forgetting any broader point of view.

Thought bubble: "They don't have my background or training. What do they know?!"

 

Bias: Herd instinct.

Description: Adopting the opinions and following the behaviors of the majority to feel safer and avoid conflict.

Thought bubble: "Everyone seems to agree with her. Who am I to rock the boat?"

 

I could list dozens more. But the real issue is not just identifying our thought bubbles. It's what we do with them.

 

Stop shutting down your brain

 

For many, the biggest challenge with thought bubbles is simply becoming aware of them. Here's the #1 clue: if an issue triggers an instantaneous emotional reaction, you're in the grips of a thought bubble. And the more intense the emotion, the more powerful the thought bubble and the stronger your belief in its validity.

 

Other ways to recognize when thought bubbles come bubbling to the surface include:

 

• Any time you find yourself saying "clearly…, it's obvious…."
• Getting defensive when people challenge you
• Feeling threatened by a statement, idea or issue
• Feeling like others are stupid for having a different point of view
• Refusing to even consider an idea because "you know it isn't true"

 

One of the most common thought bubble signals is using the word "but."  As in, "That's a good idea, but….." As soon as you say "but," it negates everything that came before it.  Your "but" thoughts shut down your brain from processing other possibilities while it works to validate whatever opinion or belief you currently have.  It also puts the other person on the defensive and shuts down the conversation rather than opening the issue up for exploration. So one of the first rules in thought bubble bursting is to eliminate your "but".

 

To avoid letting other thought bubbles dominate your decision-making, become more aware of how you react to issues. Any time you have a strong, instantaneous emotional reaction, pause and ask yourself:

 

• Why am I reacting so strongly to this issue?
• What is my underlying assumption or belief that is being challenged?
• Is this assumption or belief still true?
• Is it time for me to update my bubble?
• What do I stand to lose by having this assumption challenged?

 

Another good way to become more aware of your thought bubbles is to start paying attention to them off the job. As you go about your personal activities, make note of what you're not saying out loud, what you're focusing on, or even daydreaming about because the unique ways our brains process this data and come to conclusions do not always serve us well.

 

Suppose you're driving on the freeway and someone abruptly cuts you off. Your immediate response is probably, "What a jerk!" But what if the person didn't see you? Or what if they swerved to avoid hitting an animal in the road? There may have been several legitimate reasons for the driver's behavior.

 

Pausing to examine your thought bubble helps to understand that it is based on emotion rather than logical processing of actual data. That way, you can make the conscious decision to let it go instead of driving home angry because "the world is full of jerks" (another thought bubble). As you become more aware of your thought bubbles away from the office, you will likely become more aware of them on the job as well.

 

When we pause to examine a thought bubble, we can use our brain to layer logic on top of the emotion. We can recognize the thought bubble as an unspoken assumption and seek new data to test it for validity. The problem is we don't take the time to pause because we're running so fast from the time we wake up until we put our head on the pillow at night.

 

We can't get rid of our thought bubbles; that's just the way the human brain works and they are important to us in many very positive ways. We can periodically stop responding to them in knee-jerk fashion by becoming aware of when they occur, pausing to check our reaction, and then responding in a more rational manner.

 

Monitor your emotional responses, eliminate your "but," and you'll start making much better decisions during your next strategic planning meeting!

 

 

TAGS: thought bubbles, emotions, strategic planning, reaction, rational, assumption, belief, idea, bias

 

About the Author

Holly G. Green is author of "More Than A Minute," and the CEO and Managing Director of The Human Factor, Inc. She has more than 20 years of executive level and operations experience in FORTUNE 100, entrepreneurial, and management consulting organizations. She was previously President of The Ken Blanchard Companies, a global consulting and training organization as well as LumMed, Inc. a biotech start up. For more information, visit her at http://www.thehumanfactor.biz and http://www.morethanaminute.com

Mentoring For Management Is Crucial in Business Strategic Planning

A strong work environment has never been more essential. This definitely goes past the normal and then extends to what it means for workers to commit to the company and direct their energies in direction of achieving corporate ambitions. To make this happen, the standard view of leadership as well as coaching, where the leaders control the problem at a distance with pre-determined steps, has to be dismissed. Issues these days have become more complex: they should not predict what's going to occur. To be effective, the company ought to frequently adapt to shifting conditions, steer their efforts towards the preferred direction of the business and work together to attain their set goals.

Strategic planning supports this specific intention. It involves planning a step-by-step process that identifies the position in the association, their targets for future years, its needs, strengths, threats, opportunities and action and monitoring strategies. Without it, the business won't fully understand where it needs to go and whether it arrived.

