Print this pageLearning to Understand, Understanding to Learn
Context
The objective of the generating wisdom stage is to understand the context of the business -- the current state, the trends and dynamic factors which got it where it is, and the trends and dynamic factors that will ultimately result in its loss of competitive advantage or demise if it continues on its current trajectory. This stage is a learning and problem definition stage.
External Dynamics, Internal Dynamics, and the Current Trajectory
The approach is based on the premise that the environment of every business is changing and that the current factors driving that change can be identified. These are not predictions, but current the current dynamic factors in the industry, markets, technologies, politics, and so forth. Even a successful organization which is suited to its current environment must change to sustain its advantage as the environment shifts. This approach also ferrets out the cultural dynamics that locks the organization into its current pattern of behavior. This cultural understanding enables legitimate transformation plans in a later stage. With an understanding of environmental dynamics, cultural dynamics, the current business model, and the projection of where the business is headed on its current trajectory, a compelling story is produced of the need for change. This compelling story provides the understanding and motivation for the organization to change.
Learning
Learning and learning methods are prominent in this stage. Systems thinking is employed to develop a holistic understanding of the business. Iterative inquiry provides the guidance for developing this holistic understanding. This is where the team learns to understand. Learning is essential preparation to be effective business design innovators and strategy developers. Learning has several levels of outcomes, the highest level of which is wisdom.
Levels of Learning
Learning consists of deriving data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom from the chaotic "noise" that surrounds us. Because noise is ubiquitous and infinite, this is no small challenge.
- Data is the noise turned into cognitive patterns able to be discerned and differentiated by the mind.
- Data becomes information when it is assembled and related in ways that give it meaning.
- Knowledge is information integrated into a form to make it useful in making decisions. Knowledge provides the answers to "how" questions, is produced by analysis, and is used to improve a systems efficiency.
- Understanding is knowledge integrated into a form to make it useful in conceiving, anticipating, evaluating, and judging. Understanding answers the "why" questions, is produced by synthesis, and is used to improve a systems effectiveness.
- Wisdom takes understanding to the next level to consider what ought to be done. Wisdom is understanding informed by purpose, ethics, principles, memory and projection into the future. Thus wisdom is the highest form of learning.
Development – An Outcome of Learning
Effective business development requires all these outcomes of learning to increase its capability, increase its competence, do things right, and do the right things. Development is the precursor to growth, profits, and sustainable advantage; whereas growth is not necessarily development, and actions to increase profits do not necessarily grow the business. Wisdom informs the formulation of a compelling vision for the organization. A compelling vision inspires organization members to pursue development of the business.
Wisdom is the ultimate objective of the generating wisdom stage, building-up the organization's knowledge, understanding, savvy, intuition, and other factors which then enable insightful innovation and effective strategic decisions. In this stage, understanding and wisdom is produced from assessing the performance results of deployment, the modeling of the current state, and the assessment of the environment. It can be considered the most critical of the four stages.
Problem Definition
The current dynamics and trajectory of the business contain the seeds of its destruction. Business organization must continually adapt or die. The learning in this stage is applied to defining the problems which will be encountered due to the mismatch that is inherently between the organization and its environment. Done proactively, this approach finds the problem before it finds you. Done reactively, the problem is properly defined. Utilizing the cognitive abilities of problem formulators enhances the results of this stage. Their tendency to be concerned with consequences and see the differences among apparently similar things makes them well suited for the problem definition task. A holistic orientation to puts the issues into proper perspective, resulting in a well articulated problem statement and a compelling story of the need to change.
Building Strategic Thinking
Without wisdom and an understanding of the current state and where it is headed, little else will be right. Learning and all its outcomes are also built into the strategic management process as a whole, encompassing all four stages. Actually, the most important output of the strategic management process is knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, not the particular plans from any one cycle of the process. Plans rarely remain intact once deployment begins and real-time strategic decisions must be made continually, not just in a predefined stage of the strategic management process. With improved strategic thinking, all decisions of the organization improve.
