May the Force be with you.
–George Lucas
Creating an organizational equivalent to a pivoting windmill can seem vastly more difficult and expensive than what is actually required. What’s the basis of that misperception? Most people have never worked on the task and are sensitive to how hard it is to change any aspect of what an organization does.
They incorrectly assume that all aspects of the organization need to be incredibly adaptable — a very difficult and expensive challenge. Contrary to that incorrect view, an organization with the equivalent of a weather vane pointing it in the right direction (the proper strategy) will need to adapt very little.
This common misperception taught me there must be stalls (harmful thinking habits) that make it especially difficult to take advantage of irresistible forces. Here is what I found: Progress in optimally using irresistible forces is delayed by ignoring or fighting the irresistible forces. Stalls include
–being directionless to begin with so that pushes from irresistible forces are viewed with disinterest;
–employing wishful thinking about being able to accurately predict the future;
–experiencing mental paralysis when irresistible forces turn unexpectedly adverse;
–deciding to fight irresistible forces rather than adjust to gain benefit from them;
–choosing to be too independent in addressing new issues raised by irresistible forces;
–taking an overly optimistic view of the benefits of following the current direction;
–trying to keep secret the bad news of being harmed by irresistible forces; and
–underestimating the ability to handle volatile irresistible forces.
There is also a management process that can be used to overcome these stalls, serving as helpful stallbusters and stall erasers to handle these stalls. This is a new eight-step process for taking advantage of irresistible forces:
1. Recognize how measurements can help your company identify and understand more about irresistible forces.
2. Use your own leading indicators to anticipate shifts in irresistible forces.
3. Identify future best practices for locating, anticipating, and adapting to changes in irresistible forces.
4. Extend your vision to identify best practices beyond anyone else in the future for locating, anticipating, and adapting to changes in irresistible forces.
5. Identify the ideal best practice for benefiting from changes in irresistible forces.
6. Determine how your organization should approach ideal best practices for benefiting from changes in irresistible forces.
7. Enhance your peoples’ ability to achieve the benefits of irresistible force management.
8. Repeat steps one through seven for improved effectiveness in using irresistible force management.
With these perspectives in place, you can become quite effective in creating optimal strategies for all conditions, anticipating changes before they occur, and making advance preparations to prosper regardless of what comes next.
Are you ready?
Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through and receive tips by e-mail through registering for free at
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