’BUSINESS-AS-USUAL’ AND CERTAINTY HAVE LONG GONE, AND WE MUST NOW REALIGN OUR COMPANIES TO DEAL EFFECTIVELY WITH THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TODAY’S COMPLEX, VOLATILE BUSINESS WORLD. COMPANIES AND THEIR PEOPLE NEED A FRESH MINDSET AND APPROACH.
This book is based on one simple belief: that to succeed in today’s volatile, challenging and competitive climate and be ready for tomorrow’s opportunities and risks, leaders need to Think Holistically and Act Personally. It is this balance between strategy and tactics, big picture and detail, planning and action, corporate direction and personal responsibility, which helps to ensure progress and resilience for the organization. In practice, as we have seen, this means succeeding in six broad areas: leading with a purpose and reason, generating and maximizing revenues, rousing and engaging people and their talents, building relationships, developing a clear reputation and being resilient. These six Rs don’t operate in isolation: they overlap and support each other, and failure in one area will undermine the others. So now we turn to building a framework where our six Rs work together so that they result in a strong, high-performing organization. First, however, the foundation for the framework lies in a clear understanding of the present challenges and the recognition that many companies are standing on a burning platform.
IN CASE WE FORGET …
The world is certainly a volatile, fickle place. Markets are more competitive and unpredictable; the pace of change is unprecedented and new challenges are constantly emerging. Financial meltdowns, market turmoil, technological advances and new opportunities have left many reeling and others enjoying meteoric success. Certainty is a thing of the past. Today, organizations face an array of problems and a wealth of opportunities, making flexibility and energy the watchwords of the day. We need to build robust companies that can weather any storm – and this is not easy. If there is one thing that the six Rs have taught us it is to take a total approach in our businesses. Clearly, this is no small task, but then the rewards are correspondingly immense. It is now time to put everything we have learned to work, and implement the THAP framework: Think Holistic, Act Personal.
Business-as-usual and certainty have long gone and we must now realign our companies to deal effectively with the challenges and opportunities of today’s complex, volatile business world. Companies need the right mindset and approach and they need the best systems in place to ensure profitable growth. The overwhelming number of changes and burgeoning competition is truly daunting, and it would be impossible to account for every eventuality. Instead, we should aim to strengthen our businesses, make them robust enough for any challenge. It is like the old adage: give a person a fish and they will eat for one day; teach them to fish and they will eat for a lifetime. We need to do the same with our companies: rather than being reactive and constantly firefighting, we need to be proactive and form them to deal with any eventuality. Only by doing this will we be battle ready and ensure the long-term survival of our companies.
To insulate our companies from risks, while being ready to exploit opportunities, we need to stay tuned to the environment and be able to respond to it swiftly and appropriately. This point can’t be emphasized enough – in a world of hyper-discontinuity, success depends on knowing what to do with information. The battle line will inevitably be fought over this very point, as it is this that gives us the ability to adapt and dominate.
This leaves us with the unavoidable truth: to ensure long-term survival, we have to put the right processes, culture and leadership in place. This may involve radical changes to your company but if you want to succeed, that is exactly what you will have to do – there is no easy way around it. As we said in the opening chapter, this may be a harsh wake-up call but we have to adjust to the new reality that the past is no longer relevant and the future is up for grabs. The future belongs to companies that are battle ready.
CRITICAL, STRATEGIC, LATERAL THINKING HELPS US APPROACH ISSUES AND SITUATIONS ACCURATELY, LOGICALLY AND CREATIVELY AND THIS ENABLES US TO CHALLENGE EXISTING BELIEFS OR PLANS AND TO IMAGINE NEW POSSIBILITIES.
There are four key areas businesses need to address: how to Think effectively, take a Holistic approach, Act in the right way at the right time, and take Personal responsibility for making progress. All of these four areas then need to be integrated so that they work together. Being good in one or two areas is not enough; companies need to cover all the bases if they want to hit a home run.
