Uncategorized May 1, 2012

CEOs should narrow focus for clarity



If a CEO wants to bring more clarity to their organisation, they should think about narrowing their business focus, an expert has noted.

This advice comes from Greg McKeown, head of leadership and strategic design agency THIS Inc, who wrote on hbr.org that many CEOs choose to keep their options open by pursuing several goals. He revealed that this can be counter-productive.

He suggested emphasis on all options is "no emphasis at all", so the key to introducing greater clarity is to cut down the number of objectives their staff have in mind.

"Deciding to cut options can be terrifying - but it is the very essence of what we mean by making strategic decisions. The Latin root of the word 'decision' - 'cis' - literally means 'to cut'," said Mr McKeown.

If business owners want to create further business clarity they could harness the power of non-negotiables in strategic decisions, according to columnist Robyn Creed's comments on dynamicbusiness.com.au.

Ms Creed explained that this means drawing up a list of five or six factors of your choice which CEOs are not willing to budge on; from this, the overall decision is made much narrower and simpler.

She suggested that this approach to making a choice can be used in a variety of disciplines, including business negotiations, change management and recruitment policies.
















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