Effective leaders drive sustainable results by engaging their teams in resolving challenges and implementing strategies. Using this two-step process, they generate the insight that builds team commitment:
- Perspective Sharing: Leaders gather team members’ perceptions of a situation or concept, including their rationale; and
2. Systemic Assessment: Using a structured protocol, leaders guide their teams through an evaluation of the issue to identify root causes, and agree on the most effective resolution.
Management consultant, Russ Ackoff’s ‘Hierarchy of Insight’ is a step-by-step process which helps teams develop essential insights that secure commitment to decisions. The process steps are:
- Acquiring Data: Raw observations or sensory input, that must be processed into a useable form;
- Compiling Information: Processed data from answering who, what, where, when and how questions;
- Leveraging Knowledge: Expertise gained from past experiences or instruction that facilitates the evaluation of Information;
- Reaching Understanding: Applying Knowledge and Information to thoroughly comprehend the situation, why a resolution is required, and how it can be developed.
- Gaining Insight: Evaluating alternative solutions to decide which one will be most effective, enabling team commitment to its implementation.
Ackoff’s process develops a thorough understanding of the challenge or strategy, and promotes team alignment, leading to more effective problem-solving and strategy implementation.
How are you helping your team gain the insight required for them to commit to a decision?