THINKING BETTER
Thinking is a complex activity and getting it right is critical to every aspect of running a business. It is a multidimensional process that involves identifying, analyzing and synthesizing information from many different sources. If incisive, insightful decision making is one of the high standards demanded in today’s business environment, we need to make sure that our thinking skills are up to the task. Easy, you may think, but it is surprisingly difficult to make the right decision at the right time in a way that leads to success (for example, by involving others so they are fully engaged). No one wants to make a stupid decision and some of the biggest corporate failures – from Enron to Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns – were run by smart people. The chapter on thinking will reveal how poorly understood thinking skills can be and how we could all do with a refresher course.
Critical thinking enables us to assess situations logically, rationally, without bias and with an open mind. We are constantly bombarded with an array of information and we have to pick our way through all of it, deciding what is relevant, what can be discarded, what is subjective, what is factual, how past experiences are influencing our thoughts and assessing if our own uncertainty (or that of others) is clouding an issue, or possible solutions, in some way. Arriving at an accurate and effective conclusion from this mass of information is difficult. Critical thinking will help us steer our way through by highlighting the facts and what’s involved. It assesses everything in terms of accuracy, scope, relevance, reliability and significance. It is about seeing a situation in the cold light of day.
Critical thinking
Reading this book, you may already be in a leadership role in your company and you will undoubtedly have had a mixture of successes and failures en route – we all do. By acquiring or improving critical thinking skills you will be even better placed to take your company further, strengthening it not just for today but for the business world of tomorrow. The payoff: sustained profit and growth.
Why is critical thinking so important? It removes emotions. It steers us away from thinking traps. It circumvents preconceived notions. It deals with facts but, more than that, it lifts our sights from the muddle of information and blind alleys so that the economic landscape is laid bare before us. Only by seeing what is really out there can we hope to see the best solutions, develop effective strategies and take the right actions.
No matter what level you are operating at in your company, critical thinking is essential. No part of an organization operates alone. Everyone, at every level, contributes to the bottom line. Being tuned to what is around you, being able to notice flaws and opportunities, evaluating the facts accurately and suggesting improvements and actions will add to the overall success of the company.
Strategic thinking
Strategic thinking is a vital skill: it is goal oriented, it takes in the whole landscape and it is all about securing competitive advantage. Business acumen and insights lie at the core of this skill. We need to know where to allocate resources for the greatest effect, and we need to know which actions will lead to the best outcome. It is a mode of thinking that focuses our attention away from outdated ideas and onto what matters now.
While there is definitely a broad-sweep aspect to this method, this is not to suggest a lack of rigor or detail. On the contrary, it is an inclusive, extensive and highly detailed approach that evaluates all perspectives. This is fundamental, as any strategy ultimately relies on your ability to identify and evaluate all the trends, relationships and patterns that exist (as well as ones that do not yet exist).
Strategic thinking means taking the whole organization into account and you need to see it in different time frames – past, present and future. Strategic thinking is where everything comes together. It combines critical and creative thinking to develop and test hypotheses and to devise the best solutions. It sees the world for what it is and what it could be. Being able to recognize new realities or imagine a new reality of your choosing and then acting on your insight and making it happen is the domain of strategic thinking. This is not a one-off exercise; it is a constant requirement. We must always remain open to new information and be ready to act.
Why is strategic thinking so important? It makes us flexible, responsive, resilient, determined and focused. Seeing the big picture makes the path in front clear – it gives us an awareness of the scale of what needs to be done, where and how we need to act; it makes us bolder and it enables us to maneuver our companies through risks and opportunities to secure long-term, sustainable growth.
THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC THINKING CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. IT ENABLES US TO MANAGE CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY AND IT IS THE ROUTE TO CREATING VALUE.
