How can you identify your organization's blind spots in vision and strategy?

From my perspective, identifying organizational blind spots in vision and strategy starts by recognizing potential sources such as cognitive biases, cultural assumptions, and organizational silos. Common blind spots like confirmation bias, overconfidence, and groupthink can significantly skew perception and decision-making. Being aware of these influences is crucial. This awareness enables a more objective evaluation of strategy, fostering openness to change and promoting creativity. Regularly challenging our assumptions and seeking diverse perspectives are effective ways to uncover and address these blind spots.

Have you ever walked into a friend’s house and noticed a pile of clothes on the treadmill? Or, a chair with a pile of books? Chances are good that you held your tongue and kept walking. Those are blind spots. In the same way, blind spots are blind spots because they're invisible to us. It takes a friend who can be honest, or, in business, an outside consultant who doesn't have a stake in the outcome.

A lesson I learned from a CEO is to have internal and external advisors. Sometimes we are so deep in the weeds we are not aware of our blind spots. A Proverb to remember as well is: "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed."

Engage in regular external feedback, encourage diverse perspectives within the team, conduct thorough market analysis, assess past failures objectively, prioritize continuous learning and practice scenario planning. Foster a culture that values openness and adaptability to uncover and address hidden weaknesses in your organizational approach.

There are several actual exercises that are available to use with Leadership teams to help them identify their assumptions, biases, and blind spots. "Red Teaming" - a process of using critical thinking to make decisions and solve issues in business (and sometimes in life) is helpful. One of the exercises used in Red Teaming is "The Lies We Tell Ourselves" and equates, for a group, to my favorite executive coaching "What are you pretending not to know?"

Benchmarking against best practices in the industry. The competition is not siting idle and more often than not the environment is fluid and dynamic.

A strategy cannot be defined without a vision. A vision statement is an internally focused commitment to staff and all internal stakeholders that describes: • something big you want your organization to accomplish • how your organization will be perceived by others in the future • a ‘better place’ destination every member of the organization can emotionally embrace and contribute to achieving • something to be striving for that’s bigger than one individual, especially in tough times Once you have that clarity, you can identify strategic objectives that move the org. closer to its vision. Only then can you have meaningful strategy. Otherwise your on a journey to anywhere. That is how you evaluate vision and strategy.

A full understanding of the purpose of the organization and the existing culture should preceed creation of a Vision and Strategy. The Vision should reflect the values of the organization in delivering on its purpose. The Strategy describes WHAT the organization will do to achieve the vision. It's important to be able to compare an organization with others in the same industry (with the same purpose); however, just external benchmarking won't reveal the blindspots or misalignments between the purpose, culture, vision and strategy... Involve the employees in discussion of all of these elements.

I’ve found that teams operate often on historical opinions believed to be market truths, yet these may be untested or unproven. I like to question long-held assumptions/beliefs. I seek evidence from the team for their beliefs, and focus on differentiating between what is known and what is assumed. Do we “know this to be a fact” or are we just restating institutional beliefs? Ask the question directly. This one question will open discussions to evaluate if these beliefs still hold in the current market context. I like that a team can build a culture of continuous learning and adaptability which helps in dynamic business landscapes.

Questioning yes, but I'd re-state that to simply say, be curious. By being curious, we tend to come from a place of understanding and non-judgemental. This should encourage more openness.

The Socratic method is a form of dialogue-based inquiry that encourages critical thinking through asking and answering questions. This method aims to stimulate intellectual curiosity, clarify ideas, and uncover underlying assumptions. In the context of discovering blind spots, the Socratic method serves as a powerful tool for guiding intelligent, self-directed executives through complex organizational challenges. Unlike traditional consulting models that may offer direct advice, the Socratic approach focuses on asking probing questions that prompt the executive to think critically about the issue at hand. The executive knows his business better than anyone else, but it may take the eyes of an outsider to challenge existing assumptions.

I have worked with a lot of leaders in my last 9 years as a consultant and the 12 years prior to that. Blind spots originate from fancy Vision which look good in gold plated frames in receptions but don't find footing in the corridors of the shop-floor! Simplification of Vision for the lowest paid team member is what helps. In ne of my prior experiences we ensured that over the course of three years more than 200 communication occasions were designed to clarify Vision and the strategic imperatives to achieve the same. People were encouraged to question, clarify, criticise so that what finally remained on the goal sheets had everyone's buy-in.

When a firm contracts with a management consultant, it usually signals that the company’s strategic plan is not working. The internal spin of grandiose vision is losing credibility with the board, employees, and shareholders.

Organizations can be so selective that they fail to recognize early signs of change. Significant opportunities and potential threats are often indiscernible while immersed in day-to-day operations. It is crucial to embrace diverse perspectives, value honest feedback, and continually learn from mentors, market trends, and trusted leaders. Encourage diverse thinking, constructive criticism, and embrace unconventional perspectives. Furthermore, work with your team to identify, evaluate, and analyze sensitive indicators for future development; cooperate with external partners to enhance diversity. Identifying the organization's blind spots offers the potential to alter your tactics, implement a revitalized strategy, or trial new methods.