On Navigation

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Trusting Technology is about bringing your ideas to life. Visioning is exciting and  Launching is fun. It’s time to talk about the hard part—navigating the change as the rubber hits the road.

If you’ve ever planned and executed a major business upgrade, you’ll know that no plan survives first contact with reality. The work of staying on course—or changing course if circumstances dictate—is the hard part. Often not much fun.

Your plan lays out what you think, expect and hope will happen. Odds are you’ll be right for the most part, but one missed prediction can toast your upgrade. The secret to navigation lies one step beyond the plan—in preparation for what might NOT happen.

And while you navigate through these surprises after the Launch, the approach relies on the preparation you did during the complete launch I wrote about recently.

Is your compass working?

Here’s how to tell if you’re ready to navigate your next business upgrade:

  1. Your launch answers the questions listed here.

  2. You have considered at least three scenarios, planned for the best, and will recognize weak signals that you may need to switch your bets.

  3. Your team has an efficient means of communicating and a regular forum for challenging the plan.

  4. Decisions are made quickly, whether large or small.

  5. You have a 95% confidence that you’ll hit the next significant milestone.

  6. The only sacred cows are outcomes—all methods are up for discussion.

  7. Everyone on the team answers these questions the same way you do.

Personal aside: when I was a CIO, I had little time for the consultant that dropped a 200-page strategy on my desk with a “good luck with that!” sticky attached. This is why I insist in seeing things through with my clients—helping them envision, launch AND navigate the route to success. That’s what I call a partnership. If that sounds useful to you, let me know and we can discuss your circumstances.

Trusting Technology is a book about forming ideas, exploring opportunities with customers and colleagues, and building your future together. Order your copy here.