In last week’s coaching session, we addressed the first step of effective strategic thinking: EXPLORE – cast a wide net of horizontal thinking, borrowing ideas from different disciplines.
I began: “Now, today, let’s tackle the second part: TRANSLATE – distilling those ideas to what’s most relevant. How do you manage this part?”
They said: “That’s a darn good question because I am able to synthesize, then to the important ideas sort of naturally; it’s been a strength.”
I concurred: “Yes, you’re good at this! Let’s go meta and “think about how we think”; let’s come up with a TRANSLATE mental model, one that is easily teachable with your team.”
They nodded: “Ok, I am game.”
I said: “Let’s break it down. After you’ve brainstormed with your team or “popcorned” a bunch of ideas, what’s the next step?”
They said: “We look at patterns or themes from all the data.”
I said: “Once you’ve agreed on the patterns, then what do you do to get to the priority?”
They said: “When I do this myself – like a couple of weeks ago, I looked at future buying trends in retail – and I wanted to distill to what’s most important, I pick a couple of criteria to hang on to.”
I nodded: “Exactly. Decision criteria is the key here. So that same process you used in your head can be used for a group. After the patterns have been recognized, criteria have to be applied. When you looked at future trends, what criteria did you use?”
They said: “My top criterion usually is, and certainly in this case, customer need.”
I said: “Tell me more.”
They continued: “I put myself in their shoes and imagine what they’re thinking. We have data, we have trends, but I want to pretend I am sitting along side them.”
I smiled: “Love that. What’s another decision criterion you use?”
They said: “Urgency of business need. Sometimes customer and biz need can be in conflict; this has to be weighed.”
I said: “Yes, for sure that can happen.”
They added: “There is one more thing that is related: risk and opportunity.”
I nodded: “Yes, makes sense. Lastly, after using the decision criteria, we distill to a priority. It takes courage to try something new, that perhaps no one has tried before.”
They added: “Like in the case of retail trends, I wanted to take a bold stance; I suggested to my boss we venture into a new partnership with a semi-competitor.”
I summarized: “That does sound bold. And now you have a TRANSLATE model for your team; this will boost their confidence.
1. Discern patterns/themes.
2. Apply decision criteria (e.g., customer need, urgency, risk/opportunity).
3. Delineate the priority, take a stance, and try it.”
They smiled: “I am excited to work on this with my team.”
How do you TRANSLATE and distill an idea that will serve customers best?
