A business will succeed or fail based upon the decisions of the business owner. Now, imagine if you could have a team of 6 people critically analyzing your most important decisions? Your chances of success will skyrocket! Now you have free access to this team. Plus, they're available anytime day or night, and they always look out for your best interest.
With so much information available how will you know if your make the right decisions when you start a business? Are you aware that roughly 80% of businesses fail within the first year? Did you ever wonder why? Well, it turns out the problem is simple; most entrepreneurs simply make bad decisions which lead them down a path of failure. The good news is that there are some very powerful decision making techniques that will put the odds in your favor. The even better news is that these techniques are taught by world leading leadership and management consultants and used by successful business executives, so we know they work.
There is one technique that I suggest all entrepreneurs use when they start a business. It's called the Six Thinking Hats. Why is technique so valuable? You see, people are creatures of habit, and as such, we only use one or two perspectives to form decisions. This may work for minor decisions, but for the bigger strategic plans, limiting yourself to one or two perspectives is not enough. As the statistics point, it most often leads to failure. The six thinking hats technique forces you to look at decision making from multiple viewpoints, ensuring you make the best decision.
Each of the six thinking hats approach decision making from a different perspective. When you use each hat it's important that you only focus on decisions on that particular perspective. In other words, give each appropriate hat its fair time.
The White Hat
This is your analytical hat. The white hat is where you focus on the data available. See what the facts tell you and look for any trends from historical data. Do not let emotions factor into your decisions when you are wearing the white hat.
The Red Hat
This is your "gut feeling" hat. You want to use a lot of emotion based on intuitive feelings you have about the subject. You will want to try and think about how other people, such as your customers, will emotionally react to the decision.
The Black Hat
This is your pessimistic hat. You want to look at all of the reasons why something won't work. Black hat thinking helps you to identify all of the potential weak links in your plan. This is particularly important if you are an optimistic person by nature. The black hat helps take some of the blinders off that clouds your decision making. This hat alone can save you tremendous heartache down the road.
The Yellow Hat
This is your optimistic hat. Everything is sunshine when you wear this hat. You want to focus on all of the reasons why something will work. When you start a business, you run across plenty of dreary days where you just don't think things are going right. By putting on the yellow hat, you can recharge yourself and see things from the same fire and enthusiasm as you did when you started the business.
The Green Hat
This is your creative hat. You want to look at all of the "out of the box" ways you can approach a task or problem. This is very important in the early stages of your business because this is when you need to figure out what differentiates yourself from your competition.
The Blue Hat
This is your control hat. This is the hat that controls what type of thinking is needed in a particular situation. For example, if you're out of ideas regarding a particular problem, you may elect for an hour of green hat thinking.
Conclusion
Planning and decision making using the 6 thinking hats is much more sound and resilient than decisions without using this technique. For example, when you wear the black hat you may find that your business idea really isn't that good in the first place, saving you time and money.
About the Author
David Mickelson is the Director of Training for a leading small business leadership and educational organization, Field Training Services, LLC. You have free access to his latest case study on the tactics entrepreneurs are using to start thriving businesses in this economy at entrepreneur field manual.
There is one technique that I suggest all entrepreneurs use when they start a business. It's called the Six Thinking Hats. Why is technique so valuable? You see, people are creatures of habit, and as such, we only use one or two perspectives to form decisions. This may work for minor decisions, but for the bigger strategic plans, limiting yourself to one or two perspectives is not enough. As the statistics point, it most often leads to failure. The six thinking hats technique forces you to look at decision making from multiple viewpoints, ensuring you make the best decision.
Each of the six thinking hats approach decision making from a different perspective. When you use each hat it's important that you only focus on decisions on that particular perspective. In other words, give each appropriate hat its fair time.
The White Hat
This is your analytical hat. The white hat is where you focus on the data available. See what the facts tell you and look for any trends from historical data. Do not let emotions factor into your decisions when you are wearing the white hat.
The Red Hat
This is your "gut feeling" hat. You want to use a lot of emotion based on intuitive feelings you have about the subject. You will want to try and think about how other people, such as your customers, will emotionally react to the decision.
The Black Hat
This is your pessimistic hat. You want to look at all of the reasons why something won't work. Black hat thinking helps you to identify all of the potential weak links in your plan. This is particularly important if you are an optimistic person by nature. The black hat helps take some of the blinders off that clouds your decision making. This hat alone can save you tremendous heartache down the road.
The Yellow Hat
This is your optimistic hat. Everything is sunshine when you wear this hat. You want to focus on all of the reasons why something will work. When you start a business, you run across plenty of dreary days where you just don't think things are going right. By putting on the yellow hat, you can recharge yourself and see things from the same fire and enthusiasm as you did when you started the business.
The Green Hat
This is your creative hat. You want to look at all of the "out of the box" ways you can approach a task or problem. This is very important in the early stages of your business because this is when you need to figure out what differentiates yourself from your competition.
The Blue Hat
This is your control hat. This is the hat that controls what type of thinking is needed in a particular situation. For example, if you're out of ideas regarding a particular problem, you may elect for an hour of green hat thinking.
Conclusion
Planning and decision making using the 6 thinking hats is much more sound and resilient than decisions without using this technique. For example, when you wear the black hat you may find that your business idea really isn't that good in the first place, saving you time and money.
About the Author
David Mickelson is the Director of Training for a leading small business leadership and educational organization, Field Training Services, LLC. You have free access to his latest case study on the tactics entrepreneurs are using to start thriving businesses in this economy at entrepreneur field manual.
(Credit by article.com)
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