LOST

Do you ever wake in the middle of the night thinking about an important contract, “What would happen if we actually lost this …?” 

Your company has invested, prepared for winning, improved technology, reduced costs and improved efficiency; you have analysed cash flow and eked out better terms with suppliers. You’re paying well for the best people, and your organization has invested in the pursuit of quality, the award plaques hang proudly on the wall, pictures in the lobby. 

But apparently there’s an elephant in the room: really, how confident are you of winning that crucial order? Holding your marketing people responsible for wins then terminating them if they loose… this is not a strategy.

An awful thought emerges, “What if the prospect doesn’t care about our investments -or our internal efficiency? They seemed impressed during our presentations, they commented on the cleanliness of the plant and our quality charts, our delivery performance and efficiency.” You lie there thinking, “What wins a critical contract?” 

There is a trade secret process which answers that question and provides a complete architecture for such strategy thinking. A part of the answer can be revealed here, it is this, “Decisions determine who wins.” Not your decisions. No. It's your customers' decisions that ultimately determines whether you win or lose, isn't it? So the first question you should think of as you are lying there, “What is the customer decision – which is going to bring them to us?”

Of course you have already considered the tangible elements, did you price it right, do you really meet requirements, have you sufficiently explained how your bid qualifies you? Well, the problem is that everyone competing has done that too, that’s what got you to this point of consideration. Now, what are the elements that will set you apart? And, are there omissions which might surprise you? Without a template of all the elements, there is no way of knowing. That’s why you wake up, it’s the “… not knowing that creates sleepless nights.”

A knowledge of these intangibles is what will separate you from the ordinary, and can take you from good to excellent, and allow you to win 3 out of 4. Some say this is all individual. What is certain, there are patterns - and they are not tangible. Because ‘it’ is more about how you think and therefore behave. Of course, one part of ‘It’ is how you select, translate and explain the values that you bring to the customer. But you knew that! So what could be so significantly different in this trade secret process? Well, for one - the most brilliant of intuition and based on our 35 years of research, your explanation of values is the 9th thing you should think about. Sound naïve? Alright, consider number eight: who did you send to communicate that value? Could that have made a difference? One which your customer might remember? 

The professionals of The Mapping Alliance have coached winning teams for over 35 years and provided a “Map of this process.” These teams learn, recognise and manage the intangible elements, and know the unseen dynamics of decision-making. And by having a map of the process, they know the omissions – in time. If you accept that the performance of your organisation is linked to the quality of your people, their ability to think, communicate and behave in brilliant ways … then come join us to learn how top performers are enabled to affect high strategic value decisions. 

Principle Concepts of The Decision Mapping® Process

"Greetings Prophet, the great work begins..."

-Tony Kushner from "Angels in America"

The good news in knowing you're in the middle of a downward spiral, is your ability to choose to depart the spiral. However, in order to choose to depart the spiral, you must, as decision-owner, decide and commit  to 1) departing the decisions that cause spiral tendencies and 2) choose a course that's more serving to your company vision and mission. Namely, you must make an absolutely commitment to learning, to process, to decisions, to customers and the value of having a MAP.

Having a MAP of the Process by which your customers make decisions is a trade-secret most will never be informed in how to do. Yet 'Mapping the Process' is a great work for many reason, not the least of which mapping decisions is real, immediate, important and effective. If you wish to remain inside the downward spiral and continue to rationalize your ride down, Decision Mapping is not for you.

However, if you wish to bring about change, real, long-lasting, change. Change that is interesting, engaging, useful, important, rewarding and truly transformational, there are three major elements to consider:

