How do you know when to pivot your problem-solving strategy?

In generally agree with assessing progress to your goal. If data or customers are giving you feedback that something is not working as expected then many things have to be assessed before deciding to pivot. 1) Get very clear on what the problem is. 2) Determine if existing monitoring of processes and results points to a specific problem. 3) Then evaluate the degree of impact on customers or business indicators. If this is a low impact issue then a full pivot may not be necessary. However, if the impact is dramatically reducing revenue, shifting customer behavior or blocking supply chains then you have to pivot quickly.

Every strategy is time-tagged. It has seasonal validity. Times and seasons change and plans become obsolete. In innovative management and inspirational leadership, I utilize an evidence-based problem-solving tool at Life & Truth Education. I determine the pivotal point starting with (1) KPIs, and taking an early morning walk from (2) the heart of the problem to (3) the root of the problem, without ignoring (4) the shadow of the problem. In theory and practice of this 4-step process, you pivot your problem-solving strategy once you are at that crossroad of 50/100 success, without waiting any further to be underwater at 25/100.

The first step to knowing when to pivot is to assess your progress towards your problem-solving goal. To do this effectively, you need a clear and measurable way of tracking your results and comparing them to your expectations. Here are the first step to follow Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): - Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) KPIs that align with your problem-solving goals. These indicators will help you quantify your progress and identify areas for improvement. Once you define your KPIs you can proceed to the collect the feedback from the stakeholders in order to understand the impact of your effort!

It's vitally important that small business leaders take sufficient time to identifying their problems accurately. The process of reviewing specific data and pinpointing root causes is often overlooked or rushed. Once enough analysis is completed for a full understanding of what needs to be solved, the small business owner should move forward purposefully toward solutions. It's important to balance root cause analysis with the need to maintain momentum for change - admiring a problem for too long will reduce urgency and sap momentum.

Root cause is a big topic. Perhaps the specific tool is not as important as the courage to actually dig deeply into problems and accept the results that may be uncovered. How to ask deep and insightful questions is the essential skill to getting to root causes. You want to ask questions that any set of tools may be overlooking. It is fine to invent your own tools that work best for your business or professional field of expertise. The key is to hang onto the questions until data or answers come back that respond to the deeper quetions. When I do marketing and especially product marketing research, I hold onto key questions to find insightful data or perspectives. Greater perspectives point to opportunities that others may overlook.

problem-solving strategy: 1. Current efforts consistently fail to deliver results. 2. Data or feedback suggests your approach isn't effective. 3. New information or resources become available. 4. The problem or goals have evolved. 5. There's a significant shift in external conditions affecting your strategy.

Here tools are good but not as important as being around creative individuals and courageous minds. Distinction and uniqueness are what grabs readers of books, consumers and collectors. The most public example of this is the judges on the Voice TV show. Over and over again they say they are looking for unique voices they have never heard before. They know gold when they hear it!

Implementation is the make or break stage. Facing the music in all stages of testing and directly from customers and strangers is critical to success. Internal staff will avoid challenges to design, bad service, etc. This is one area where small businesses have an advantage. Hopefully owners and customer facing staff are encouraged to seek out direct and hard feedback in pre-lauch stages of new products to hone them for for successful lauches.

For smaller companies, consider that your annual tax return is not enough for managing your company in the higher risk environment. There should be at least thorough quarterly reviews across all activities, operating effectiveness. Close tracking of customer behavior is essential to sustain the business through these uncertain times.