Ideas – Processes – Outcomes

Awoke in the middle of the night thinking about these three related items. What do we do with our thinking, our ideas? Are they mushed through some sort of process to make more sense or utility of them? And finally, what outcomes do we expect or hope for?

The more I thought about this the more I realized each of the three items could be engaged at any time. Even reverse ordered or totally mixed up. It didn’t matter. What did matter was the problem area that started the thinking in the first place.

In other words, what is the problem that we are working on that brings forth the thinking on ideas, processes and outcomes? Does your organization have a recruitment problem for new members? Or your business has trouble recruiting new clients/customers? Or how about retention of both clients and your human resources to serve those clients?

Or maybe your nation has an economic problem – a falling exchange rate for your currency, or declining demand for your nation’s products and services – in other words, your nation’s ability to earn international currencies with which to buy goods the world over.

Or maybe you have too many deaths by guns, or cars, or some other cause. What to do about that? What is the definition and scope of the problem? What are the critical components of the problem? What tools do we have available to combat the problem? What obstacles to implementing solutions will we encounter?

Or perhaps the problem is personal and well contained: the family auto is in need of repair and maintenance and it will cost $3000 to complete. What are my options? Does the current auto contain enough value to trade in at this time, and might a new car or a newer model used car be affordable? And thus avoid the deferred maintenance cost entirely and gain a new warranty, newer parts and worry free driving for another 30,000 miles until we have to face this issue again?

Actually, the process of thinking used here quite often winds up producing desired outcomes. If the process and the ideas we create over this problem area are successful, then the outcomes are likely to be improved.

This leads me to consider this elemental fact: Why not identify desired outcomes first, then work backward to ideas and processes? Wouldn’t this help kick-start our efforts?

Perhaps. But it depends on the problem and how well we understand it in the first place. So once again, the model can be flexibly applied and not in any prescribed order. The circumstances will dictate how ideas – processes – outcomes are used to produce the desired results.

These are critically important elements to think about when you or your organization engages in strategic planning. It is really strategic thinking that is engaged.  All I’m suggesting here is that we need these three things firmly known in our heads:

a.       A solid definition of the problem in need of attention

b.      A knowledgeable awareness of the environment of the problem and how all of that affects the problem, what we do about it and our expectations after solutions are implemented

c.       A very clear and cogent definition of our desired outcomes. What are we trying to build, create, have happen in the long run?

All three are needed if we are to be successful in managing change for our self as a person and as a leader in any organization of which we are a part.

I’m still thinking about this. It niggles my mind at the strangest times. I guess my thinking on this is not settled. It is still in progress. It is a process in and of itself.

So, keep thinking, processing and dreaming of outcomes. This will only attract more fruitful thinking. What fun!

June 23, 2016