Thinking at the Speed of Change

We are in unprecedented times and things are changing so quickly – it’s hard to keep up!  How can we manage this tremendous degree of constant change and make the best decisions possible that will produce high-impact results?  Individuals as well as teams experience this, but it becomes even more challenging when we think about the diversity of thinking on a given team.

Our solution is to first stop and THINK ABOUT YOUR THINKING!  Being aware of how you think individually as well as make decisions, problem solve and even innovate is the first step.  Dan Kahneman’s book, Thinking Fast & Slow, offers a look at when we can speed up our thinking or need to slow down.  He offers ways to not just rely on our automatic responses that can help eliminate our vulnerability to biases.  When it comes to thinking on a team, here are some approaches to support a team in responding quickly to change and make it work for everyone’s benefit:

• Ensure a high level of Trust on a team (all 4 quadrants)
• Understand the cause of the change (A Quadrant)
• Embrace new, exciting ideas & solutions (D Quadrant) – Use the TLC Model to further ideas
• Focus on communications and truly listening to others (C Quadrant)
• Finding Pathways to enable (vs hinder) forward movement (B Quadrant)

The walk-around below gives us additional details of what is needed by quadrant:

Key Takeaways: Ned Herrmann had several keys points on this topic. AGILE thinking is four-quadrant thinking – there are several ways this can show up. 

• The Iterative quality of the model supports agile thinking and integrating all four quadrants simultaneously.
• “Whole-Brainedness” is not about your profile – It’s about developing skills to flex situationally.
• Green quadrant thinking enables application and movement on creative & innovative ideas.

A team that shares a common vision, values, and trust while embracing these concepts will experience powerful results at our current speed of change.