What do you do when the signs are pointing in all directions?

Pam Harper (00:00): What's the key to making game changing decisions when the signs point in all directions? Join us for our quick take on this issue, episode 226 of Growth Igniters Radio with Pam Harper and Scott Harper.

Chris Curran (00:21): This episode is brought to you by Business Advancement Incorporated, enabling successful leaders and companies to accelerate to their next level of success -- on the web at businessadvance.com. And now, here's Pam and Scott.

Pam Harper (00:38): Welcome everyone. I'm Pam Harper, founding partner and CEO of Business Advancement Incorporated, and right along with me is my business partner and husband, Scott Harper.

Scott Harper (00:49): Hi everybody. It's great to be with you again. And as always, our purpose here is to spark new insights, inspiration, and immediately useful ideas to help visionary leaders accelerate themselves -- and of course, their companies -- to their next level of game-changing innovation, transformation and growth.

Scott Harper (01:08): And Pam, these days, with so much going on in the world, the way forward to that game changing growth -- it's not always clear.

Pam Harper (01:16): That's right.

Scott Harper (01:17): The signs can be ambiguous -- and in a very literal sense too, sometimes. Do you remember that not that long ago, we were driving along one of the roads in our town, and we saw a sign on a tree that was pretty weird? Now, the sign said "bus detour." And reading it upright, there was an arrow underneath the words that pointed to the left. But something was not right.

Pam Harper (01:42): Yes. The sign was turned onto its side so that the words "bus detour" were sideways, and the arrow was pointing straight up.

Scott Harper (01:52): That' was strange.

Pam Harper (01:53): Now, if you were the driver of the bus, here's the question: would you turn left or would you drive straight ahead, or would you respond in some other way?

Scott Harper (02:04): Yeah, it's a good question. And that's the challenge with ambiguity. You can't really know what the answer is really, because there are multiple interpretations.

Pam Harper (02:17): That's right. And that sign stayed up for quite a while.

Scott Harper (02:21): Yeah, it's very strange. Nobody bothered to take it down for a long time.

Pam Harper (02:25): And that made it even more ambiguous.

Scott Harper (02:28): That's true. And then it disappeared. And you can see a picture of this sign if you go to growth igniters radio.com and select episode 226.

Scott Harper (02:37): Now here's the thing: This is just one example of ambiguity. Let's face it, in business, ambiguity is also part and parcel of everyday life.

Pam Harper (02:48): We're all dealing with ambiguity in so many situations, whether it's changing global agreements or tariffs or trade wars. There are changes in the workforce, and ambiguity about how to deal with environmental issues.

Scott Harper (03:02): So many issues...

Pam Harper (03:03): And of course, ambiguity especially shows up when we're making decisions for game-changing business growth, the go big or go home decisions. For instance, we've spoken with top leaders who are in the process of deciding whether to expand into new markets in other countries, while others at the same time are deciding whether to contract and actually nearshore because of the same kinds of signs, which is also game changing. So the signs that influence decisions like these are so often contradictory.

Scott Harper (03:35): That's right. And here's the thing -- the people who are essential to making decisions like these in the face of ambiguity often have different, conflicting opinions because they interpret the signs in different ways.

Pam Harper (03:49): They have different values, beliefs, knowledge, experiences, and biases. And this can all inform their perspectives

Scott Harper (03:57): And they are frequently different. The thing is that sometimes these variations and perspectives are not always easy to see or understand, -- but they can definitely affect outcomes.

Pam Harper (04:08): So embracing these viewpoints is one of the foundational elements of reconciling what we call Growth Igniters® Paradoxes. I speak about this much more deeply in my keynote speech.

Scott Harper (04:21): So let's talk about what some of this dealing with ambiguity can look like in action. Remember the story of the company we helped as they were expanding to a new global market? They had to make some big decisions in the midst of ambiguity. We were invited in because things weren't going as quickly as they needed to.

