Why Questioning Approaches in Business Are So Important
Everybody who is responsible for strategy formulation should be actively considering how to rejuvenate their businesses. In other words to seek out and be ready to allow their businesses to embark on another growth curve – and just when the new growth curve is about to peter out, find ways for their companies to rejuvenate themselves again and prepare to get on a new growth curve and so on.
Clearly, for this to happen, a company is required to adopt a questioning attitude; an approach that continually challenges the status quo – no matter how successful the business is. This would enable the business to fend off trouble before it arrives and would allow it to find address rejuvenation.
But as most managers see and follow only an upward trend line and are successful in achieving growth – and must certainly be doing something right – they are entitled to ask; “Why would we want to change? Surely no one can predict the future?” So justifying calls for action NOW on the basis of what may or may not happen now is a dangerous business?
Therefore, a related issue is for managers and business owners to identify their businesses’ position on the growth curve and hence pinpoint whether or not the moment for rejuvenation.
The difference between most people responsible for strategy formulation and strategic innovators seems to be that the latter have a window on the future, they seem to know a few years before a crisis impacts that they must circumvent it and indeed decide how to do just that!
Best wishes
Andrew
