Applying critical thinking alongside leadership

I am knee deep at the moment working on some complex projects and there’s a lot of things to consider and outcomes to be achieved all within some ambitious timeframes.

What is tricky is that there are multiple factors that are all influencing each other which means that each time I start thinking about one issue it leads to three others.  Trying to solve one problem only uncovers more issues.

You’ve probably seen this before, when you’ve been in a meeting and a bunch of issues are being discussed without any clear-headed thinking so the conversation goes around in circles.  Eventually you might land on a solution but no one in the room is convinced it’s the right one.  What’s more you’re probably all just tired of the discussion and want to move on to something else or check your out-of-control inbox.

I see this in various contexts where people can tend to focus on small and immediate problems without elevating out of their default operational experience to a high-level best-for-business approach.

I think this is where great leadership can really have the power to transform thinking and unite ideas.  You see, I think that one of the hallmarks of good leadership is the ability to see things as they are now plus how they could be.  The bit in the middle is the gap – and once that’s refined it becomes your road map.

So as a leader, you have the power, no scratch that, you have the obligation to step up.

So, how do you do that?

In these situations, it’s clear that to get best outcomes, a systematic approach needs to be applied.  You could spend a bunch of time dealing with individual issues in a very piecemeal approach or step back and see the whole problem and diagnose the real issues.

Step One – Brainstorm

The first step is to brainstorm.  Yes, time to get out the trusty whiteboard!  If you’re in a meeting with other people, ask them.  What are they seeing?  What are their problems?

You may need to be careful to guide your team into asking good questions.  Solutions aren’t helpful at this point.

For example, if you’re in a sales-focussed organisation a good question could be:  “Why is our conversion rate trending downwards?”

It shouldn’t be: “If we add this step our sales process, that will fix our conversion rate”

Because maybe that’s not the problem.  Maybe you’ve got the wrong type of leads in the first place and adding a step into the sales process has nothing to do with lead quality.

So, what I’m saying is spend time in this place of diagnosis.

I recall being in a meeting a while ago that was scheuduled for 2 hours and we spent at least an hour brainstorming.  When you think the ideas have petered out.  Ask “what else?”

99% of the time the ideas will start coming again.  Then you can ask “what else?” again to keep getting the last of the tomato sauce out of the bottle.  You may very well ask “what else”  3 or 4 times.  That’s ok.

Once you feel like the ideas are all on the table.

Step Two – Chunk

From here you need to chunk things down.  If you’re working on the business at a senior level, my experience suggests that the issues will be able to be chunked into people, operational, strategy, systems & tech, marketing or commercial (finance).

Step Three – Diagnose

It’s now you can move into problem-solving territory because you’ve got a bunch of information to diagnose the issues properly and you know where each of the issues sit.

Now is the time to discuss and debate potential solutions and what the strategy could be because you’re playing with the whole chess board.

You may even see some themes or commonalities which you could use to establish a business-wide project or inspiring quarterly theme for the organisation.

Step Four – Action Plan & Responsibilities

Finally, it’s important to breakdown any strategies agreed upon into an action plan.  Small steps each week with regular check-ins on progress.  It goes without saying that ensuring those responsible for delivery of the action plan need to be clear on their roles and the desired outcomes.

As a leader, being able to apply critical thinking and lead your colleagues and team through this process is important.  You don’t need to have all the answers, you just need to allow space to find the solutions together.  What’s more, the buy-in and consensus garnered from a collaborative approach to problem solving will accelerate the heck out of your results.