The rules no longer work...now what?

Unlike our comfortable Rules-based working worlds or indeed our more challenging but nevertheless decipherable Complicated landscapes, Complex environments are unstructured, unpredictable and are defined by rapid and frequent change.

Domestic politics, Geo-politics, AI or Machine learning, whatever the stimulus, most of us are now working with uncertainty and complexity.

That's a challenge when you operate in a regulated industry, work for a high profile brand or where the stock market wants you to be a reliable bet for the next few quarters ahead.

Most executives are well supported if not well-practised in making business/critical decisions in complex environments. Some of the very best ones actively thrive on it.

The same is not true however for the vast majority of the working population who have relied on a process, a policy or a precedent to follow. And frankly, most organisations have relied on them following those things too. Indeed entire industries have grown up and matured in L&D, training and compliance to ensure people understand and can and will comply.

Now the landscape is different. We can't afford for people to revert to a policy that is out of date or simply to stop or not progress because there's no rule or process for them to follow for any given scenario or situation.

And yet we still need people to act, to make decisions which are defensible and demonstrably reasonable and "in line" at least with a principle and do so confidently without having to defer every single thing to the next in line in the hierarchy.

Industry and indeed government simply can't afford to grind to a halt while we all work out what the new rules and procedures need to be.

So let's consider how we enable people at every level to be confident in making decisions based on principles and how WE can have confidence in THEM doing so too.

Scenario-based assessments that enable people to practice and "course-correct", where there is no obvious right or wrong answers and where confidence in decision making is a core component of the approach, have a profound effect on both the individual that takes them and the organisation that employs them.

Surfacing ambiguity, dealing with dilemmas and gaining clarity and consensus around the principles to follow are all part of the attendant benefits.

It's a fascinating and very real imperative across industry and government today.

It might be worth you putting some time to think or learn about your options now...March 29th is not that far away!

Let me know if I can help or tell you more.

Owen Ashby Director Strategy, Marketing & Alliances Cognisco.

07944 605352 - [email protected]

Cognisco Complexity Changes Decision Making