Navigating in Uncharted Territory - Rule #6 - Use Discipline and Rigor While Remaining Nimble

In our exploration of Leading in Uncharted Territory, rule 6 is: use discipline and rigor while remaining nimble.   One of the hallmarks of our time is the level of uncertainty and the unpredictability of our environment. The stock market chase by over 1,000 points in a day. The swings from day to day are often much broader than any time in history. We face a broad range of factors that can significantly impact us and we are not able to predict and control our environment. Factors such as these significantly impact us in multiple ways. So the question for leaders becomes - how do I make good decisions and run my business effectively? One recommendation I make with regard to decision making is to move from predict and manage to hypothesize and experiment. Basically move toward the scientific method.   The steps of the scientific method are to:

• Ask a Question
• Do Background Research
• Construct a Hypothesis
• Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
• Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Communicate Your Results

This approach is beneficial because we can no longer rely on time tested rules and best practices to resolve our challenges. We are truly in a time where new thinking is required to solve our problems. In that context - developing a hypothesis and testing it is likely to help us determine which approaches will work. This process is called often called Structured Thought and Communication in the business community.

So to our recommendation - rigorous and nimble. Rigorous - use data and evidence to prove our hypothesis. That seems to be a hallmark of good science. So how does that connect to nimble? Because the environment is so fluid - solutions we devise today will likely need to be modified in the near future. It is important to create solutions and approaches that can flex and flow with the environment we live in.

We have moved out of a world where we can create long term solutions to some of our challenges. While we need to use a long term vision, many of our solutions will be short term. With the rate of technological advancements now and those predicted in the future - we expect exponential acceleration which means today's solutions will become obsolete sooner than ever before.

These factors combined require us as leaders to balance long term health and stability of our organizations with shortened lifecyle of products and technologies.

An example of this is MT Business Technologies, a company implementing a technology solution to address current and future challenges. They have identified a cost effective solution to address the rapid pace of change by using a thin client approach. Basically they have all key applications sitting on the main server and not the desktop. This approach allows them to be agile in their response short term and long term. The cost is lower and they are now able to respond quickly to environmental changes. They tested this hypothesis by researching the data and conducting a pilot. They analyzed the results and found their hypothesis to be true. They have communicated and gained approval for their implementation. This solution will allow them to be nimble as an organization and concurrently offer better internal performance to their staff. This is a great example of rigorous and nimble.

photo credit: NIOSH - Nat Inst for Occupational Safety & Health's photostream

By Maureen Metcalf of Metcalf & Associates