Although strategic thinking is certainly demanding and is not for the faint of heart, just like critical thinking, it can be learned. It takes you away from business-as-usual thinking to see new possibilities. It will help you to understand your goals better and reveal how to achieve them. It is both reflective and proactive, generating ideas, limiting risks and pointing the way to the right course of action. Significantly, it is about knowing your opponent and outwitting them while also knowing where alliances and cooperation will be mutually beneficial. Knowing that your plans are based on such a thorough foundation will build confidence not just for yourself but for everyone in the organization, improving their commitment to the execution of your strategy. Today, an important part of strategic thinking is engaging and aligning resources in order to generate the support you will need to achieve your goals.
Lateral thinking
Why does lateral thinking matter? Because the world is changing rapidly and, as a result, it is unlikely that firms will survive such a shifting landscape without the ability to stretch their thinking in innovative, challenging and creative ways.
A changing environment demands agility. Strategy can no longer rely on boosting performance through the brute force of economies of scale. Now, the ability to think laterally ensures that we remain agile, ready to react quickly and innovatively. With its broad, challenging and creative perspective, lateral thinking provides invaluable insight. In particular, it views situations from a unique position and can reveal new opportunities that may be overlooked by other approaches.
Lateral thinking views a problem from many angles, including the unconventional, in order to challenge the existing situation and develop new ideas. It is all about challenging both our preconceptions and our instinctive perception of any given situation. We therefore need to escape from a traditional, logical way of thinking and focus our sights on the less obvious ways of doing things. After all, value is dictated by offering a product or service that is needed, wanted and has an element of scarcity. Here, it is essential to make a conscious effort to challenge our preconceptions and avoid the black and white world of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – things are not black or white in the lateral thinking world, there is a range of possibilities that all need to be examined, along with all of the subtle gaps in between. In other words, we need to think completely outside the box and see things that others can’t see. Do that and you will open up a world of possibilities and, consequently, gain incisive competitive advantage, break from the herd and become a market leader.
This is not to suggest that lateral thinking lacks rigor and detail. Rather, it is a place of logical imagination. Its value lies in taking us out of our comfort zone to develop new possibilities. Tomorrow’s world will not be conquered by sticking rigidly to past approaches no matter how successful they may have been; tomorrow’s world belongs to those who can imagine what others cannot and who take us into unchartered territory – this is the place where exciting opportunities reside.
When you need to move your company in a radically new direction, lateral thinking comes into its own. Because the whole field seems to revolve around creativity and thinking outside the box, if you don’t naturally think that way, it can leave you feeling that this approach would be out of your reach. By now, I’m sure that you will know my response to such fears: if you want to do it, you can; there is nothing magical or elusive; it is simply a matter of learning the tricks of the trade, so to speak.
In this regard, the techniques Edward de Bono has developed will equip you with the necessary skills. His approach will help you use lateral thinking sessions to take you through several stages: to enable you to focus on issues, assess the current state of play, devise a wish list of hoped for solutions, generate ideas to achieve those solutions and then assess the viability of proposals. At each stage, you have to challenge assumptions and subject your ideas to critical assessment by repeatedly asking ‘why?’ and ‘what if?’ This eliminates the out of date or the ineffectual and identifies new opportunities. Thinking should not be constrained; it is all about thinking boldly, even outrageously, to spark ideas and reveal new options.
Conventional thinking is fine for conventional problems but the world is no longer a conventional place. It is a place of shifting vistas and rapid change, where the company that can offer what no one else has thought of, or that can adapt quickly, reigns.
TAKING A HOLISTIC VIEW
There is no getting away from the fact that a company is a whole, integrated entity: nothing and no one acts in isolation. Moreover, companies do not operate independently of their environment but instead are part of a whole world of activity and possibilities. Welcome to the age of holism.
What does taking a holistic approach achieve, and why is it fast becoming the main route to success? The short answer is sustained profitability and growth. The longer answer is that success hinges on seeing the whole landscape, both internally and externally, to identify where opportunities lie and to know how to best fit all the parts together. This then enables the company to create something that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Only by doing this will we create value, build resilience and drive profitability.
