Function not Form
How can it be that businesses tend to do the same things in markets that are supposed to be competitive? Group think limits performance and stifles potential.
Many of my articles and papers discuss the importance of cognitive capacity to high performance. Group think is a form of cognitive bias, also known as the bandwagon effect. Cognitive bias closes down the use of your own or your organisations cognitive capacity. Why employ intelligent people and then do the same as your competitors?
There are what Bill Gates calls 'killer apps' where there is no better alternative and hence we see most entities adopt the approach, Microsoft Windows might be such an example. But how was a decision to adopt the technology reached? Were the alternatives evaluated in order to seek competitive advantage, or did the advice come from the same fraternity that advised your competitors?
It is hard to resist conformity when the stock markets and your shareholders see conformity as the low risk approach. If everybody is doing it then it must be the right answer is also a cognitive bias.
New ideas are often seen as disruptive because they relate to function not form. To quote Louis Sullivan it is 'the very essence of every problem that it contains and suggests it own solution'. Surely it makes sense to learn from architecture when designing structures, be they physical or virtual?
Hence, when seeking to improve consider the functions of your business and have little regard for the form of your organisation. For example, the core functions of an oil and gas business are well established, explore, drill, develop, produce and abandon, and the supporting functions are easily defined, business guidance, information, supply, sales and technical. It is the leadership functions that guide the business and add competitive advantage if we recognise compliance as an outcome not a driver.
To lead we need to understand that the pursuit of excellence is fundamental to high performance not compliance. Treating each dollar as a dollar invested rather than a dollar spent needs to be the prevailing mindset. Treating people as the very timber of your structure is vital. It is more effective to engage stakeholders, both external but most importantly internal, in support of your aspirations rather than instructing or informing after the act. Enrolling everybody in protecting the planet and the people on it is much more effective than trying to impose control.
