[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]In his HBR blog post, Building a Shared Mental Model to Rekindle Collaboration, Jason Green, a Principal with The Cambridge Group, talks about how a “Mental Model” (or shared goals and objectives among all members of an organization) is critical to company-wide success.
He talks about how easy it is for individuals and departments to take off in their own direction, acting in ways that may be personally fulfilling but are, in fact, detrimental to the overall goals of the organization.
“So what exactly is a company’s mental model? Simply put, a robust mental model eliminates internal confusion. The mental model is a framework that simplifies a potentially complicated strategy, allowing everyone in the organization to internalize the strategy and be guided by it.
Great companies build and share their mental model internally in ways that enable managers and employees to independently make critical decisions day in and day out that are aligned with the strategy.”
Without a doubt, this concept aligns with principles that NuGrowth as an organization keeps close to the heart. We strongly believe that creating an environment which fosters peer-to-peer communication and collaboration is essential. We also believe in empowerment through systems.
We’ve talked before about how putting a structure in place – whether it be a territory management plan or systematic reporting procedure – facilitates teamwork. We have talked about how management needs to be fully engaged in the sales process – a role which involves goal setting as well as mentoring and accountability.
Green’s “Mental Model” blog talks about how one printing company solved their economic woes by pulling all departments in to determine common goals and objectives. The questions were as simple as the following:
- Which customers are the most profitable?
- How well aligned is our value proposition to their demands?
- What differentiates our value proposition from competition?
- How will we compete and win?
These questions may seem simple – almost a no brainer really, but without engaged leadership overseeing the conversation and established systems to, as Green says, “build and share their mental model,” there is no real venue for this dialogue to occur.
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