“What do you THINK will happen if we put these two solutions together?” the chemistry teacher posed. Students threw out ideas, but the room quieted as they waited for the “right” answer.
Finally, she spoke: “Actually, I’ve never done this before either! Write down YOUR hypothesis, and we’ll find out together!”
That day my son came home from high school thrilled to discover two things:
- It is entirely OKAY for grownups NOT to have all the answers.
- Making an informed “best guess” that does NOT turn out as you expected IS NOT FAILING – – it’s LEARNING.
In my work with organizations launching new strategies, I find that applying these simple truths can be difficult. Especially when the stakes are really high.
The more we want a specific outcome, the more we get invested. And we leave little time and resources or emotional bandwidth to be able to consider other possibilities.
As Harvard Business School professor David Collis recently wrote, a successful strategy “requires making carefully coordinated choices about the opportunities to pursue; the business model with the highest potential to create value; how to capture as much of that value as possible; and the implementation processes that help a firm adapt activities and build capabilities that allow it to realize long-term value. Neglecting any of those imperatives can derail a strategy, but CEOs frequently zero in on just one.”
I have frequently seen business and nonprofit CEOs and boards of directors and leadership teams get so excited about their big idea that they get over-invested in one answer. And discourage any talk about risks or options.
And then, when things don’t go as expected, these same leaders are surprised and get frustrated. Or scared. And can even start to blame others.
But what if we had the mindset of a scientist when executing high-stakes strategies?
What if we put on our safety goggles every day, and acknowledged that our “perfect” strategy was actually an experiment? And that it would very LIKELY turn out DIFFERENT than we expected?
When you have the mindset of a scientist, you humbly realize you are building a HYPOTHESIS. You consider your assumptions and expectations about what will happen, recognizing that there are many variables and possible outcomes. And if an experiment doesn’t turn out as expected, you work to observe and look for patterns, so you can quickly learn, adapt and move forward.
Launching your strategy without clarifying your assumptions is like doing a scientific experiment without knowing your hypothesis.
To de-risk, start with identifying those assumptions that MUST prove true for your new strategy to succeed. Determine how you might quickly validate those assumptions.
Systematically considering “what if” for your strategy is like being able put your experiment in a time machine.
You can consider ahead of time the bumps in the road your strategy may run into. And develop a premise for even the worst-case scenario. This can make it easier for your organization to adapt if things don’t turn out as planned, and it reduces anxiety when the stakes are high.
By adopting the mindset of a scientist, you and your leaders will be building a culture of humble confidence:
- Humble, as you realize your strategy may not be perfect
- Confidence, as you “expect the unexpected” and prepare to adapt and innovate.
What do you think? How could this work for your organization?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
All the best – Susan
P.S. If you are leading a new strategy, or getting an initiative back on track, check out our De-Risk System for Impact. It’s a practical way to anticipate the risks of your strategy and put a plan in place to address them. Happy to discuss how they might apply to your situation.
Your mission is too important. Don’t let it get derailed.
Susan Schramm, Founder, Go to Market Impact susan.schramm@gotomarketimpact.com
