Success Mindsets For Astute Scanning
We all recognize that better decisions follow reliable data collection. However, obtaining it remains a challenge. Too often we accept a penetrating glimpse of the obvious or past practice since it is safe and efficient to keep doing what we have always done. Unfortunately, this tendency keeps us in an echo chamber where old assumptions reside and reverberate.
Generating valuable current information requires a new approach. We just cannot wish for insight, we must adopt practices that ensure that we really know what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. Otherwise, we pay a heavy price for being blindsided, surprised or shocked by events. Volkswagen’s emission control software or Wells Fargo cross-selling requirements illustrate the dangers of siloed thinking and superficial analysis. These failures were not a matter of low IQ or inexperience. They were created by constrained frames of reference or restricted mindsets. Just as looking only one way before crossing the street is foolhardy, relying on one slice of information before making an organizational decision is wrong.
The term mindset has various interpretations. My definition centers on a willingness to investigate all situational facets when confronting complexity. Let me give an everyday example, if you saw raining pouring down outside, you will likely decide to wear a raincoat rather than a wool jacket. Your decision is independent of personal style or education. Your choice depended on current information or realities. Certainly, organizational conundrums are more complex than picking outerwear but the process of assessing conditions before acting applies to both personal and business decisions. We must collect and weigh information to make smart decisions. Lazy thinking is risky behavior. We need to keep on top of events to excel.
Exploring six organizational mindsets deliver success and avoid blunders. The six mindsets cover what:
- new or innovative offerings can be launched;
- customers want and need;
- systems, infrastructure, and policies improve alignment;
- processes improve the bottom line;
- staffing and culture support sustained excellence; and
- trends and alliance create new opportunities.
Understanding and using six operational aspects does not require a Ph.D. Instead, we need a willingness to collect information and this collection can be easily guided by a checklist of questions for each mindset. While checklists appear simplistic, professionals rely on them. Surgeons, lawyers, and pilots consult checklists to confirm all aspects have been covered. Leaders who use a success mindset checklist develop a complete environmental scan.
Success follows a “ready, aim, fire” sequence, where being ready requires a complete investigation, aiming evaluates alternatives and firing is the decision on action to take. Certainly reducing the process to “ready, fire” appears tempting but it hides a high cost. Complexity and change demand full reality check. And, it pay-offs by avoiding having to spend time recalling, re-issuing or repairing misguided decisions. Astute scanning advances your reputation conserves resources and ensures delivers desired results.
First published at: https://www.bizcatalyst360.com/success-mindsets-for-astute-scanning/