It is often the case that highly sophisticated knowledge exists long before it’s significance in a broader context begins to resonate and be acted upon. There lies enormous brilliance hidden in cross fertilizing knowledge; a conscious effort to rethink our strategies through a new lens unleashes richer opportunities for our products and services, as well as our customers and employees.
For decades our greatest leaders were typically economic whisperers of sorts, with highly sophisticated knowledge of market forces. More recently we are discovering that this can only take us so far and is much more powerful when combined with a proficient knowledge of psychology; with deep awareness of our cognitive behavior and what really motivates us. Cognitive and neurological sciences have long ago discovered what we are now just beginning to scratch the surface on at a conscious level in context of business and leadership. July-August’s issue of Harvard Business Review has a number of great articles that begin to tap into this emerging discussion (The New Psychology of Strategic Leadership by Giovanni Gavetti and The Unselfish Gene by Yochai Benkler).
As our focus on customers, employees and communities continues to evolve, advancing our awareness in physiological and neurological sciences will become imperative. I was first introduced to these concepts by Cynergy’s Kes Sampanthar through the framework he has developed called Motivational Design. While this framework is geared towards technology, the principals are universal. I have since read Daniel Pink’s Drive which will not fail to surprise you about what motivates us, it is a great read that I highly recommend.
Nothing has had more of a profound impact on my approach than learning the basic principles of what motivates us; it adds unimaginable clarity and a powerful dose of humility at the same time. We are formidably guided and shaped by our biases and irrational predictability, learning about why we are the way we are empowers us to manage ourselves more effectively. Equally altering, it provides great clarity in our ability to unleash innovative new business strategies and engage with our employees, customers, communities and stockholders in much more collaborative ways.
Related posts:
- What Makes a Wise Leader?
- Is This Simply Behavioural Economics or is Trust the Issue, or Both?
- Motivational Design Takes On Health Care
- The Health Care and Gaming Connection
- Happy 1 Year Anniversary!
6 Comments
Pingback by To Shape or be Shaped! - Dawna MacLean Consulting — July 19, 2011 @ 7:51 am
[...] us to elevate our mindfulness. Regardless of what you do or what your interests are, we all need unimaginable clarity. If we allow technology to understand how our minds work better than we know our own minds then [...]
Pingback by Creating Thicker Customer Experiences - Dawna MacLean Consulting — August 14, 2011 @ 6:37 pm
[...] companies first need to understand the basic principles of Creating Shared Value and have unimaginable clarity. We have much to celebrate with regards to how far we have come in the Customer Experience [...]
Pingback by Manipulation Vs. Cultivation - Dawna MacLean Consulting — August 21, 2011 @ 5:41 am
[...] need to cultivate our business strategies through the lens of what motivates us and puts our values into action. [...]
Pingback by Manipulation Vs. Cultivation | TomorrowToday's New World of Work Blog — August 22, 2011 @ 11:39 am
[...] need to cultivate our business strategies through the lens of what motivates us and puts our values into [...]
Pingback by Trust Cannot be Taught, it Can Only be Experienced - Dawna MacLean Consulting — September 26, 2011 @ 5:14 pm
[...] If you were to draw what trust means to you, or to attempt to convey what it means, how would you do that? It’s recent fame clearly indicates we see the value of trust, but how do we create it? How do we build trust with our employees, customers and partners? Trust cannot be manufactured through methodology, process or practice, it can only be experienced through our behaviour and human interactions. This often entails changing our behaviour at the core which cannot be underestimated in terms of effort, nor should it be underestimated in terms of the returns it yields as you first seek Unimaginable Clarity. [...]
Pingback by Trust Cannot be Taught, it Can Only be Experienced | TomorrowToday's New World of Work Blog — September 26, 2011 @ 5:45 pm
[...] If you were to draw what trust means to you, or to attempt to convey what it means, how would you do that? It’s recent fame clearly indicates we see the value of trust, but how do we create it? How do we build trust with our employees, customers and partners? Trust cannot be manufactured through methodology, process or practice, it can only be experienced through our behaviour and human interactions. This often entails changing our behaviour at the core which cannot be underestimated in terms of effort, nor should it be underestimated in terms of the returns it yields as you first seek Unimaginable Clarity. [...]
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