•  DECISIONS: the complex social and psychological set-up of a society is one in which many varying personal and political objectives influence the outcome of any decision-making-process. The success of such an organization, indeed its efficiency and effectiveness is centered … in one’s ability to think, decide and act strategically. “Thinking and deciding strategically” requires a focus to be upon Decisions and to somehow anchor the brilliance of this process. Such Decisions create a desired and brilliant future. The correctness of these decisions and the ability to effect (bring about) or affect (influence) the right decisions are at the core of all success throughout history.
• THE PROCESS: achieving desired change is the functional outcome of decision making. The determinant is ability – indeed, you and your organization’s ability - to bring about desired change – rooted in your ability to manage the process. A desirable process would be made up of elements which interact to form patterns. It is the knowledge of the elements and these patterns plus the skills of managing the process which are at the core of historic success. You need a map.
• Additional PROCESS NOTES - It is the omission of this knowledge and these skills where you discover the root cause of historic failures. The Decision Mapping® Process presents the opportunity to provide you and your organizations a MAP of the process and the patterns, plus the skills required to master this process. These elements are to be combined with experienced methods of adult learning, plus the experience of managing such projects - to assure success.
• LEARNING: our institute proposes the use of The Decision Mapping® Process to build human resource competencies, and the abilities to affect decisions both internal and external to your organization. Yes, the success you desire is the result of great decisions made by your organization but also by organizations and individuals external to your own. Mapping organizes you and your teams around those decisions.

The “Map” is a tool for strategic thinking and communication. The methods of introduction also offer an organization the highest levels of learning and ability, equipping participants to use the proven patterns of a process map, the skills for decision making, and methods for analysis and high-intent strategy formulation.

With a map, such wisdom can be recorded and documented. The Mapping Alliance's goal is to equip you with a mastery of process, including the necessary knowledge and skill to achieve selected mission even in an evolving environment with priorities changing rapidly.

If there is a need to establish these levels of wisdom - such a map – which in fact has been around for a long time, offers organizations a way to optimize their growth and to influence the decisions which indeed can change the world.

The Element of Lost Brilliance

It is an old idea. Over time, the qualities of an organization wane, become unhealthy and ineffective. Why?

Because company leaders didn't duplicate or systemize the very things they do that made their companies great. And this systemized forgetting is clearly reflected in the deterioration and finally the demise of any organization, which forgets the importance of duplicating their 'WINNING' processes.

The suggestion here is that such an organization had entered into a downward spiral, and has become unaware of the deficiencies rooted in their lost knowledge, skills and attitudes. Their usual reactions are denial and anger, signs of a classic grieving process. Additionally, corporate politicking becomes part of each team members' means of surviving the next round of 'budget cuts," and resulting layoffs.

Before company decision-owners usually pay any attention to the dangerous spiral they are in, participants have to become conscious of the pattern; trusting and often-times acting on their belief this pattern foretells of an inevitable company deconstruction and loss of their job security.

Could the same be said for a society, or found in the dynamics of a family, a relationship? Of course. We easily are caught in this spiral, and remain so focused on “Finding solutions” - quick fixes - and on self-deluding tricks - that we have to approach the bottom before we even begin to consider doing anything different. For many, it is a perceived necessity to breakdown in order to break through.

The omission of not recognizing this pattern allows us to be lead further down the spiral of destruction, be it self-destruction or the companies we own, run or work for... So, the question is asked, "Is there a possibility of reversing the spiraling dynamic?"

In short, No. This pattern exists. It is part of any cycle and is constant and far more powerful than any of us. We can see clear evidence today with our economic crisis, can't we? However, there is good news. Because thankfully, there is an option completely depart out of the spiral. The secret is to take ownership for making the decision, to depart the processes which have led to the lost brilliance of the company...

There is a hopeful ancient idea here: the Greek root of the word decision is departure. In other words, it is within the decisions you make (or affect) that the opportunity for a true departure awaits. This is promising, yes?

Because all of us have been warned of this spiral since an early age, in the myths and stories of our traditions. In different cultures this progression takes the form of famous stories, haunting myths and even spiritual journeys. Consistent in every story is an alarming tale of the inevitable descent into darkness before remembering to be the light. We all live within an illusion - an illusion, of our own making - and it has been our choices which have created our individual and collective “reality.”

Our challenge is to escape this illusion. Faced with such a situation one might wish to introduce some escape – some kind of transformation – to establish a different standard for thinking and decision-making, to learn how right decisions get made and how such powerful decisions might be affected.

But what would it take to make right decisions?

There are three elements, which I'll explore in greater depth in my next post. For now, here they are in brief summary as we continue this conversation together.

The three elements for making right decisions are as follows:

1. An Immediate Need for Process,
   
2. An Insatiable Desire for Learning and Adapting; and
   
3. A Focus on Decisions.
   

Because the right decisions will bring about the real changes desired...

Decision Mapping - A Quiet Competitiveness During Tough Economic Times

As we come to the crossroads of having to decide between investing into our business development or cutting costs in order to maintain profitability, please consider letting me introduce you to someone who can really make this decision much easier...

