The Art of Reading and Leading

I recently saw an interesting article in the Economist on how to respond to a rumor. Some of the reader's comments were quite predictable and narrow.

Professionally, we have seen too many people who make decisions without ever looking at the "Big Tangible Picture" or ever considering the after effects of their decision. They usually use a "kitchen sink" approach to solve their problem. They rarely worry about the repercussion until it happens. Depending on the status and their resources,

Without a good understanding of the Big Tangible Picture, one could miss the profit opportunities while accumulating more costs. From our experience, we have seen this type of occurrence happening repeatedly. While larger business can afford the cost of this oversight, small to medium-sized businesses should always be able to anticipate new opportunities.

Read the Big Tangible Picture

Following are some of our questions that we have utilized to read (or assess) the big picture:

• Was the outcome of the situation predictable or not?
• Does it put you ahead or behind your competition, now and in the future?
• Does it connect or disconnect you with your customer base?
• Was the entire information true or false?
• What were the intended and unintended targets?
• What was the source of the influence?
• Was it effective in terms of impact?

The Compass Principles

Following are some of the general principles behind our Compass Process:

• Always read the big tangible picture before leading strategically
• Know the advantages and disadvantages of the situations
• Record your moves in terms of the outcome and the process

Ruminations From the Compass Desk

To make a good decision, you must properly read the big tangible picture and lead with your solution. It is that simple.