All business activities are ultimately connected – even if they do not, at first sight, appear to be. If you doubt the reality of this, think of how a small problem in a seemingly mundane part of the business can wreak untolled havoc on a business’s reputation, with consequent ramifications elsewhere in the business. Think also of how a strong corporate mission statement can inspire and motivate everyone who works in the organization, and how that then feeds through to customers and stakeholders. We all know how damaging it can be to be out of step with new trends or changes in tastes, which makes it more difficult to attract investment or to pursue other ventures. Think of the competitive advantage to be gained from utilizing all the creative potential within the organization by creating a flexible, open, inclusive working environment. The aim of every business leader should be to make sure that all aspects of their company work together well, with the result that the company is much more than the sum of its parts.
Thinking big
It is the nature of business today that makes this approach indispensable. Many companies are complex international operations in terms of customers, suppliers, competitors and market changes. All the departments and divisions, each with an array of functions, people, issues and lines of business, often in different locations, leave an organization vulnerable. This is especially the case if it isn’t able to keep everything in focus and understand how the distinct elements operate as a whole and part of the wider world. A holistic approach will reveal where things can be improved and better prepare us to take advantage of opportunities or even create new ones. It will engage employees and utilize their skills to the fullest. It will point the way to enhancing the customer experience. Today, more than ever, businesses need to be fluid; they need to be flexible and ready to adapt. There is no option for allowing any part of your organization to stand in the way of this goal; only by knowing how every part of your business works and how it works with the rest of the organization, external players and markets, will you be able to achieve this. In other words, you have to Think Big.
With its emphasis on treating an organization as an integrated whole – with interconnected, individual, yet inseparable parts – systems theory gives us a means of assessing a company holistically. To do this, you need to take multiple perspectives and a cross-functional approach to identify the patterns, subtleties and interrelationships involved and the information necessary to develop effective strategies. Most importantly, you need to appreciate that whatever you find, it will not stay the same: businesses are dynamic; they need to adapt to changes.
Holism gives us a valuable approach to strategic development, operational issues, company realignment and problem solving. It challenges and tests our existing thinking. By generating a flow of information and being open to new ideas, it provides an inclusive, engaging working environment; one that is capable of innovation and improvement. In particular, it enables us to turn our companies into learning organizations, capable of flexing, growing and pushing our potential further and further.
Little things make a big difference: systems maps
A major advantage of a holistic approach is that it uses systems maps to help us identify where changes, even small changes, can make a big difference. These maps plot the different parts and processes of an organization to reveal how they interact with each other and how they fit into the entire company. By constructing these maps, you will be able to fine tune your approach and better position the organization.
This is certainly not an easy task: the number of internal and external players and influences are vast, and any analysis is necessarily complex and subtle. However, it is essential that we operate in this mode: a broad, multidisciplinary approach informs strategy and enables us to offer customers greater value. Quite simply, holism opens up a world of possibilities.
TIME TO ACT
Inevitably, the time comes when the talk and analysis need to be put into play. You have to move from what can be the reassuring, safe zone of discussion and planning and take action.
Clearly, all actions will only be as effective as the quality of the thinking on which they are based. A key issue to address is knowing how and when to act. This is where testing helps: it enables us to know when to push forward or hold back, when something is good to go or when revisions need to be made.
Beta testing
In this regard, a highly effective tool is beta testing. This is where companies gather data from expert customers through real world tests in order to assess the quality, features, suitability and likely demand of products before launch. By doing this, products can be perfected, market success better evaluated and risk minimized. It will also give companies a sense of when to act. Significantly, this has another important attribute: it enables companies to win over expert customers that are key influencers in the marketplace.
Tipping points
Knowing when and how to act and being ready to respond quickly are particularly important in relation to tipping points. These are the moments when something takes hold and becomes firmly rooted. It is the point where change occurs on a large scale and turns a product into a ‘must have.’ Central to developing and exploiting tipping points are:
• Making demand for your product spread like a virus, by …
• Targeting key influencers and …
• Making products ‘sticky’ as well as …
• Watching for events that could be used to create new trends and …
• Looking to create or exploit connections.
