The muddy path through uncertainty is paved with learning. And learning should always keep ideas in motion, circulating with short feedback loops, like a cement truck.
As teams execute to produce Outputs, in pursuit of short-term Goals, the context leaders are preparing to assess the outcomes yielded by the changes, usually in some assets. They evaluate the Outcomes against their expectations of value delivery (at a minimum), or through the lens of a Hypothesis (when an experimental mindset was appropriate). This evaluation yields basic Insights. It essentially answers the question, “Was our speculation right?” And ideally, we answer that question in days or weeks, not years (e.g. spinning through an OODA Loop).
The learning loop, in the presence of significant uncertainty, flows like this:
As insights emerge, and get shared across contexts, they crystalize into organizational learning. This learning informs and accelerates the next round of strategic visioning.
Insights also help recalibrate the leadership’s Assumptions and Beliefs. When we specify our assumptions as we make choices, we should revisit them, as we test hypotheses by evaluating outcomes. Sometimes, the insights are so significant that the learnings drive a reconsideration of our foundational beliefs. Setting trip-wires on our beliefs can be useful, to give us a nudge at the right time in the future.
Introduce a quarterly Ceremony to revisit theBthat form the scaffolding for the context strategy. Check whether tripwires have been hit, and discuss whether any recent learnings or insights should force a reconsideration of any documented beliefs.
Exercise:
As we continuously connect strategy to execution, we gain insights in the effectiveness of our decision architecture. Periodic reflection on how we “decide how to decide” is critical to building decision making into a core capability for the enterprise.
Introduce Ceremonies for the improvement of the decision architecture:
These can leverage the system of record for decisions to share good practices, and drive continuous improvement in the decision architecture.
Exercise:
