Widening the Solution Space

The first time I got belted at primary school was after a spelling test when we had been asked to spell aeroplane and I couldn’t, so I wrote helicopter. I thought it was a solution for flying people to their destination, but it wasn’t the required ‘right’ answer.

The purpose of the organisation I led for the last 10 years was to combat loneliness and social isolation in older people. The approach I took was to understand that if we can keep people on their feet and able to get out, then we could vastly increase their opportunities to be connected, so we led the way on increasing people’s mobility and reducing their risk of falling.

Unlike in maths, or primary school spelling tests, there are often a range of right answers to things, but you must widen the solution space by thinking laterally and exploring thinking from other disciplines. I am, and have always been, someone who is able to reframe a problem by changing the perspective.

I think innovation is often stifled by the pre-determined matrices of rational thinking and silo mentality. The pandemic has produced a simultaneous shock to these established systems, and this gives us an extraordinary opportunity to do things differently. The pandemic, and measures to contain it have, and will, lead to increasing changes in what people want and need. There is no point in looking at big data to predict this because all this data comes from a time that has now passed.

The growth of the future will be catalysed by those who can transcend the categories imposed by the world. We need to bridge silos and not regard them as immutable.

Whatever business you are in, you will need to make changes. Businesses that start to look now at how they will be relevant in the emerging environment will have a much greater chance of thriving. But what those changes should be, and how to make them, can be a very daunting task.

I worked for 6 years in local authority commissioning and contract management and the biggest lesson I learned from my relationships with countless businesses was that organisations who have a clear purpose and are authentic in embedding that purpose in everything they do were much more successful (and often more pleasant to work with) than those who operated without really identifying and operating with purpose. (or clearly only existed to make a profit)

Hensikt means purpose (or intention) in Norwegian. And, given that every word in the English language is already in ‘dot com’ use, I speak fluent Norwegian and my surname starts with H, it was the name I chose for my business, which I am launching today.

Getting the ‘why’ of your business clear is so important. Purpose provides the framework upon which you can build, change and grow.

The greatest innovations boom was in the 1930’s, borne of necessity and desperation. 2021 will be the year where there will be unprecedented simultaneity of change across all sectors. Business and the economy are vital for the wellbeing of our society. Getting businesses thriving again with a clear sense of purpose and fresh thinking will benefit us all.