Because, up until very recently, Decision Mapping was reserved for the Fortune 100 and organizations of great influence...

In fact, over the last three decades 200 Organizations in the U.S., Europe and Asia have quietly used “Decision Mapping” as a trade-secret process to achieve competitive excellence, and significant influence in their global markets – achieving real growth, and a dominant market position. Applications of this methodology have been diverse at GE, Lockheed Martin, Procter & Gamble, McDonnell Douglas, Interface, British Aerospace, Lucas, EADS, British Oxygen, General Dynamics, Alliant Energy, the United Nations Project for African Development, and The Pentagon have used Mapping as a best practices tool to analyze opportunities, formulate winning strategies, and execute - powerfully.

The result: influence – power – lasting relationships. The results are often measured by win-rate, profitability and growth. For government contractors, a measure of the results have been both affecting major wins and policy level decisions - the “Right Decisions” – bringing about the adoption of new policies on issues such as force projection, lift, health, defense, energy, trade policies and the environment.

A “Map” of the customer’s decision process provides your organization methods to design and communicate the architecture of strategies and provides teams the ability to monitor and measure progress.

The origin of this process was Richard Hodapp’s (Founder & CEO, The Mapping Alliance) investigation into the thought processes of senior business leaders. At their request, Richard was engaged to develop a process - to assure this sort of thinking was not lost at the organizations they once led. They wanted to provide their level of leadership – of process management and strategy thinking – not just for internal planning – but for effecting the growth of an organization.

Mr. Hodapp visualized a MAP of the customers’ decision process. His mentors edited and confirmed this map was consistent with their best thinking. The result, teams began to operate at higher scopes – uncovering better information about customers - and adopting the behavioral skills of leaders, enabled with techniques such as seeing strategic omissions early.

This was the wisdom of company founders, the intuitive thought process of leaders. Originally, it was thought of as a map. Such a map was what was used to create brilliant strategies, but soon it was shown to be a “Map” of how the organizations in their markets make strategic decisions.

Imagine the competitive advantage - a reliable, predictive map of the decision processes which lie far deeper than the customer acquisition and proposal activity.

For you, as a company owner and organizational leader, the first step is to test mapping, then to decide if you wish to integrate this process as a normal way of thinking for planning customer involvement.

A Mapping Summit is a practical and enjoyable seminar, immediately applying the Mapping process to your opportunities. You can continue to use the process under a license agreement, with employees selected to become in-house Mapping experts.

Clients of Mapping outperform their competitors by a factor of 3X (documented). They have installed Mapping company wide (i.e., G.E. and General Dynamics) and redefined the role of “selling.” By providing teams with advanced management practices and strategic responsibility – it is reasonable to hold teams accountable for the ambitious growth and success – the wins - which everyone desires.

Client Objectives
Corporations Use Mapping to:
♦ Realize extraordinary growth through improved Customer Involvement.
♦ Engage quietly in Strategy Level dialogue with Customers.
♦ Equip Business Development teams with executive level Strategic Thinking and Tools.
♦ Drive Customer Demand – Customers rely on you for both near term Solutions and Strategies – optimizing your mix.
♦ Use Decision Mapping to document and record successes – to document how their Customers make decisions.
♦ Engage in Customer decision-making early, to shape concepts and selection criteria.
♦ Realize the total sales potential, stability, loyalty and new levels of winning that are achievable.

Who Benefits?
♦You - as company owner and leader - seeing the shift to an intense Customer orientation, invigorating an aggressive, competitive Leadership.
♦Your Customers … recognizing a new level of Professionalism they invite Map trained teams into strategy meetings.

The very reason I've convinced Richard to work with me, to help companies in my network, is because I believe the unique combination of economic turmoil combined with your specific industry climate is ready to win specifically because of the current political environment.

To a select few, I'll follow up with email and a personal call. Because I want to better understand what your business business is as well as the nature of your business development in order to help you with your current economic reality.

To this end, I'm making this announcement a little more public to ensure I reach those who will most benefit from Decision Mapping. 

Regardless, I wish anyone still reading success in all you do and offer my services and support in whatever way I may be able to help you and your business.

A Decision Mapping Strategist,

Scott Kiere