- If we expand into market X we will grow our sales volumes by Y%.
- If we hire accountancy firm B we will get our audit done cheaper and faster.
I wonder if you’ve noticed how many of those sensible and businesslike decisions result in disappointing outcomes?
There are many reasons for this, but high on the list must come the realisation that we are not always entirely truthful in our analysis. Other factors come into play: The need to impress the boss is having a marked impact on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
There are other, ingrained influences that cloud our objectivity. We are suckers for hiring big name brands. It used to be said that nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM. Until one day someone did.
We also crave the security of following an established process. With its carefully thought- through stages and its unchallengeable logic, the modern procurement process protects managers who struggle to make their own decisions. And, anecdotally, permits corruption to thrive, cloaked in respectability.
When we make collective decisions, we often don’t do any better. Recently, The Kellogg School of Management found that, in a typical meeting, an average of three people do 70% of the talking. Go figure.
If we struggle with commercial decision making, that’s nothing when compared with how difficult we find it to judge ideas. That’s because creativity cannot be assessed through a logical process. Big ideas are largely emotive, certainly in their initial stages. The best ones aren’t based on an existing premise. Nor have they been tried before by competitors, so we can’t mimic success or mock failure.
Decades ago, I used to present ideas to American businessmen (they were all men in those days). It was hard work because they had been taught to identify weakness and eliminate it. So you might present three ideas (an easy number to choose from) and they would target what they considered the weakest idea first. Then the second weakest. Then they would choose the least weakest idea, but express their reservations about it. I’m ashamed to tell you that their technique had a name in business-speak. They called it ‘kill the cripple.’
By contrast, one of the skills of Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognise how an idea makes you feel. And to declare that feeling valid.
Chris Harrison leads The Brand Inside
www.thebrandinsideafrica.com
