Methodology
Navigating through complex change be it strategy development, service redesign or reconfiguration, designing and implementing new services or simply tackling the everyday challenges of operational delivery is the meat and drink of management. However it is all too easy to be rushed into finding answers without first spending enough time of defining the questions. The right answer to the wrong question can be a very dangerous place to be. As the strapline says - 'True wisdom is as much the art of the question as the science of the answer'.
Even amongst a relatively tight-knit group such as an established Board or Management Team the internal dynamics are such that each participant might have a different perspective on the challenge or issue but not have had an opportunity to develop it. The benefits of effectively drawing out these perspectives are:
- the ability to scoping the dimensions of the issue more effectively and quickly
- to better understand the underlying perspectives of the participants on the nature of the questions - which in turn can help identify both possible solutions or indeed sometimes surface some of the underlying causes
- to ensure that the different perspectives are shared and understood in such a way as to improve the overall effectivness of the group and to ensure that when the question(s) are answered that the results address those perspectives properly
- to gain legitimacy for the process of developing the answers to the questions
- to form the first step in creating the alignment for the challenges of implementation.
Failure to scope the issues properly can lead to:
- significant wasted effort where you find that what you are addressing is purely a symptom of a more endemic issue (are you seeking to trap an elephant or like Winne the Pooh just stuck at the bottom of your own hephalump trap with your head stuck in the honey pot?).
- missed opportunities for finding potential solutions (I have a suggestion but they won't let me get a word in edgeways so I will check my Blackberry instead)
- destructive dissonance where the question you think you have answered was not the same question that key stakeholders thought you were seeking to answer - or you did not adequately aknowledge their perspectives within the process (They are going to step on a mine but I am not going to tell them because they have not bothered to ask me)
- failure to gain the legitimacy that is essential to subsequent implementation (We are going to follow this one at a safe distance out of curiosity rather than commitment).
At Outhentics we believe it is crucial to successful delivery to spend enough time developing and scoping the key questions you are seeking to answer. Our methodologies are designed to help you identify and scope the question(s) in a way that provides clarity, ownership and alignment. And of course we can provide support in helping answer those questions and in implemeting the results.
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