Every successful organization moves forward with two elements which are sometimes in opposition: efficient innovation and effective tradition. If you’ve read several business books from successful startup entrepreneurs, you might notice that some of them seem to find success despite themselves: somehow the constant throwing spaghetti at the wall works. Then they are authoring books telling you principles on throwing spaghetti.
Of course, innovation is necessary for your business. But most organizations aren’t stuck in “constant innovation” gear. More commonly, local businesses like ours in Aiken and Augusta struggle with the other side of the coin: being bound to Same Old, Same Old thinking.
The reason for this is simple: Same Old, Same Old thinking has WORKED for you so far, AND you have far less tolerance for risk than a bunch of twenty-something tech geeks who are operating off other people’s money. You don’t have that luxury. You have to make your business work for you and your people.
But it’s also true that this SOSO thinking can cause stagnant growth. That’s as true for you as it has been for larger organizations. We could point to famous examples like Kodak, Blockbuster, Nokia, and Sears as examples of succumbing to SOSO thinking without utilizing efficient innovation.
How do you know if SOSO thinking is dominating your organization?
Warning Signs of SOSO Thinking
Language
Really listen to your conversation or meeting with other leaders in your organization. Are there buzzwords floating around that may indicate a “groupthink” culture? What words and phrases are thrown around consistently? We’re not talking about needed common language like the names of products and services.
We’re talking about common language when it comes to tactics and strategies. For example, one buzzword is “collaboration.” In an organization in which this term is used, what does it mean? Is it being held up as an outcome rather than a tool to get something done? Is it hindering decision-making? Does it allow for avoiding responsibility?
Often, you may even see leaders within the organization attempting to “monitor” or even “censor” the language of others. This may not even be mean or nefarious, but attempts to shut down conversation or get everyone on the same page can end up nipping innovation in the bud.
You DO want to have a common language in your business culture, but you also want to make sure that groupthink isn’t obstructing possible innovation strategies.
Innovation Theater
Another common trait of SOSO organization is what we might call innovation theater. Most leaders understand that innovation is necessary. And so some institutional effort is put into finding ways to innovate.
But in a SOSO organization, this innovation often dies on the vine. Typically, this involves a lot of talk and activity without follow through or commitment.
As one example, this can look like an organization revisiting Mission and Vision statements. An involved process with many stakeholders consumes a lot of time and energy. Some new ideas are generated. But in the end, nothing much changes. Folks fall into old patterns to achieve more or less the same goals.
Personnel
SOSO thinking gets reflected in personnel management in a number of ways. However, two situations stand out.
The most common is this: everyone in leadership KNOWS Johnny is a problem. He brings some value to the team, but he’s hard to manage, thinks he’s above being told what to do, hard to work with personally. Or, maybe he’s fine interpersonally, but you need him to grow into more responsibility. But you’ve needed him to do that for two years, and he simply refuses to do so, even if he’s a really nice guy. Whatever the case is, a SOSO organization continues to manage problem personnel instead of cutting bait.
That’s easier said than done, but a leader has to be ruthless when one personnel or two is causing issues for the whole team, or is refusing to (or incapable of) taking on the duties needed of the role. It’s hard to find the right person, so you want to stick with who you know and provide training. Sometimes that works. But when it’s not working, you need to make some tough decisions.
A similar situation applies for that familiar third-party vendor you’ve been working with. You know their limitations, but the “devil you know” is better than the possibility of getting worse service. But there are plenty of vendors out there, some of which likely will make your life easier. A SOSO organization refuses to bite the bullet and make a transition, thus perpetuating stagnancy when a change might bring some freshness and “move forward” momentum.
Decision Making
This has been touched on in several ways above, but in a SOSO organization, decision-making lacks clarity and timeliness. Perhaps that’s because the decision-making matrix needs more focus and attention.
Maybe it’s because responsibilities and duties are convoluted by teams or committees. Maybe there’s a general “pass the buck” attitude because no one wants to take responsibility for possible failure.
Or, maybe it’s because no one wants to face Johnny and tell him he can’t make those decisions alone. Johnny has been there 15 years and thinks he owns his department.
In any case, decision-making is slow or in the wrong hands altogether. This requires some hard thinking and clarification of roles and duties. Everyone needs to know who’s in charge of what, no matter what’s been done in the past.
Conclusion
A successful business requires that your core products and services are done well. This means standardized procedures and well-honed processes, building on what you’ve done successfully so far. But, success also requires some thoughtful analysis of where your business may be experiencing stagnation. That’s often a result of “we’ve always done it this way” or “Johnny has always done that” kind of thinking. But if you plan on continuing to grow your business, it may be time to address areas of your business where SOSO thinking isn’t working for you anymore.