Frequently Asked Questions*

Q - An attendee at a recent seminar asked “The CEO sets the culture

and we can’t seem to get any of our ideas accepted. How do you
deal with that?”

A - When presenting new ideas it is always important to be sure to

take into account your audience and the organizational culture.
Consider, for example, how you can design your presentation to
take into account the decision maker’s attitude toward risk. If the
culture is risk-averse, include a discussion about how your plan is
designed to minimize risk.

Showing how your proposal is consistent with the mission, vision,

and culture of the organization will always enhance the
probability it will be given serious consideration.

Your presentation also must be presented in terms that are geared

to your specific audience. For example, if the CEO is very bottom-
line oriented, a proposal to improve a process will be more
favorably received if the expected outcome is described in terms of
the amount of money that will be saved rather than how much the
proportion defective will be reduced. Proportion defective
reduction will not resonate with a bottom-line oriented executive
in the same way as dollars saved.

*Source: Sower & Fair (2012). Insightful Quality, p. 68.

 Frequently Asked Questions*

Q - I get that the environment changes. But how frequently

should we do a SWOT (assessment of internal and external
environments) in order not to get blindsided by changes in the
environment?

A - The frequency with which you should assess your environment

varies depending upon how dynamic your business environment is.
The faster your environment changes, the more frequently you
need to assess it. Ideally, there is someone charged with
constantly scanning the environment looking for threats and
opportunities.

Unfortunately, we often see organizations who make

environmental assessment a once-every-couple-of-years activity.
Worse yet, those organizations often seem to just be going
through the motions--it is hard to find links between the SWOT
analysis and any organizational improvements. These
organizations cannot be said to be either proactive or reactive—
but rather they are ignorant. They behave as if there is nothing
of strategic importance in their environment that they need to
assess frequently. Therefore, they tend to continue with what
worked in the past. As too many organizations have learned, that
attitude can be inconsistent with success or even survival.

*Source: Sower & Fair (2012). Insightful Quality, p. 68.

 Frequently Asked Questions*

Q - We have a “not invented here” attitude in our company.

How do we deal with that?

A - When you benchmark, rarely can you simply copy what you
learn from someone else. You must understand how what works
so well in one environment can be adapted to work equally well in
your own environment. You, in essence, must partially “reinvent”
the idea in order to make it work “here.”

So, when proposing an idea based on what someone else is doing,

it is helpful to refine that idea so that it is best suited to do what
you want it to do in your environment, then craft your
presentation of the idea around that fit.

You can acknowledge the original source of the idea, but focus
your presentation on “what was invented here” in order to adapt
the idea to accomplish what you intend for it to do. So present the
idea as “reinvented here.”

*Source: Sower & Fair (2012). Insightful Quality, p. 68.