Pam Harper (04:41): That's right. They needed to speed up the process. Now, we suspected that people weren't sharing what was really on their minds. Not only was this depriving the group of critical information, it made it difficult for them to settle on decisions. We confirmed that when we spoke with the key people involved. They were comfortable speaking with us, but not with each other.

Scott Harper (05:06): It was for a number of reasons.

Pam Harper (05:08): Some of them were cultural, some of them were personal, some of them were organizational. What we realized is that they needed help creating an environment of psychological safety. In this way, people could talk more openly about the issues without fear of repercussions. Then we started seeing progress.

Scott Harper (05:29): That's right. Once teams started sharing their perspectives, it was amazing how quickly they moved to making those big decisions that they needed to make despite the ambiguity of the situation.

Pam Harper (05:41): I think they estimated that they were able to accelerate by at least six months. And this of course had a major positive financial impact.

Pam Harper (05:50): So, with everything that's going on in the world, making big decisions in the face of ambiguity is only going to become more common. That's why it's so important to seek out and embrace diverse viewpoints.

Scott Harper (06:05): Yes. So with that in mind, Pam, let's talk about three immediately useful ideas that leaders can use to promote a culture that supports the open conversations it takes to make these game changing decisions when ambiguity is all around.

Pam Harper (06:22): And here's the first one: in meetings, look at whether people are freely sharing and building upon a variety of perspectives and opinions.

Scott Harper (06:32): That's so important...

Pam Harper (06:34): And that's going to look different for every company because every company has a unique culture. But here's a caution: If there's too much agreement, this can be one clue that people may not feel comfortable expressing what's on their mind.

Scott Harper (06:52): So that has to get resolved. Okay, let's go to a second immediately useful idea.

Pam Harper (06:58): Building on the first idea -- in other words, what's happening -- this has to do with the formal culture -- what's official. Look for formal positive reinforcement for people to express their points of view, especially around high-stakes decisions.

Scott Harper (07:14): That's good. For instance, is productively working through disagreements, something that's positively reinforced in performance reviews? Of course. This is just one example of many. Let's have a third immediately useful idea.

Pam Harper (07:29): This has to do with the informal culture. Look at the characteristics of the leaders. Who are the stars in your organization? Are they actively fostering an open exchange of different viewpoints on a regular basis?

Scott Harper (07:43): Okay.

Pam Harper (07:43): After all the stars are the ones that are part of setting the tone of the informal culture of the organization.

Scott Harper (07:50): That's right. Very good ideas, Pam. Do you have any final thoughts on the key to making game-changing decisions when the signs are pointing in all directions?

Pam Harper (08:00): Well, of course, the path forward will inevitably be clouded by ambiguity. That's why it's only going to become even more important to lead in a way that embraces a wide variety of viewpoints. You need to have this in order to have minds wide open for the best possible decisions.

Scott Harper (08:22): That's great, Pam. And that's our quick take for today. Thanks to you out there for listening to Growth Igniters Radio with Pam Harper and Scott Harper. If you're enjoying listening to this podcast, spread the good word. Open Growth Igniters Radio on whatever podcast app you use in write to review, and feel free to share. To find out more about our strategic growth advisory services at BAI, learn more about Pam's latest keynote speech, and access our full podcast archive, go to businessadvance.com.

Pam Harper (08:53): Until next time, this is Pam Harper...

Scott Harper (08:56): and Scott Harper...

Pam Harper (08:56): Wishing you continued success and leaving you with this question to consider and act upon:

Pam Harper (09:04): What are we going to do differently or better to foster the diverse conversations that need to happen so we can lead for game-changing decisions in the face of ambiguity?

Chris Curran (09:24): Growth Igniters and Growth Igniters Radio with Pam Harper and Scott Harper are registered service marks of Business Advancement Incorporated. All Growth Igniters Radio episodes are copyrighted Productions of Business Advancement Incorporated, intended for the private use of our audience, except as otherwise provided by copyright law. All other uses, including copying, editing, redistribution, and publication without prior written consent of business Advancement Incorporated are prohibited. All rights reserved.