organizational thinking icebreaker

A company's ability to think calmly determines its competitiveness and, ultimately, its lasting success. Companies that are resourceful, resourceful, and imaginative are those companies that think well. While competitors can copy a product or service, they cannot easily copy a company's thinking abilities. Smart thinking is a competitive advantage that is difficult for any competitor to imitate or ignore.

A company that doesn't think very well travels with danger. It is difficult for these companies to maintain an edge over the competition, and if they are particularly weak in thinking, even the slightest change in the normal operation of the business can threaten them and shake their market position.

If you look closely at companies in trouble, you'll find when and where their minds break down. They may not have foreseen changes in the environment in time; they may see signs of change but draw the wrong conclusions; or their decision-making process may be too slow, not thoughtful enough, or too rigid. Some companies may not know where the goals are, or execute too slowly or poorly. Whatever the reason, these problems come from loose thinking, omissions, and inefficiencies.

Corporate leaders can improve organizational thinking skills by consciously encouraging behaviors that favor wise thinking. Employees have identified and solved problems at work, responded to emergencies and planned next steps. The challenge of leadership is to ensure that these activities not only lead to the right conclusions, but also enhance the quality of group thinking.

Good leaders take seven steps to liberate rather than constrain organizational thinking.

1. Clarify company goals

Every company leader knows how to use corporate resources and capabilities to create value, build customer loyalty, outperform competitors and respond to changing circumstances. However, for the company as a whole to wisely implement this philosophy, leaders must ensure that all employees of the company share a deep understanding of the philosophy. This consensus can make every employee in the company have a clear goal and a consistent direction.

Rick Sidorowicz, one of the principals at retailer High Impact Retail, said of his leadership: "It's my job to communicate to make sure we're on the same page. I always Believe that you can only achieve great results when your front-line employees and all supporting teams are focused and dedicated to a mission."

Sidorowitz believes that enabling employees to produce this There are two key elements to a sense of purpose, each of which needs to be carefully explained, simplified, and targeted. "The first factor is alignment." My employees should be able to say, "I fully understand this goal and accept the role I need to play to get there, and I will do my best and do my best," he explained. : "The second element is a sense of urgency. What I've heard should be that we have a mission and a strong sense of urgency. We can only succeed and not fail."

If the company's leadership is not clear about its goals, it will lead to personal and departmental goals dominate, and employees cannot work toward common goals. If the goals are not aligned, employees can only make the best decisions from their respective perspectives. While each individual decision may not be wrong, without a common goal, those decisions will not be optimal.

For a company to think smart, solutions from each division must align with the overall business plan. Good business leaders ensure that the company's plans are clear, focused, and known throughout the company. It is particularly worth mentioning that although the ultimate responsibility is only borne by the enterprise leader, everyone needs to make suggestions.

Second, require deep thinking

Ask yourself and your employees to do deep thinking. This kind of thinking is not to wait for the rabbit and hope that good things will come naturally, but a positive attitude, not satisfied with the conclusion of the mean. Taking a positive attitude is all about communicating the importance of high-quality thinking to business success and leading by example. Reflect on your own way of thinking and ask your team to do the same. Ask employees to take responsibility for their own thinking, respect theirs, and reward them accordingly.

Nicolas Estrella, president of Estrella Insurance Group, has a unique way of fostering deep thinking habits in his employees: "I tell my employees that something needs to be done. They do it, and they bring it back Results. I was never satisfied with their first results, we would sit down and analyze the problem. Then I set new goals and let them do it again to see if they could improve. Sometimes they did. If I wasn't satisfied, I'll do it myself. I'll prove to them that their work can always be improved upon thinking it through."

If you want to improve your deep thinking, here are a few things to start with:

Develop a rigorous approach to crisis diagnosis.

Dig deeper and address the core of the problem rather than the characterization.

Build solutions based on opinions, remember that three cobblers are the best.

Brainstorm ideas and encourage people from different backgrounds, departments, and perspectives to express their opinions to enrich thinking and avoid being stuck in a rut.

