atkinson advisor

Next time a business problem confronts you, try using McKinsey’s MECE approach to solve it effectively. MECE stands for “mutually exclusive, completely exhaustive.” The first step (mutually exclusive) forces you to think of all the ways to solve the problem and then group them into unique issues. The second step (completely exhaustive) forces you to double-check whether your list of potential solutions is complete so that you don’t overlook an opportunity.

Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal? Avoiding The Chain Of Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Organization by Robert Mittelstaedt

Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal? is a compelling study of business crises and disasters that resulted from a series of preventable but unchecked mistakes.

Mittelstaedt’s extensive research shows a common pattern in crises from the collapse of Enron to the Titanic:

• An initial problem, often minor in isolation, that goes uncorrected 
• A subsequent problem that compounds the effect of the initial problem 
• An inept corrective effect 
• Disbelief at the accelerating seriousness of the situation 
• An attempt to hide the truth about what is going on while an attempt is made at remediation 
• Sudden recognition that the situation is out of control 
• Finally, the ultimate disaster scenario

With numerous examples, Mittelstaedt analyzes multiple-mistake crises from the perspectives of execution, strategy, culture, business cycles, and more.

Fortunately, he also offers 38 specific insights that companies can use to recognize warning signs and make appropriate corrective action before it is too late.

CEOs face strategic investment choices every day. The sum of those choices can decide how well the company performs in the long run.

The following formula is one way to evaluate the potential success of a new product or service in the marketplace. The ultimate goal is to score highly in all four categories.

1. Providing high purchase motivators
   A. It must be less expensive than existing products/services (lower price).
   B. It must provide better features than existing products/services (greater benefits), e.g. BMW’s “sheer driving pleasure.”
2. Eliminating purchase barriers
   A. It must not have any switching or adoption costs (easy to use).
   B. It must be readily available (easy to buy), e.g. Dell’s online ordering system.

This approach, developed by Eric Mankin, president of Innovation & Business Architectures, allows companies to quickly evaluate their products and services against the competition. It can also serve as a roadmap in the R&D process.

In a recent article for Working Knowledge, a Harvard Business School newsletter, Mankin applied the formula to several products, including Procter & Gamble’s SpinBrush and the Upromise affinity investing program. Read the entire article.

Pressure and good decision making rarely mix well. Next time you have to make a difficult decision in a short timeframe, try using Secretary of State Colin Powell’s 40/70 formula for success.

Powell will act on a decision once he has enough information to have a 40 percent to 70 percent chance of success. He doesn’t wait until he is 100 percent sure because often that is too late for the decision to impact the opportunity or problem.

We are a world of problem-solvers. See a problem; solve that problem. The problem with problem-solving is that expertise only leads to more problems to solve.

Next time somebody brings you a problem, try asking a question instead of solving the problem.

• “What would [insert name] do in this situation?”
• “Have you thought about this angle?”
• “What are some of the obstacles in your way?”

Questions force the other person to take ownership in the problem rather than pawning the solution off on you. They also help the other person understand how to solve the problem if it occurs again in the future.

The Five Faces Of Genius by Annette Moser-Wellman

Creativity is one of the true forces behind successful businesses. Market leaders see opportunities before everybody else, solve problems that nobody else has solved, and inspire us to think differently.

Thinking differently about creativity is the foundation of The Five Faces Of Genius. Moser-Wellman has identified five types of genius that organizations can use to inspire creativity:

• The Seer who can visualize a problem quickly 
• The Observer who finds inspiration in meticulous details 
• The Alchemist who finds connections between seemingly unrelated ideas 
• The Fool who turns weakness into opportunity 
• The Sage who reduces problems to their simplest form

According to Moser-Wellman, every individual has a dominant type of genius. Understanding associates’ types allows organizations to capitalize on individual strengths and develop better brainstorming groups and teams.

Moser-Wellman provides a thought-provoking, 40-question survey that people can use to identify their primary type of genius. She also outlines tools that people can use to increase their abilities in their non-dominant types.