A fundamental aspect of tipping points is interdependence. The reason why a product can suddenly become popular is that people are connected to and influenced by everything around them, which means the demand for a product can grow rapidly when people are exposed to the right prompts and influences. Accordingly, an effective means of initiating a tipping point is by creating a community around your potential customers, where they can enjoy using the product or service and share their ideas with other like-minded people, and where they are in a position to be influenced by the key influencers in the industry and spread news of the product to others. This creates the necessary buzz that a product needs for it to go viral.
Whether you are creating a new trend or quickly following an existing one, it is essential to constantly scan the environment at large and ready your organization to take swift and effective action. Engineering your own tipping point has the potential of securing market dominance, becoming the ‘must have’ brand and generating almost monopoly profits in the short-term, and customer loyalty in the longer-term.
Understanding psychology and behavior
Of course, knowing how and when to act is underpinned by an understanding of psychology and behavior. For example, behavioral economics offers useful insight into buying behavior. It looks at the roles of social, cognitive and emotional factors, and it examines how we make decisions.
The traditional view that customers make rational decisions has come under fire; it appears that irrationality is more embedded into our buying behaviors than we might care to admit. However, the good news for businesses is that while this behavior may be rather illogical, it is also remarkably predictable. This situation arises because we tend to follow thinking traps and consequently, repeat certain decisions over and over.
These thinking and behavioral traps lead to some interesting possibilities, such as the use of decoy products to enable customers to have a point of comparison for your main product. Moreover, when setting prices, we should always bear in mind how hard it is to shift perception away from past prices, which can severely restrict the ability to change prices in the future. And we all know how important it is to get the right people (and many people) using our products, as people follow people, in the belief that the product must be good or is desirable in some way. A major challenge for companies is to know how to break people from attitudes and actions that led to previous buying decisions – we are creatures of habit, even in the face of superior or better value products. For each customer, many things come into play that affect the decision to buy, and companies need to figure out how to manipulate these causes and how best to overcome objections or concerns.
innovation, a creative mindset and the joy of
crowdsourcing
The key to taking the right action at the right time is to instill a culture of innovation throughout the organization. This will lead to companies that are flexible and mutually supportive, that engender trust and cooperation that encourage innovation and that motivate, engage and inspire employees. In a volatile, unpredictable world these decentralized, flatter, open organizations are better positioned to react. Being able to adapt is no longer an option: it is essential.
Gathering the right information is critical. To this end, crowdsourcing is the new kid on the block. This method reveals an invaluable insight by aggregating and averaging all of the individual responses to arrive at one overriding answer. It is based on the belief that, as a whole, the crowd comes to a better answer more often than even a smart individual will when they are operating in isolation. By seeking the opinion of the crowd, companies gain access to data that may otherwise have remained hidden, which enables products to be perfected before launch. Basically, this enables a company to greatly and cost-effectively expand its talent pool. The resulting increase in the pace of innovation and problem solving can make the difference between being a market leader or an also ran – or even oblivion. No wonder that R&D is morphing into C&D – Connect and Develop.
As an extra bonus, by engaging the opinions of others outside the organization, companies are also gaining access to potential customers and are in a position to lead them in a particular direction, build their brand’s and product’s reputation and even to tap into the ability of influential individuals to promote products to others.
Networks matter – both real and virtual
Critical to informing action is establishing an effective networking strategy, both internally and externally, that is capable of driving innovation and generating and growing demand. Networking extends the company’s sphere of influence. When deployed and used correctly, networks will build awareness, interest and credibility. Here, the reach and power of social media comes into its own. By engaging all stakeholders, you will be able to plan and execute your strategy to its full potential.
Despite the power of the internet, it is wise not to overlook the importance of face time. Not only do customers value this, employees do too. For example, many companies operate across borders, which can leave people feeling cut off or ignored and this can result in vast untapped reserves of potential in other operations going to waste. To counter this, some companies make a concerted effort to have a physical presence in other countries and to invite employees to visit their sites elsewhere. Although costly, the cost of not having in-person contact can be greater. This also applies to customers and even if your company is based entirely online, it can be advantageous to organize events where customers can meet people from the company. This can enhance your brand’s image and build closer customer relationships and loyalty.
