Strategic Buy in
I would be interested in how others have overcome the obstacles of past strategic initiatives that were not successful or carried out correctly and then getting those same people to be willing to do it again maintaining the openness or optimism we need for strategic thinking to be effective.
Bruce,
I think being transparent and openly discussing what did not work well previously and ensuring wide spread participation in the new intiative are a couple of things that may help. Not every initiative is successful and I think continuing to be transparent about what worked, what did not and why, is important. Do you have any specific examples you can provide?
Dr. Blake Faulkner
I don't think it as much as a specific example but more so that as the managers have not had the opportunity to experience success , they become suspect and their buy in became less than desired which I believe could impact the goal.
Bruce,
I think I better understand the context of the situation you are dealing with. It may be helpful to set new strategic initiatiaves with some near term goals that are achievable so folks can see some early wins that can be celebrated and get people thinking forward rather then on the past.
Dr. Blake Faulkner
There are going to be times when a plan is not successful, and I think it is important that teams understand that, and know that we are able to come together and try again. Most importantly, we must learn from our mistakes. If you are open, the team will remain optimistic.
Recognizing the biases and assumptions each team member has will assist in moving beyond any failures and open new opportunities. Being transparent as Dr. Blake mentioned is extremely important. What is equally important is being able to redirect some of the blatant assumptions and inherent assumptions team members have. To learn from our mistakes, we must reflect on our biases and ask those questions which challenge our current thinking. As this occur we begin to seek new opportunities and realize the previous path could have been avoided had we challenge ourselves.