Benefits of Strategic Planning

First, as was pointed out, strategic planning clearly defines the goal of the corporation, and as a result, enables management to establish sensible targets which are in accordance with the overall focus belonging to the company as well as a doable timeframe that works around a successful execution.

Second, it conveys these goals to everyone involved. Everyone -involving the managers, the employees, the maintenance, should be part of the planning. Every one should have a chance to voice his or her views about the plans. This provides them a feeling of responsibility, ownership and office companionship which are necessary to the success of their set goals.

3rd, it makes sure that the resources within the business are being used and even possible by using them for the main priorities. By doing this, no amount of funds, energy and time is going to be invested in needless material.

4th, it provides a base level which calculates the advancement of the plan, which often establishes a method which adjusts specific parts as needed.

Ultimately, it creates a strong group and also brings together the efforts of everybody who took part. This closes the gap amongst the employees and then the administrators and becomes the focal point that can keep the company together, getting rid of conflict and workplace misconceptions. For this reason, production will be optimized, making the organization expand separately and together, making everybody successful and effective.

To help the organization accomplish every one of these, there must be a leader or perhaps a group of leaders skilled enough to guide the whole group towards the intended path of the company. This is more challenging than it seems as, according to Marcus Buckingham, "the corporate world is appallingly bad at capitalizing on the skills of its people". Powerful leaders need to engage the whole office, pushing each and every person to optimize their skills and take full advantage of their possibilities. This suggests a deviation from the traditional leader who manages the problem before it arrives. The improved leader adapts continuously to shifting conditions, making everyone motivated to work to the success of the strategic plan. Every one has to be experienced and well-informed with the entire process so that you can set a good example for their co-workers. To help you accomplish that, a training for your company leaders might be the best decision an organization can make.

About the Author

While conducting research for this article, I learned about facilitator training and services and leadership strategies at www.leadstrat.com.

Discover How Facilitator Training is Crucial to Corporate Planning

Given today's highly competitive world of business, a company should be able to figure out where it wants to go over the upcoming year or so, how it would get there, and ways to evaluate if your objective will be successful. This generally is determined by the size, leadership and lifestyle of the business, as well as the knowledge of its facilitators. Training, from your employees to the management, ought to be done within the company.

Many organizations make the mistake of reacting to changes rather than getting ready for them. Without crisis management, these businesses are now required to start rebuilding, losing sources along the way, and keeping them from having plenty of time to rebuild themselves before the upcoming challenge shows up. As a preventive measure as well as an alternate, tactical planning proves to be a sensible strategy.

Tactical planning may go in several directions. It usually depends on the ambitions as well as the challenges throughout the company. Goal-based plans, the most frequent, begin with the objective and beliefs in the corporation, the goals and methods to do this mission and also the division of tasks. Issue-based plans, however, begin by analyzing the problems and figuring out the ways to help to accomplish those plans. These plans could take many years, possibly even decades, for example top notch level details and action plans, sometimes either, at times both.

To determine the success of the plans, the business's strategic facilitators, referred to as planners, should be well-equipped and also skilled. Every one has to be knowledgeable regarding the details of the program, and they all have to be in agreement. This could end up being a challenge as their ambitions may be determined by their unique personalities. More systematic planners might prefer the linear, general-to-specific strategy in planning, even though the more creative might enjoy a more "organic" strategy.

To ensure that you implement the plans, the 3 major factors are commitment, communication along with credibility.

Commitment

An investment from the management as well as the staff members will also be necessary to the prosperity of the techniques. The Strategic Planning Committee, as well as the leaders, will be able to implement the very best programs and services while doing so at a realistic level. They need to also be responsible in researching, accumulating suggestions and proposing what direction to go next. In turn, employees implement these suggestions.

Credibility

The board must have a different team containing representatives coming from all across the organization for greater representation and general performance. More than this, they need to always keep all the details, including research and even background components, available to the public for evaluation. Reviews and understanding gives everyone involved a sense of ownership. This personal dedication helps in the implementation of your strategies.

Communication

Beyond the transparency within the corporation, it's also vital that you explain the bases as well as the goals of your plan to everyone in the company. Everyone has a way to express their opinions and assess the recommendations. The leaders and also the committee, next, figure out how to meet the objectives.

Considering the amount of responsibility given to the leaders and also the members of the committee, they must be experienced and competent enough to manage the development of the program and the dealings with the rest of the business. This is the reason every person who has a strategic planning responsibility - ranging from managers of large companies, to small enterprises and departmental managers, can usually benefit from facilitator training. This guides them through the whole process and makes certain that they're well-equipped, through the planning to the very end of the execution.

About the Author

While conducting research for this article, I learned about facilitator courses and leadership and management at www.leadstrat.com.