Develop a process for accommodating diverse viewpoints in decision-making groups and appoint a person to act as a voice for non-traditional viewpoints.

3. Promote organizational learning

If he thinks he already knows the right answer, he will stop thinking. Stop looking for new information, seeking advice from others, or considering alternative options.

The key to success is not endless brooding or rushing to acceptable solutions. The key is to enforce the rules that everyone follows, that is, don't take things for granted. The environment we live in is constantly changing and it is important to recognize that business decisions are made at a specific time, place and under specific assumptions. Therefore, in the face of new problems, circumstances or information, these factors must be reconsidered. Reaffirming key assumptions is one of the keys to successful decision making. Leaders are often so panicked by past decision-making failures that they cannot analyze the situation thoroughly and calmly now.

Take a few simple steps to open up your employees' minds: They should be told to do enough research. Did they notice the importance of collecting data? Do they take into account the complexity of the problems the company is trying to solve? Do they know what to do when others encounter similar problems?

Also, stop those who haven't figured out the problem from talking at the meeting. It is also not allowed to criticize other people's ideas without suggesting improvement measures. Likewise, the topics of each department must be aligned with the company's overall plan.

As a leader, you should find time to share your way of thinking. This is a great time to develop your employees. Take some time to reflect on what data and criteria you look for when making decisions or developing a course of action, and try to analyze the thinking behind your intuition. Everyone can learn from every question and from anyone else, and if you know the answer and the employee doesn't, you know what they need to learn. Then teach them. If everyone doesn't know what to do, then you should analyze the problem and find the answer. If you face the difficulty yourself and can't find the answer, then start over, ponder whether the hypothesis is wrong, and consider the problem from different angles until you come up with a new solution.

In addition, as a company leader, you can also promote organizational learning from the following two aspects:

Encourage new discoveries---celebrate new ideas and congratulate employees who generate new ideas.

Supports enlightening common sense—supports common sense enriched by thoughtful thought and discussion.

4. Encourage discussion of ideas

Not every idea needs to be considered and discussed. Focus on the ideas that are critical to your work, and the reasons behind opinions, decisions, and ways. Reaching a consensus through discussion can make people learn more thoroughly.

We tend to think that employees can only think very narrowly from time to time. It's as if they can only think about their work very simply and mechanically. And this view is maintained, mostly due to the lack of substantive business discussions between employees and leaders. On the other hand, if your employees are really limited in their ability to consider core business conditions and make corrections or improvements, then you either teach them or let them go.

Let's read Rick Sidorowitz's insight again: "The real 'job' is getting your people involved in the business of the company through communication. Always remember that front-line workers always know better than you Business. Because they deal with your customers, your products and services, your operational processes, and your bureaucratic oversights, every moment of the day, and they do understand what performance your customers want. Their opinions and interests are aligned and a sense of urgency (the two things that make them have a sense of purpose). If these conditions are met, a lot of magic will start to happen. To do this, you have to give up the habit of giving orders and ask questions humbly to get employees to actually commit to execution. Strategy."

Sidorowitz also believes that outstanding performance is not achieved by bossing or giving orders. "It's about laying out the facts, about the people's dedication, and the use of their talents. For that, it's your job to talk to people and ask them what they're capable of, what they're doing, what they want to accomplish."

Mark Mark Steele, vice president and executive director of Kennametal, finds it important to ask the right questions and listen patiently to this type of communication: "Great ideas come from great questions. Great leadership generally All are great teachers who raise team members' perceptions of their own talents. We all remember teachers who let us answer questions and build our confidence. Likewise, company leaders must ask the right questions and show the necessary patience, good Let employees find the right answer or strategy."

Here are two other benchmark questions to measure your progress in encouraging discussion of ideas:

Are you focusing on specific solutions rather than finger pointing?

Do you support a culture of sharing information, ideas and success?

