Working with
the concept of problem solving, introduces a number of challenges for me. I
believe that what we think about, we most certainly, through our thoughts and
actions, eventually bring about. So the very act of viewing something as a problem
causes us to engage in negative thought processes. These negative thought
processes sees us approaching any event which has occurred from a very negative
standpoint. We view the event as something we need to overcome, rather than
simply an event, which has occurred that, is not aligned with the outcome we
want to achieve.
When you make
this shift, where you no longer view any changes that you need to make or
events, which are not aligned with the outcome you want to achieve, as problems,
you remove the negative connotation associated with overcoming problems. You
instead allow yourself to operate from a far more positive position. This
subtle shift then allows you to view these changes or undesirable outcomes,
which you need to make, as merely a set of different choice or decisions away. This
subtle shift, will allow you to operate from a more positive position. You no
longer have to overcome anything, all you need to do is make a few calculated
and focused different decisions or choices and the outcome or result will
change.
My experience has
shown that once you make this shift away from viewing any undesirable result,
as a problem you need to overcome. Instead you see it as an event which is not
aligned with the outcome you want to achieve, you immediately remove the feeling
of overwhelm and move into a proactive position, where you feel empowered. It
is obviously far easier to make meaningful, appropriate decisions, when you are
operating from a positive modality, where you feel underwhelmed. Rather than
from a pressured position of overwhelm, as you tackle a problem and try you
overcome it.
Change the way
you look at problems and the problems will change into manageable, undesirable events,
which can be altered, by simply making a few different choices or decisions.
Now that you know that there is no such thing as problems, it is time to offer
you a few tools to help you make better decisions. The better and more informed
your decisions are, the better will be the new outcomes you will be able to
achieve.
This dynamic
environment we live in often requires us to make decisions, very quickly.is. The
rapidly changing world we live in means we are expected to make high quality
decisions almost in an instant. Deciding and acting is always the
responsibility of the leader in any business. It has however become very
challenging leaders to make any decisions, because of the dynamic nature of the
business environment, with far more inputs and a myriad of interdependencies.
This challenge
is exacerbated by the way data is presented. Reports are designed to inform,
rather than to provide insights. These reports are designed to report by
category or to merely offer metrics. This way of presenting data was effective,
when there were fewer connections between data. This meant that there was a
small gap between having information and utilising this to make any decision.
The dynamic nature of the business environment and the ever shifting and
changing world, has now resulted in a huge gap forming between the available
information and its effectiveness as a decision making tool.
For Example: It is important to know
the consumer buying habits and patterns in any market. The current way of
providing reports as used by companies at the moment, only provides metrics,
there is no provision made to consider crucial factors such as strategy, core
competencies and the company’s competitive position. Strategy, core
competencies and the competitive position of any business are the key factors,
which drive any decisions, which need to be made.
It is for this
reason that the current way of providing reports, where only metrics are
presented, should be revised to include more relevant information around core
competencies, strategy, market conditions and competitive position. It is no
longer adequate to provide discrete facts, it has become crucial to provide
meaningful information, which provides real answers. The information should be
prepared to provide data relative to the decision, which needs to be made or
that provides actual answers to crucial questions, needed to make great
decisions.
For Example: most scorecard reports
are designed to list categories. They list each metric, their current level of
performance and then this compared to some sort of historical data. All this
information is useful in certain contexts, but does not reveal the real
information you need to know, when looking at a scorecard. Your goal when
exploring any scorecards is most certainly not to be informed about targets,
performance or history. Your role as a leader is to have meaningful
information, which will give you the necessary background to allow you to
create a plan and to take action. If reports are prepared with the result in
mind, they will be far more effective and provide a meaningful support
mechanism to any leader.
Obviously when
you review a traditional report detailing categories and metrics, you will go
through the report line by line. As you try to absorb all the data overwhelm,
your brain will be trying to compare this data with previous information, which
you have encountered and it will be filtering, eliminating and removing
potentially crucial information, simply because of the information overload. We
look at the data overload and try to answer the same question as we progress
down the report, line by line. “Is the metric on target and what is the trend
telling me”? This is a really ineffective and inefficient way of analysing
data. Why ask the same question, repeatedly, when you can organise the data to
allow you to discover the info you need to allow you to make any decision.
Rather create
a decision or outcome driven report. This way you only present the crucial or
relevant data, which you need to use to make the decision. You
organise the metrics according to the question you need answered or the
decision you need to make, rather than the data being organised on the report
in terms of the metric, with no thought about the decision you need to make.
This simplified way of analysing only the data you need, in a way that answers
the question you need answered or the decision you need to make simplifies the
process and allows you to get a clear picture.
This will allow you to immediately
know where to focus your attention. This focused approach eliminates the need
to wade through unnecessary rows and rows of repetitive data, which only
overwhelms the reader. When you organise the data according to the focused
approach as defined above, there is no need to wade through reams of data to
get the answer. This organised, decision driven approach provides all the
answers you need. The raw numbers are irrelevant, all the reader is interested
in is what the numbers or trends mean and what action is required.
This approach allows you to
very quickly get the answers you need and to track only the trends you need to
be observing. Of course you can still analyse the raw data and use the numbers,
if necessary to further understand or diagnose any challenges. The raw data or
metrics are merely an input; they are not the answer you are looking for. So
having all the numbers on any report, will actually just slow you down and even
force you to become overwhelmed and overloaded. Too much data on any report is
difficult to analyse and will result in your brain filtering or ignoring
crucial information.
Action Idea: Think about all
the reports you utilise to assist you when making any important decisions. Are
you asking and answering the same questions on every line or even if you have
become more organised and have adopted a colour coding scheme to highlight and
track certain issues. Does the report actually answer the questions you have
around the decision you need to make. To make the reports you use in future
really effective, where they will serve as a powerful decision making tool.
Organise the report to answer the real questions you have and simplify the
process, by using the process I described above.
When you are rethinking how
you can utilise the data you need in future, to assist you to make meaningful
decisions, you need to make. Will require a major shift to the way you have
operated in the past. Your historical practices of analysing, reading and
attempting to analyse rows and rows of metrics, will most certainly not serve
you going forward.
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