INSIGHT 1: Get Ready For “Aha!”
Don’t you love that amazing “aha!” moment when you discover great new insights for your business? It’s like a jolt of caffeine! Well, fellow business junkies, I’d like to share some strategic thinking insights that are unusual.
As we discuss next-step business issues, you could fairly ask: “Hey, what should we do now?”
That's a good open question, but there's a question that can be even more valuable to your business: “”How can we benefit from a shift in “the way we think” about the company… how could we open up valuable new ideas?"
Remember that Albert Einstein quote: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” He was really smart!
You can step back & think strategically, or just solve problems
You already know the fundamental concepts of strategy, branding and marketing.
And if you haven't clarified this in your own thinking yet, strategic planning and thinking through business issues are just as important for small and medium-sized companies as it they are for the Fortune 500. Arguably more so for the SMB / SME, because there are fewer resources you can afford to waste.
But if you’re focused on immediate business needs — solving the problem du jour — key nuances of strategy and
branding can get lost. Dang-didley-dang!
Take a deep breath and a good look at the direction of your company — macro
and micro. Because the decisions you make when you’re not involved in “producing results”…will affect everything you try to do to produce results!
“Reacting” is what you do when the alarm clock goes off in the morning.
“Creating” is when you decide to cook dinner, and you do something different.
Architecture is creating. Problem-Solving is demolition! With demolition, you want to destroy the problem With architecture, you want to bring something into being.
Start “creating” what you really want for your business, and this objective strategic thinking orientation will jumpstart all your efforts.
Some quick tips to get started, if you really want to gain thinking insight:
1) Be willing to slow down. Stop scanning. Really think. Don’t just react. You’ll find strategic nuances you never expected.
2) Begrudging… or Energizing? Is your attitude about developing strategy for our business "because I have to"? Or is it "because I want to"? Are you engaging the power of human creativity in you thoughts, speech, and actions, to produce something wonderful?
3) Stop solving problems. Start creating what you want.
4) You’re a serious adult… but “allow” your inner kid’s curiosity!
5) Get Visual… go to the whiteboard, not the computer. You’re more creative there, draw diagrams and doodles and connections between components of your thinking and the business…
6) …so you can literally step back and be objective. (If your whiteboard was your artwork, you might notice where more details are needed…where they color needs adjustment… where a small refinement changes as lot. Seeing reality requires objectivity … and seeing reality is critical. Because the two most important points on your route are your destination and your current location (your current reality, your starting point).
7) Be flexible in your thinking: Screw up. Yes your business is serious… but don’t take yourself so damn seriously! Laugh. Move on. Refine. If you stay focused on what you really want, you'll likely get there.
When does real business transformation tend to happen?
So in essence, your approach to business thinking is key. That thinking "runs things," like your computer's Operating System.
Transformation happens when you are really engaged, when you work up a sweat…not with cool academic business school distance.
With engaged thinking that's based on what you truly want to create for the business — not the problem you want to kill — you can empower any area of your business. That includes all the stuff mentioned here so far, plus HR and Recruiting, Operations, Process Management, Training, Content Strategy and Marketing, Customer Support…you name it!
And since business is in the business of creating opportunities — not throwing them away — I’ll continue to share a total of 7 insights from the business battlefield, from a unique consulting perspective I’ve worked with extensively… plus the widest client experience you've ever heard of, on all kinds of programs.
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NEXT POST:
2023: Gain These 7 Powerful Insights On Strategy & Branding" Insight 2: Is your strategy a "generative engine"?
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Cartoon by Robert Fritz, from : "A short course in Creating what you always wanted to but couldn't before because nobody ever told you how because they didn't know either."
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