Futurist: moving from no to I know!

One of the things I have done in my career in the IT world is challenge the reality of the word no. I've worked with many companies that suffer from the concept of no, we can't do that. No, that isn't possible. No, that isn't available today. My personal favorite, no, that isn't the way we do things here. I have developed a framework over the years in dealing with the no culture of many organizations. My original name for this was dealing with no. But a friend recommended I use the phrase 'moving from no to know.' In other words, taking that no, we can't do that and moving it to it may be possible. Or, no, you can't, so I know how!

There is a rationale for saying 'no.' The reality of 'no' in any company is risk-based. By risk-based, I mean people say no because the risk of saying yes or solving the problem is significant. However, it's crucial to remember that great risk often leads to great reward. In my career, finding people who are open to the concept of accepting risk has been interesting. At times, it is very hard to risk everything. As I said, 'no' is a risk-based response in fairness. But it's through taking risks that we can truly innovate and move forward.

In many cases, if not most of our cases, our parents introduced us to the word 'no.' Our parents looked at what we asked, evaluated the risk, and returned with no. In many cases, I know I did; we went ahead and did it anyway. Sometimes, we found out our parents were right. Sometimes, we quickly realized that our parents weren't saying 'no' out of understanding. They were saying 'no' from the fear of the risk. This early conditioning can often lead us to adopt a risk-averse 'no culture' in our professional lives.

To know, rather than saying 'no,' is different. When you know things change, it's much harder to say 'no.' That evolution of what was and what could be possible is where we need to help people move. In the no culture, there is fear of risk. As we consider the fear of risk within an organization, we must consider what will alleviate the risk. Now, one thing we must be very careful about in presenting the concept of moving past no is the word I just used: alleviate. Alleviate is an empowering word for the no culture. When we consider moving around 'no' alleviate, it is a model for empowering the no. How does a word do that? We create new risks by working on something to create a way around a problem. Net new risk allows no culture!

Looking at technology and information technology over the last 20 years, we see many monumental failures. So many, in fact, people who participate in that concept of no will point to failures and say that this is what happens when you take big risks: you fail spectacularly. But failing at first is not failing permanently. Many great big ideas returned after failure and became extremely successful. Often, what ends up happening is someone comes up with an idea right, wrong, or indifferent, but a good idea. The reality is, however, there is a better time.

A great example of this is the technology known as radar. It was invented late in the war. Production ramped up, and production was far greater than needed at the end of WWI. It was a great idea and a success, but suddenly, it was a failure. Until someone realized you could reuse those radar components in a Microwave!

Another example is the move from 2G in the wireless world to 3G. In the 2G world, we could make digital phone calls. You could not easily download your email or surf the World Wide Web. But 3g was on the horizon. With 3G, we could suddenly have voice and data on the same connection. Plus, when you use your cell phone's digital voice capability, your cell phone can download your email and other relevant and critical bits of data.

So, the first reality of big risk is whether it is the right time. In the no-culture world, the risk has to be minimal for the time to be right. Just that simple thing of moving people off the concept of no to the concept of can we do it is a win. I talked about the move from 2G to 3G and the change. But if we look at innovations in the world of technology over the last 20 years, we begin to see that no culture has been wrong more than it has been right. That is what we have to help people move past. If you make a risk-based decision, it's only right now. It isn't right in six months. It isn't right in a year. Based on that, I help people see beyond their current capabilities.

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I'll end simply by introducing some of the ways I try to help 'No Culturalists' out of the mire, that is, organizational risk. My favorite model is introducing them to some classic business books. These books are a little older, and books that are near and dear to me are ones that I reference when considering the future. Two books are by Jim Collins and his team. One is called Good to Great, and the other is How the Mighty Fail. The third book is The Blue Ocean Strategy. In a blue ocean strategy, there is no no because you seek to put yourself in a competitive situation with no competitors. The blue ocean represents clear water and clear sailing. The red ocean represents the dangerous ocean where competition is always the victor. So, consider where that organization is as you look at an organization. You must consider that it is very difficult to create innovations that move you into the blue ocean without intent if you are in the red ocean. No culture limits you or, to be blunt keeps you in the red ocean because of no culture.

The book Good to Great Collins and Team discusses what a company needs to succeed. As also discussed in the blue ocean strategy, How do you move past the no culture to put yourself in a position where you only compete with yourself? I suspect, and I've seen this many times, that organizations can't get past the no culture and death stuck in that red ocean forever. Again, in the other Collins book, How the Mighty Fail, he details the failure of companies that were monoliths in their industry at the time, only to become irrelevant. So the next time someone asks you, can we do this? Don't say no. Stop briefly, consider the situation, look at this idea's tactical advantages, and tell the person to think about the impact. Don't say no; you know how to solve the problem!