Do you ever get the sinking feeling that you may be investing resources to improve something that will soon become obsolete or unwanted? Or that something in the way you’re currently working is less effective than it once was? Status-quo thinking works well for achieving continuous improvement in a predictable world. But the world is rarely predictable these days. How then should leaders confront a volatile and uncertain business environment?
Learning new thinking skills is challenging because our habits of mind give us comfort and a feeling of control. Our brains aren’t designed to thrive in uncertain times. We prefer to make sense of what’s happening by connecting new information to what feels settled and familiar. Blockbuster wasn’t blindsided by Netflix. Blockbuster just couldn’t see how a subscription model fit its familiar retail formula.
Consider the difference in potential outcomes by contrasting status-quo questions to breakthrough questions:
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Status Quo |
Breakthrough SCAN |
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How do we produce our products and services more efficiently? |
What’s changing about how customers value our products and services? |
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How do we eliminate variability in our manufacturing process? |
What can we learn from unexpected variations that might inspire an innovation? |
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How do we accelerate the readiness of high potentials for promotion? |
How do we design an organization that is less dependent on highly skilled and deeply experienced individuals? |
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How do we get the right inputs to our annual strategic planning process? |
How might we make strategic thinking a routine part of everyone’s work? |
The problem is not that leaders are asking status-quo questions. The problem is that status-quo thinking can solve the wrong problem or miss something important altogether. Jay Cone and Lisa Weaver, founders of Unstuck Minds, designed a thinking tool called SCAN to help get leaders to notice the influences and opportunities imperceptible to a status-quo mindset.
SCAN helps leaders think across the various dimensions of their work environment: Structures, Context, Assumptions, and Needs to help identify what they might be missing.
Like a lantern illuminating a space, SCAN acts as a way to shed broad light on the situation, rather than the pinpointed focus we often apply to solving our problems. The idea is that the more we can see, the better opportunity we have for breakthrough thinking.
SCAN questions challenge us to get some distance from the issue and to try to see our situation from the outside in, and to test the base on which we stand. So the next time you’re feeling stuck and unsure if you’re solving for the right problems at work, try asking the SCAN questions above. You might just find some hidden opportunities there.
TIP: Learning to SCAN is not as simple as changing the questions we ask- it’s about changing our way of thinking all together. Jay likens it to a workout regime that takes time to see results, but gets easier as you go.
Unstuck Minds in partnership with the award-winning business simulation designers at Insight Experience have developed a virtual learning experience to help leaders and teams break free of status-quo thinking. The program is called Embracing Uncertainty; Four keys to discovering hidden opportunities. For more information about Embracing Uncertainty, visit the Unstuck Minds website.
