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Thinking
Chapter 3.4 (Acceleration)
Draft 4/17/09
“Thinking is a
competitive advantage because so few people do it” – McGinn’s Law #9
I could also have started this
chapter with a one-word quotation, “THINK,” the motto of Thomas Watson Sr., who
transformed the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation into IBM. According to the IBM archives, Watson
said: “Thought has been the father of every advance since time began. 'I didn't
think' has cost the world millions of dollars." (http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/multimedia/fulldescriptions/think.html
retrieved 1/18/09). He believed
thinking was a competitive advantage, and I agree.
Contrast thinking to reacting. How many meetings have
you been in, for example, where thinking appears to begin, if at all, halfway
through the process? As the
participants grope with whatever problem or opportunity is facing them, ideas
are offered on the spot and variously shot down or supported. A transcript of such a meeting would
show a discussion that wandered down numerous dead-ends and circled around key
ideas several times before landing on one or more of them. Often such meetings run out of time or
out of steam before they achieve their goals. Meetings like these can have the value of broad
participation, but they are not efficient and often not effective at arriving
at sound conclusions.
If, however, you and other
participants think in anticipation of
the meeting, you can organize your ideas so that they help frame the discussion
and promote rich dialogue. For
example, you can identify the relevant data and facts about your
situation. You can offer potential
courses of action. You may suggest
criteria to help prioritize the alternative approaches. And when you respond to the ideas and
suggestions of others, you can be prepared to do so thoughtfully rather than
reactively. With such preparation,
you both advance the total quality of the output of the meeting and enhance
your own impact as a colleague and leader.
When you think, you capitalize on
what you have learned though previous experiences. You pull your ideas together, so that you build on what has
gone before in your life and career.
Sometimes this can happen through a flash of brilliance, with little
apparent effort on your part. That is a wonderful feeling, but if you are seeking
to maximize your learning and contributions, you cannot rely spontaneous
insights as your primary mode of operation.
As powerful as our human brains
are, they also have quirky limitations.
For example, it is quite possible to hold two contradictory ideas in
your head without feeling uncomfortable unless you make both ideas explicit. In
addition, few people are able to hold more that seven ideas in active
short-term memory without some type of help. That is another reason why discussions in meetings can
wander and circle without making progress. If, however, you organize facts and ideas in advance, you
can create a structure that will help the brain work logically through what
otherwise might be impossibly complex for most of us. And when you think systematically like this, you also make
it possible for other people to organize their thoughts and contribute in an
orderly rather than a distracting way.
There is an additional thinking
tool that is a favorite conceptual device of many effective consultants. That is the two-by-two diagram. The Boston Consulting Group Matrix, for
example, is a famous tool used to help clients evaluate businesses and product
lines and allocate resources by comparing them on two dimensions
simultaneously: market share and market growth rate. Steven Covey, for his part, used a two-by-two matrix of
urgency and importance to help his readers gain new insights on using time
effectively. The Gallup
Organization consults with hospitals on physician relations and uses an
approach that considers physician satisfaction and physician engagement as two
independent variables to help hospital administrators make better decisions
about improving relationships.
Looking at challenges from two dimensions at once almost always leads to
new insights.
When I consult with leaders and
organizations, I help them to create their own two-by-two charts to deepen
their understanding and to create a platform for effective dialogues within
their teams. When you look at
something in a new way, as happens when you think multi-dimensionally, it
invites others to join in and offer their insights as well. It becomes an opportunity to call upon
your experiences and organize your understanding of what you have learned in a
new way.
Application: Organize your personal schedule so that you make
the time to think before problems or opportunities become urgent. Put your ideas on paper and organize
them to overcome the limitations of your short-term memory. Even a 15-minute investment of time
before a one-hour meeting will make an impact.
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