5. Delegating decision-making power to the bottom

This does not mean that responsibilities should be waived or supervision should be avoided. However, you should not think or make decisions on behalf of others. Too many leaders let employees kick problems to their superiors. If so, company leaders will be surrounded by the problems of their subordinates and have no time to do the work that only leaders can do. At the same time, many talented people waste time waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

Estrella believes that avoiding this trap is to be an observant leader who knows when to step in to provide guidance and respect employees for doing their best. When it comes to his agency manager, Estrilla said: "You have to know the habits of the employees and the way they work. Watch how they work and only help when necessary. Dropshipping managers need to feel safe that their work is done by Take responsibility for yourself. I try to give them the maximum freedom to do what they can. I want them to feel trusted and confident. Make them feel as secure as possible, but not take it for granted. All I ask is for every employee to always work hard."

When the day-to-day is hectic, leaders are often willing to tell employees what to do, give solutions, and move on to the next strategy. However, the consequence is that when employees encounter the same problem again, they still don't know how to come up with a solution. Because they don't have the opportunity to learn how to use analogies to solve different but similar problems.

If employees understand the causes and consequences of problems, recognize the dynamics of problems at work, and clearly grasp the criteria for good solutions, their thinking skills and problem-solving skills will be improved. In this way, the company will also become more dynamic and more able to cope with difficulties.

6. Cultivate Collaborative Thinking

The right business plan is seldom completely conceived by one person. Complex programs are usually the result of a series of investigations, discussions, and reflections, and good programs are often the result of collective collaboration.

Maintaining an atmosphere of collaborative thinking is not easy. Consider the situation of a typical business meeting. Often the eloquent ones win, even if their logic is flawed. Dominant people tend to favor those they agree with and cannot tolerate dissent. Sometimes, even before the meeting, the boss knows what answers he wants. In this case, the negotiation is just going through the motions, and the real purpose is to tell the employee the answer, not to discuss it with them. Although this tendency is not in the interests of the company as a whole, it is not uncommon. That's the habit of companies that don't have good thinking skills.

Changing bad habits requires consciously engaging in more effective activities every time you notice that you're making an old habit.

Jim Bruhn, president of Canfield Metal Coatings, said of how he fosters collaborative thinking and structuring programs: "First, I want to create a learning environment where employees can focus on improving The level of business knowledge so that they can contribute more to the team. Employees should not worry about being imperfect, as long as they have the determination to continuously improve themselves; Second, remember that every new idea has some value, even in the final decision Not necessarily. Also, we promote employees who 'borrow' ideas from others. Not every idea has to be their own, but they need to be able to identify the good from the bad."

Bron in Shortly after I took over the company and implemented this management philosophy, the company's collective thinking has improved significantly, and good decisions have emerged one after another.

7. Eliminate unqualified employees

One result of encouraging, modelling and respecting collaborative thinking is an impact on employee behavior. Many employees excel under the leadership of good leaders. But there are also employees who do not have the will or desire to continue learning. These people are easy to spot because they generally look for excuses and don't devote themselves fully to their studies.

Think about what you would do if you really wanted to learn a certain skill. You will at least ask questions to get more information or to be sure that your current understanding is correct; to look around for material to read or to find other information; to explore what you have learned, to keep practicing and trying your new skills, and to be better than you Ask people who know more. If you're not actively doing it, you're not engaging in learning.

There are three reasons why someone is not always able to do this despite good leadership: lack of basic personal abilities; lack of desire to learn; and lack of real commitment to the cause. For these individuals to progress, they must form positive thinking partnerships with peers and leaders. If they are not committed, it is impossible to learn, it has nothing to do with ability. Find those who are committed and learn together.

Smart thinking gives your company an advantage that your competitors can't imitate, even if they know what you're doing. If a business leader wants to be the only thinker in the company, then the company will be at stake, at least not competitive. The best performance can only be achieved by increasing the IQ of the company.

Original text excerpted with permission from Thought Killers: How Leaders Lower Their Followers IQs and What To Do About It by Dr. Dan Elash on LeaderValues (http://www.leader-values.com) , the author registered copyright in 2003. Translated by Dai Fenghua.

Author Daniel D. Elash is President of Syntient Corporation and holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Kansas. He is dedicated to the dissemination and teaching of how to develop the group innovation capabilities of client organizations.