The Shiny Bauble
Our guest expert today is Ann Colby-Cummings. Ann is an expert in organizational development and management consulting. Bio.
Weighing new initiatives in comparison to existing objectives.
Organizational leaders are achievement and action-oriented by nature. They frequently identify new ideas to move the organization forward but are tempted to implement them immediately.
Disciplined decision-making is key.
Continuously adding new initiatives or changing existing objectives may result in a less-than-optimal use of organizational resources. It can be exhausting for staff who expend energy to adapt to new goals.
Before taking on a new initiative, consider these questions:
- What is it that is appealing about this idea?
- What positive results might we foresee from this idea? Are the anticipated results better or worse than those from our current goals?
- Is this idea time sensitive?
- What resources would it take to pursue this idea? What effect would deploying those resources have on core operations?
- Is this idea in line with ideas shared by other organization leaders?
- Is the potential benefit worth pursuing now, given the anticipated resource cost? In the future? At all?
- If it is to be pursued, should it be an exploratory project, an “all in” effort, or something in between?
Choosing to record the idea but not pursue it may be the best outcome of all.
You may want to keep a list of the new ideas you generate and review them periodically. This approach offers you the opportunity to better evaluate ideas you would benefit from pursuing right away versus those to be reconsidered later.
Finally, you might ask,
“What have I done lately to check our progress on existing objectives?”
You may find an outlet for your energies in helping your organization overcome obstacles.
Guest Author: Ann Colby-Cummings
Ann Colby-Cummings is the President of Tic Tac Toe Consulting, LLC, helping clients achieve desired business results through clear vision, aligned and implemented goals, and engaged leadership and staff.