Making Things Happen

Before you can make anything happen you have to be clear about the business you are in and what you are expected to contribute to the organisation as a whole. You may have had this vision handed down to you, you may have contributed to it or you may have had to create a ‘mission’ or ‘vision’ statement. Whatever the case, you must be clear about the business you are in and the philosophy and values that underlie that business. A number of approaches are available to help you determine why you are in business. In complex or messy situations, or where there is little or no agreement about the philosophy and values of the organisation, a sophisticated approach may be required. In relatively simply situations, the why technique may be all that is needed. Start with something the organisation currently does and ask why it does it. Write down the answer and ask why of the answer. Write that answer down and repeat the process until you reach an answer which is a general principle or statement of values for which why is a meaningless question. Now start again with something else the organisation does and you should find that, at some point, you get an answer which is identical to one given in the first