Look for what is missing. Many know how to improve what's there; few can see what isn't there.
Discoveries are made by finding the distortions, discrepancies, deviations, exceptions, variances, discontinuities, what is missing. The Romans worshipped Fortuna, the goddess of randomness. W. Edwards Deming showed how statistics & randomness could be used to improve quality & thereby increase productivity, profits, jobs & the quality of life itself.Have vision
A Child sees more into the future than the parent.
Having a better vision doesn't necessarily mean climbing up the organizational ladder. One gets a new perspective no doubt but often going down to Ground Zero is required to understand what the real issues are.
Having a Vision implies seeing what others don't see. Many inventions of the 20th Century were pursued solely on the Vision of those who saw their potential. It was said that the TV had no future --- American families didn't have the time to sit glued to a screen! American culture was active & outgoing. The forecasts for the computer were that barely some thousands would be needed by the year 2000. The market research forecasts for the Sony Walkman & the Polaroid camera were equally gloomy.
But many times people have pursued visions which were just mirages. How then does one know whether a vision is right? The approach is to dissect the internal drives with the external realities. But then are market surveys not external realities? The answer is that one cannot research what doesn't exist. One must be sensitive to feel the pain & needs of others even though they may not be expressed.
Use Soft Information
There would be no news, no surprises, no shocks for the media to report if the media listens to what people are saying.
Communications move through time & history by people first communicating to themselves, verbalizing the pains they are experiencing & then communicating these to others by what is termed as Soft Information. When a critical mass of listeners & activists is created the pain is expressed in public. If the noise is loud enough it makes NEWS. If it has a significant & long-term impact on society it is researched & distilled down into articles, research papers & books.
All decisions have People Content & one must understand these to make a good & effective decision. The Dialogue Route in decision-making involves collecting information & taking decisions by discussing with people, getting their opinions, convincing, negotiating, getting involvement & participation. This approach may appear to take too long, be a waste of time & often goes nowhere. But used with skill the decisions become easier to implement & the results are long lasting. The approach is an antidote to UNCERTAINTY --- the pitfalls stemming from over optimism, untested assumptions, unheeded warnings, poor intelligence & failure to clarify authority. It determines who will decide & implement the decision.
Nobody is better at spotting holes in your plans than
your opponents.
The approach combines the technical side of decision making with the human side --- it merges Hi-Tech & Hi-Touch Apply Lateral Thinking
Imitation is the best form of flattery.
One way to decide is to see how decisions have been taken & ideas applied in similar situations elsewhere. Wheels & rollers facilitate movement so wheels & rollers have been used to move furniture, equipment, containers, materials, trains & aircraft. Aircraft were first used to carry mail. It didn't take long to extend the concept to passenger traffic. When Gillette introduced the throw away blade it didn't take long to create a new throw away society where it was more economical & time saving to throw away a used item rather than wash, clean, repair & reuse it. When throw aways created a garbage disposal problem, the recycling of waste emerged. Recycling of solid waste extended into biodegradable waste, water & even air.
Test Your decisions
If you cannot act, you cannot decide.
To implement any decision one must have the authority & the resources. Decisions change the rules of the game. Everything is connected with everything else & one decision leads to new situations requiring other decisions. Before you decide you must test whether it will work, whether the resources & infrastructure required are available, whether the environment is ready & able to accept it & what will be its impact in other areas. Some decisions are easily reversible, others are not.
Decision-making is tested in the following ways depending on the style, attitude & approach of the individual:·Check out the logic & rationality. Weigh the pros & cons. Evaluate the Cost:Benefit. Quantify & optimize.
Do a sample test. Make a prototype & model. Experiment & see the results. Obtain physical evidence of its feasibility.
Discuss with others & get their opinions & consensus. Get answers to questions & objections.
See the results in pictorial form --- a drawing, a chart, a map, a graph, a picture.
Look for signs that the decision is on the right track --- both external & internal signs, what are the experts saying, what is my heart telling me.
Ensure that a decision is not being made under pressure of time, people & special interest groups. What If the decision is postponed? What If the circumstances change? Will I be able to justify this decision when viewed under the lens of Time or an Audit?
Very often we are at the receiving end of a decision & need to decide how to respond. We must test whether the decision is being made to benefit solely the decision-maker or is it in the interest of all concerned.
Be an Artist
The artist sees the picture before it is painted.
A decision must create something new, something different; it must bring about a change. Even a decision not to change attempts to change those who want to go in another direction. The decision-maker must be able to join the dots to see the end results of the decision. She must see the new & improved situation that is created. It must have the signature, the uniqueness, the stamp of the person making the decision. Because a decision is a matter of choice, no two decisions will be identical or be made in the same manner.
Decision-making must be like medicine where people find it understandable & acceptable to remove the pain even though it may not be palatable.The artist in the decision-maker makes him proud of what he has done & hope that it will stand the test of time. The decisions taken by the Tata Group under Ratan Tata have a unique stamp, which has the WOW effect of seeing a great work of art. The Group has retained its century old core values in the face of global pressures --- a decision not to change! TISCO has reduced its workforce from 78,000 to 45,000 & become the lowest cost manufacturer of steel in the world. The down sizing was accepted by the unions & the work force as all laid off workers get full salary till retirement. Vision & determination was exhibited in the introduction of the car, Indica.
Learning to learn & lateral thinking is seen in the acquisition & application of new technology. The jewel in the crown is TCS, which, as the largest software development company in Asia, aims for perfection & high customer satisfaction in the services it provides to its global customers.
Conclusion
The decisions that he makes or doesn't make define the man.
The dawn of the IT Age [Information Technology Age] has added power to our decision- making ability. The available & accessible information have made quantum leaps in volume & speed, so have the tools for analysis of this information. But we also have the need for this power as today, more than ever before, we are under pressure to make decisions or to respond to the decisions made by others. We can avoid the responsibility or we can show leadership & blaze new trails. We can raise our sights & hit the ball out of the park. We have the potential of competing with the immortals by combining the power of knowledge with powerful inner drives to remove, with justice & equality, the Pains facing humanity in this flat, one & globalized world.
