We Get What We Value

It’s no surprise to those in the corporate world that business and management issues have become increasingly complex and frequent in number. The sheer volume of daily decisions required just to keep pace with the routine aspects of business is daunting.

Determining the best business solution when technology, economic pressures and customer expectations continue to reshape virtually all aspects of creating and marketing goods and services is a Herculean task. At the same time management issues have increased as leaner structures/less resources have resulted in less training and mentoring and institutional learning is lost due to “right sizing”. It’s no wonder 61% of people said they would choose a different career if they could do it all over again. (Parade, Jan, 2011)

Leaders need critical thinking skills, good judgment and the ability to be comfortable in ambiguity to succeed. Unfortunately our current system does not adequately prepare any of us. We’re encouraged to memorize, game the system and succeed by any means necessary. Failing is not an option yet only through failure can we learn what will really work. Our desire for simplicity combined with the velocity and sheer volume of information often results in simplistic approaches to complicated problems.

For us to be able to innovate and truly add value to our businesses—and our world–we need to value and reward those who think unconventionally, give people “breathing space” to contemplate issues and celebrate those who try different solutions regardless of the results–as long as they keep trying until they find a workable one!