To achieve their outcomes, decision-makers usually harness ideas. But what happens to ideas on their way to great outcomes? How do we know? How do top CEOs, senior executives and others shepherd ideas to fruition in their organization?
What happens to ideas is largely ignored by the management discipline
My iBook, “Ideas Breaking Through: Be a Game-Changer” takes a fresh look at the role of ideas. To do this, it spans more than 2000 years of decision-making and game-change and presents results. Here are four key aspects of idea activity to consider.
First, breakthroughs, and the ideas upon which they depend, have always been a key feature of civilization’s major advances. Yet, mainstream management of organizations is not based on models of ideas or breakthrough, but on models of “command and control.”
This is a built-in problem. It is influenced by the management discipline’s “horsemanship” origins: from the Italian word maneggiare — to train and handle horses. In short, mainstream management largely ignores the role of ideas. Therefore, your management may already suffer an unintended ideas gap.
Second, here is a solution: an ideas-based framework. It is referred to as a Breakthrough Passage. This framework shows how ideas are at the dynamic heart of many traditional practices such as leadership, technology, competence, human resource management, strategy, quality, productivity, innovation and excellence. It clarifies and integrates.
Therefore, while successful innovations, improvements and discoveries may appear isolated, they all have “idea activity” qualities-in-common.
Framework provides insights about breakthrough
Third, this passage framework of idea interaction and idea progression provides insights about breakthrough, both for stakeholders and management practices. It’s more than horsemanship.
For example, all decision-making stakeholders (audiences, customers, decision-makers, entrepreneurs, senior executives and colleagues) invoke or avoid ideas. That is, for game-change, top decision-makers must do something different. Typically, they move outside the limitations of mainstream’s command and control.
For example, to reform best practice, they add fresh ideas to the practices that relied upon yesterday’s profile of ideas. So my solution is not limited to originating or harnessing ideas or reviewing celebrated CEOs. Further, it brings together and evidences as subsets many practices that cover: management, innovation, improvement, and diverse markets.
Benefits for smart decision-makers
Fourth, the overall benefit of is that, because this is an ideas-based approach, it provides a clearer focus on how value is added, including the role of idea activity in breakthrough.
It suggests that, using straight-forward techniques, any informed decision-maker can, at his or her own pace, replicate the tools, principles and combinations outlined to lift the role of ideas, help overcome resistance and add value in any industry, company, workplace, sector, discipline, region, community, or nation.
That is, virtually every aspect of how mainstream management approaches organizational performance can be reconstructed and improved. So, many of the problems and opportunities in organizations can be exposed and addressed, particularly among stakeholders and their practices.
For smart business, the idea behind Ideas Breaking Through (either as an illustrated online book, or as a stand-alone course) is to help explain and remove idea gaps in organizations.
Glenn Rothberg has corporate, consulting, human resource, mentoring and international negotiation experience, and his qualifications include a doctorate of business administration. Contact him at [email protected]