Taking action is a permanent state of affairs. We need to:
• Stay alert to the external environment
• Keep our businesses ready to respond and adapt
• Be open to new ideas and always look to improve.
IF THERE IS ONE APPROACH THAT LIES AT THE HEART OF ALL SUCCESSFUL ACTIONS IT IS ASKING ‘WHAT IF?’ AND THEN BEING OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITIES.
This is the point where you bring everything together and put your ideas into play. Get it right and long-term, sustained growth will be yours. Remember, if there is one approach that lies at the heart of all successful actions it is asking ‘what if?’ and then being open to the possibilities.
GET PERSONAL. BE RESPONSIBLE
Develop self-awareness
If we don’t understand people, including ourselves, we cannot hope to run a successful business. Being self-aware and understanding how best to interact with others underpins everything. To put it more brutally: all your efforts can be completely undermined if you do not relate to others correctly. It is certainly the case that there are things we can do that will greatly enhance performance, release the full potential of everyone in the company and build the company’s reputation and ability to win customers. Significantly, by identifying and acting on patterns in behavior, we will be able to manage relationships effectively in order to get the results we are looking for.
IF THERE IS ONE APPROACH THAT LIES AT THE HEART OF ALL SUCCESSFUL ACTIONS IT IS ASKING ‘WHAT IF?’ AND THEN BEING OPEN TO THE POSSIBILITIES.
One tool to help us understand human dynamics is transactional analysis. This gives us a way of determining someone’s personality type so that we will know how to relate to them and manage the relationship successfully. By understanding the way different people will behave in different situations, we can respond appropriately. To determine someone’s personality type (and your own), you have to be knowledgeable and observant. Watch out for clues that indicate both the main and secondary aspects of a person’s personality – including body language, tone of voice, eye contact (or lack of), facial expressions, choice of words, etc.
It is hardly surprising that this is important in business since it equips us to influence relationships and steer others to our viewpoints. It can help us to avert problems and, significantly, it engages clients. That, in turn, secures long-term revenue. When facing changes such as company restructuring or realignment, knowing how to handle relationships is crucial.
Today, the ubiquitous Myers-Briggs test is part of many company’s development programs. It improves our own selfawareness, enabling us to know our strengths and weaknesses and determine how to manage our behavior when we are in different situations. It also helps us to identify the personality types of others, and that enables us to know how best to relate to them.
By understanding your own preferences, behaviors and the way you work and communicate, you will be able to play to your strengths, mitigate any shortcomings and enhance your skills. This knowledge can help a company in teambuilding, conflict resolution, leadership and for shaping corporate culture.
Another aspect of understanding human dynamics is appreciating how we work on an instinctive, biological level. How we behave is affected by the chemicals in our brains. While we can learn to deal with their impact we are unavoidably subject to them. Of particular interest here, is the way that neurochemicals shape our personality types, specifically: dopamine (and norepinephrine), oxytocin, serotonin, estrogen and testosterone. The presence of these chemicals leads different people to respond very differently to situations and to exhibit markedly different behaviors – from analytical or creative, bold or cautious to conventional or adventurous. Again, knowing this information prepares us for getting the best out of relationships and knowing people’s strengths and weaknesses, which, for example, is useful for knowing who to assign to each task for the greatest effect.
In addition, knowing your own personality type and having a sense of clients’ characteristics provides valuable information for building strong, productive relationships with customers. In other words, we can use this insight to create positive client chemistry. Of course, people are rarely one thing or another; individuals possess a combination of traits, maybe with some more dominant than others. This is why it is necessary to consider the whole range of temperaments in a person, and certainly to weigh each one, but it is also important that we are ready to flex our style should someone move into another, less prominent trait.
