Don't implement the wrong strategy

The first two ingredients in a business vision were “imagination” and “worldview”.

The third one is “possibility thinking”.

This is about your willingness to move beyond the first acceptable idea, to generate multiple ideas from which you can select and combine. Many people feel uncomfortable and impatient with this process. They latch on to the first viable suggestion, however superficial and unoriginal, so they can move straight to implementation, and feel as though they are doing something. However, implementing the wrong business strategy can be a disaster.

Creating a unique strategy, one that capitalizes on the organization’s strengths and caters to the needs of its customers, whilst also taking into account what is happening in the world around you, is not easy or quick. It requires the input of many and varied suggestions. Most will eventually be “redundant” and “surplus to requirements”, but they form an essential part of the process.

Much has been written about the importance of not shooting other people’s ideas down. Just as important is not shooting down your own ideas. Most ideas are never voiced at all. It takes time and confidence for a thought to develop to the point where it can be put forward as a suggestion. Mostly, we have “glimmers” which pass through our minds but never really form into an idea. Only if we let these glimmers grow can we exercise our originality and create a truly new strategy.

Recently I took part in a five-day Cabaret Summer School. During the week each of us was required to create an original solo mini-cabaret show of 10-15 minutes, consisting of three songs and some patter to connect them. At the end of the week all eleven of us performed our segments to a paying audience in a show held at a beautiful theatre, with professional sound, lighting and grand piano accompaniment. It was quite a challenge. At start of the week, most of us had no idea what our show would be about. The best piece of advice came on Day 1: “Most ideas get rejected before they have time to develop. Give your ideas time to grow”. This gave everyone permission to come up with novel ideas, and to experiment with all sorts of things without worrying too much about whether or not the material would eventually be used.

Obviously there are differences between the creative arts and the corporate world. But both require possibility thinking. You don’t get competitive advantage by copying what your competitors have done. To create a new strategy, we need to overcome the natural tendency to self-edit, and allow the glimmers to grow.

Possibility thinking stops you getting stuck in precedent.