Every organization faces challenges ranging from the itsy-bitsy to the big fat ones that threaten your very survival. It is our view that although there may seem to be a sea of challenges, in reality, there are only 4 types: Strategic, Business, Relationship and Operational. The key is to identify your challenge type and to calibrate a befitting response. The way to set the ball rolling is to ask four simple questions
1 Is it a Strategic Challenge?
A Strategic Challenge can be spotted from a mile. It often knocks at your door with the suddenness of an accident and forces you to rethink the fundamental values and guiding principles of your enterprise. To wrestle with such challenges, you need quality minds who’ve been there, done that. No amount of brainstorming can provide you the answers if you leave a Strategic Challenge in the wrong hands. So the trick lies in evaluating your pool of talent, spotting the Thinkers, and priming them to tackle strategic dilemmas through simulation and role plays.
Sample Strategic Challenge for a Global Hi-tech Company: How to extend network security to a mobile computing paradigm?
2 Is it a Business Challenge?
People often confuse Business Challenges with Operational ones. They are as different as wine and water. Business Challenges revolve around the stumbling blocks that constrain your organization from achieving its fullest potential. They are invariably about finding refreshing new ways to raise the bar on productivity and performance. Scores of companies have been grappling with this knotty issue for years. 15TH Peak has an alternative take for solving this puzzle. Adapting the Management Fad of the Month to your outfit is not going to help you in the long run. The answer lies in creating a platoon of Achievers with a relentless appetite for scaling new peaks.
Sample Business Challenge for a Global Hi-tech Company:: How to put out an iPad compliant anti-virus package out in the market at half the price of the competition?
3 Is it a Relationship Challenge?
An organization is a network of teams. And the glue that holds it together is relationships. If the relationships are strained, people don’t get along. When people don’t get along, ego clashes become the order of the day. When the ego rules, teams don’t deliver what they are capable of. When teams don’t deliver, new pain points arise and a stress wave is created which travels all the way to the top. So clearly one of the biggest challenges an organization grapples with is, Relationships. If you get that aspect right, the road to productivity will be smooth and short. It is our belief that, organizations must invest enough time and resources on grooming Influencers who can iron out any relationship chink in the system. Else the people train might get derailed.
Sample Relationship Challenge for a Global Hi-tech Company:: How to inject positive energy in a branch that has severe people issues?
4 Is it an Operational Challenge?
The biggest plans of Organizations fall flat because of the smallest of roadblocks. So a bird’s eye view of things will not be of any assistance to micromanagers as they may just fail to detect the fault lines. In such moments, what will really work is the Builder’s point of view. Because the builder knows not just the bigger picture in his head, but he’s also aware of all the little milestones that can make the blue print, a reality. That’s why Operational Challenges like Completing a Project or Delivering a Design is best left to Builders as they have the resourcefulness to get anything done.
Sample Operational Challenge for a Global Hi-tech Company:: How to establish a new sales network in North Carolina?
15TH Peak Consultancy believes that any organization can be made challenge-ready if only one takes the effort to spot, nourish and hone the Thinkers, Achievers, Influencers and Builders in your team. This is precisely what we bring to the table.