The benefits of applying this approach to client relationships are significant. For example, if a client is very driven, detailed and decisive, they are less likely to be impressed by someone who acts largely by intuition rather than by using facts. Of course, while we can’t put our clients through a battery of tests to determine their personality types, we can observe them. In addition to body language, mentioned earlier, look out for other clues including: mannerisms, how they process information and tolerance for risk. This information will equip you to respond appropriately. Understanding yourself, your colleagues and your clients is essential, since making the right sort of connection matters.
The age of sensibility
FOR TOO LONG, WE HAVE RELIED ON PURE REASON AND RATIONALITY, WITH THE CONSEQUENCE THAT WE HAVE MADE MISTAKES – SOMETIMES SPECTACULAR ONES.
Today, we need to integrate human understanding into each part of our organizations. For too long, we have relied on pure reason and rationality, and consequently, we have made mistakes – sometimes spectacular ones. This is hardly surprising. For example, in market research, individuals can indicate that they would definitely make a particular purchasing decision but when it comes to making that purchase in reality, they do not. This irrational world can only be properly understood by drawing on what neuroscience has to tell us. As an interdisciplinary field, it is well-placed to guide us through the labyrinth of human dynamics. The key lesson it has for us is that, rather than reason, our actions are largely based on our emotions, feelings and empathy. We now live in the ‘Age of Sensibility,’ and businesses need to wake up to this new reality. How can we hope to build brands, trust and client relationships or to engage employees and other stakeholders, etc., without basing our approach and strategies on a correct understanding of the way people behave and why they make certain decisions? This insight is crucial if we are to influence behavior toward the direction we wish it to go.
Any actions that we take, no matter how well-informed we are about people’s behavior, rely on one critical factor: being genuine. Leaders need to be authentic. Reputation and relationships are earned and easily lost. As such, a leader should manage all relationships carefully, including how customers and external stakeholders perceive the organization.
Another aspect of taking personal responsibility is having the right mindset. In particular, adopting a ‘never say never’ attitude will prepare you for the unexpected. This can have significant ramifications given the volatile world we live in and especially, when faced with a black swan event. The extreme nature of these events can leave companies adrift and struggling to recover – or sometimes failing to. Having a mindset and approach that allows for uncertainty, including the possibility of extreme events, will strengthen your company. You should address any vulnerable areas, stay alert to any signs of change and be ready to act quickly.
Being personal in business is not a soft option – to be honest, it is not an optional extra at all; it is essential. Admittedly, it is difficult to get it right, and there is certainly a case to make for it being one of the hardest things we have to do since it goes right to the core of who we are and how we behave. This is understandable, as most people shy away from such an intense, personal focus; opening up, trusting, employing self-awareness, listening and empathizing can all leave us feeling exposed and uncomfortable. Furthermore, the breadth, depth, and complexity of human dynamics can be overwhelming and daunting. Having relied for so long on other methods that are more rational, sometimes impersonal and occasionally straightforward, many will find the transition a bumpy one. Yet, the transition must be made: future fortunes depend on it.
Holism in business is about understanding how the parts fit together and function in the whole company, as well as in the external environment. Holism provides both a diverse and a unified view. It is all encompassing, enabling us to see how one thing affects another and revealing insightful information. We need to subject our companies to a series of questions.
• How do the various elements of the business – people, customers, products, resources, strategy and other elements – interconnect?
• Where are the interdependencies?
• Are there synergies that may be developed or exploited?
• What is the big picture?
A final thought about thinking holistically and acting personally: these behaviors require adaptability. If you are not at the forefront of change, or if you are unable to react to changes efficiently and effectively, then the future is bleak. The point is that we need to think in the widest sense, act and take personal responsibility. There’s no point in wasting time by criticizing ourselves for being behind the curve in a particular situation; it’s better to take the lessons learned and focus on the task of preparing ourselves and our companies for tomorrow. A key aspect of this is adopting the THAP framework and, critically, instilling it throughout the organization. How we do this for each element of the framework is the focus for the next two chapters.