Greetings, I have been raising the issue of the need for a bias for action ever since we held our Positivity Party in April of this year. This need has not gone away. At CBA Consulting we remain passionately committed to helping stimulate the the NZ and global economy wherever we work by demonstrating and supporting a powerful bias for action! We are frequently dismayed and sometimes shocked at the lack of bias for action everywhere. – And this is not just to do with the ‘global financial crisis’.
It is “easier” to put off action or decisions for another week, another month, another quarter. It is “easier” to think progress can wait until after the holidays, or after the next executive meeting, or when I am not too busy. It is “easier” to think someone else should be taking the initiative or starting the ball rolling. You get the picture I am sure.
We listen intently to our clients and alliances bemoaning the lack of progress in their organisations, the low levels of staff motivation, the average or poor results, – overall – the outcome of a lack of bias for action: – Yet we see this demonstrated at all levels in the organisation. Then there is a rush to try to achieve (superficial) progress when the heat comes on.
I urge you to change this!
It is stimulating and exciting to have a bias for action! It achieves superior results. It is motivating for staff and managers alike. It sends megastar messages to your clients and stakeholders about your organisation. And most importantly, it creates the future!
The related blog below articulates this well. Many thanks for taking the time to read this.
Christine Bear
| Bias for Actionby Matt HeinzShould one of your company, department or individual core values be a bias for action?What does that mean? It means you take action. Get projects, products and campaigns to market quickly. You test. You spend more time executing, learning and improving.
You let the market help you make decisions vs. doing it in isolation. You test quickly instead of debating via PowerPoint, email or endless meetings. You’re OK with constructive failure, as long as you can learn, improve and avoid the same mistake twice. You encourage, demand and/or require those around you (peers, direct reports and superiors) to think strategically, but act quickly. Bias for action does not mean acting without forethought. Execution without strategy is just guessing, and prone to high error and failure rates. Instead, bias for action means having an idea or premise, and understanding quickly what that market thinks of it. The faster you take action, the faster you execute, the more quickly you will deliver innovation, results and growth. How important is a bias for action to you individually? How about for your department and/or organisation? More importantly, how do you put that into practice on a regular basis?
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September 27, 2009 at 6:27 am |
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September 29, 2009 at 1:35 am |
Rarely do I follow a link sent to me in an unsolicited email. I’m glad I followed this one!.
Well written Christine – too often I see situations where no-one is willing to push for action (and risk a possible adverse effect), and the outcome is worse than had the action been taken
September 29, 2009 at 1:51 am |
Thank you! What do you do and where are you based? Cheers C
September 29, 2009 at 3:22 am |
So what yor are saying here is that people should do what they are paid for. IE there job? Am i Interpreting this correct?
Great Article
September 29, 2009 at 3:40 am |
It has been a long time since I seen Tom Peters phrase Bias For Action from his set of eight principles in ” In Search of Excellence”. The book had a strong impact on me at the time and I’ve always thought those 8 messages were very powerful- particularly the ‘bias for action”.
September 29, 2009 at 3:59 am |
Chritstine
I have had converstaions with Steve about decision making which fall within “bias for action”. We often wait until we have what we believe is 100% of the information before acting. Allied to this is that we can never produce perfection, we need the user of the information, training package etc to add the perpection in their context. We need to have a balance between having enough information to take a risk analysed informed action and having insuffucuent information and taking a precipitous action based on emotion.
In our organisation we need to start embracing “bias for action” as an approach and accept that the action may need changing without a lot of wailing and negativity. The hardest part is starting.
September 29, 2009 at 6:56 am |
Well said Christine – this is the kind of exercise we engage in, and in fact on of the main reasons to go into business, to develop a culture of momentum. It’s also what keeps us passionate about our work.
September 29, 2009 at 4:20 pm |
Christine
great commonsense meaningful concise comment —how often do you plan to share these with us?
rgds
Alan F
September 29, 2009 at 7:23 pm |
Hi Christine,
I totally agree. I encounter the same issues talking to organisations. It seems that a decision takes ages, while there is a need to change. Again as previously discussed let’s combine forces!
Cheers Robin