Humans eh? You think we’d have cracked this giving feedback thing by now. We start with the best intentions – give it often, be open to getting it back a bit too – yet when the pressure is on, we forget to make it a priority and fall back on pointing out the flaws in a rush and staying quiet when people do a good job. We also worry that we have don’t have the right to give feedback – to team members, colleagues and bosses. Not only is it our right to give it, it is their right to expect it and to give us feedback in return. It just needs to be done with a modicum of skill, compassion and common sense, especially when it comes to negative feedback.
The first thing is to examine your motive. What compels you to want to give negative feedback in the first place? A genuine desire to help someone grow and develop, the need to stop someone who is behaving in a way that is holding them back and a wish to tell someone something don’t do well and the negative impact it has so that they can change what they are doing for the better. These are all honourable motives and likely to result in constructively delivered feedback. A compulsion to get something off your chest or to take someone down a peg or two are less honourable (though understandably tempting at times) and more likely to lead to destructive feedback - and in the short term certainly, will do more harm than good.
Once you have your motive sorted, the next thing is to know the go-zones and no-go zones for negative feedback. Stay away from feedback directed at someone’s personality and values. No matter how much of a wordsmith you are, this kind of feedback feels personal and is tough to change and so fits in to the no-go zones for feedback. Then there are our attitudes - our approach to and views on things - and our behaviour - the outward signs of our attitude. These are the go-zones for negative feedback. They concentrate on what we are doing, not who we are, are easier on the ear and more likely to be acted upon. It's the difference between telling someone you desk share with (a real possibility these days with more flexible work spaces) that their messy papers, Post It note pandemic and non-existent filing make it impossible for you to work and can you both sort out a better system - constructive - and telling them they are a messy slob with no idea how to organise themselves and would they do this at home? - destructive.
A lot has been written about techniques and structures for feedback. Take them with a pinch of salt. In some cases, it would be a start just to get people doing feedback at all, let alone trying to weave it around some fancy process.
In particular, beware the unsubtle ones like the Praise Sandwich (and yes it has another title too). The idea is to sandwich some negative feedback between two bits of positive feedback thereby softening the blow. Guess what? We all know when it's being done to us and it tends to get used when you have only wafer-thin crispbreads of positive feedback to act as bookends for a massive wedge of negative filling. "Thank you for turning up to work every day - just about everything you do in your job is rubbish - but I really like your earrings." An exaggeration but you get the idea. Better to say what needs to be said, check how the person feels about it and what their view is and then look ahead.
Finally, there is an element of getting your own house in order when it comes to negative feedback. You may be skilled at giving it, but how elegant are you at receiving it? Before you unleash your negative feedback on unsuspecting staff and colleagues, do a quick check that you too can receive feedback with grace.
Ken Blanchard refers to feedback as “the breakfast of champions”, so yours needs to be digestible and if not palatable, at least useful and constructive to the person you give it to. That way, they may even return for seconds.
At a recent away day, a team were trying to get a date in the diary for a meeting. Everyone kept saying “I can’t do that date, I’m working.” We were going around in circles until the team’s leader said “We need to rethink our attitude to meetings – when we have a meeting, that IS work!”
Wise words indeed. So how have meetings become unmoored from work and viewed as an interruption and an irritation? Reasons like having too many, being at meetings where you’re not adding value and meetings that are all talk and no action spring to mind. If meetings no longer feel an important part of work, we need to look at why that might be – and what better time to do an early spring clean of your meetings schedule than now?
Here are 4 dark corners to delve into as part of your 2023 meetings overhaul.
One of the not so good things to come from the recent past is the impact virtual working has had on the way we communicate with each other. The pandemic paved the way for a meetings epidemic and most people’s meeting load has gone up. Despite the many gains of a more flexible approach to work, it’s harder to be spontaneous and informal and suddenly everything is a transaction aka a meeting. Let’s start to pare them down a bit. Is everything best served by a meeting? Could it be call, an email exchange or an agreement to catch up next time you’re both/all in the same location. Even if you agree to cut out one regular meeting, or find another way to get the agenda covered, it will make a difference.
It’s simple, there should be one. If meetings are work, they need to achieve something. Next time you get together, make item 1 on the list a chance to agree or renew the purpose. What are you getting together for and what will happen as a result? Actions don’t need to overwhelm everyone but there should be some. Connection and relationship development is a purpose for meeting but there probably needs a secondary reason too, for the event being in people’s diary. Renewing your meeting purpose is surprisingly energising and focusses people’s minds on why they are there and why there’s nowhere else they’d rather be. That might be pushing it a bit but you get the idea. And if no one can come up with or agree on a purpose, refer to point 1. above.
This is all about getting the right people around the table. Apparently, Jeff Bezos has a rule no meeting should be so large that two pizzas can’t feed the whole group. Clearly that depends on people’s appetites but it is often a case of the larger the meeting, the less that gets done. Everyone at your meetings should be a full participant, able to contribute and take away actions. Whilst you may get the odd guest, regular observers rarely add value. You want the meeting to be viewed as a positive part of everyone’s working day, not just useful to the person who leads it. Consider your attendee list and whether it needs revising. You may find you add rather than subtract which can bring a new energy to the proceedings. Just make sure they don’t eat more than their share of the pizza.
Were you brought up to keep your elbows off the table, chew with your mouth closed and tip your soup bowl away from you? We’re a bit more informal these days but manners still matter and we’ve forgotten some of ours at meetings. A simple rule to apply is, if you wouldn’t do it in the room, don’t do it on the screen. Agreeing some ground rules for meetings sounds a bit stern yet shows respect for everyone’s time and works well if they are agreed and decided by the group not an individual. One of our clients uses a set of meeting roles – parts that people take on to ensure the meeting runs well. As well as the meeting leader, there is a timekeeper, a scribe and a gatekeeper (makes sure everyone has their say and equal chance to input). And the roles rotate so no one gets stuck in a rut. They also review the effectiveness of the meeting with a final “how did we do?” agenda item. It’s brief but effective and it works for them. It might work for you too.
This is less about resolutions (usually fail) or revolutions (a bit full on for January) and more about making a few small changes. Maybe we should stop calling them meetings and start calling them workings.
On 4th November we were 25 years old. How did that happen?? In some ways, it seems like a few months ago that we started our consultancy but when we think about it, a lot has happened in our little world of Learning and Development (admittedly not as much as has happened in the wider world even in the last year!)
To mark our 25 years as a leadership and team development consultancy, we gave our thoughts last month, on some of the L&D trends we’ve seen since 1997 and the impact they had. In part 2 of this article, we’ll attempt a bit of crystal ball gazing, looking forward to what the next quarter century may bring to the workplace and the impact it could have on learning and development.
Here are 3 emerging trends, that we think are ones to watch.
Falling off the cliff
We live in interesting times. The concept of the “Talent Cliff” – a phenomenon where organisations lose employees at a rapid rate is not a new one but it is taking on a new meaning in 2022. The largest workforce in recent history is due to retire before the decade is out. Clearly, we didn’t get that memo. Lots of others did though and a workplace already struggling with gaps as people re-evaluate and make changes post-pandemic, is going to get gappier. The solution, we think, puts learning and development at its heart. Employers need to think about opportunities to keep people for longer and attract people to join and stay. Of course, decent pay and benefits play their part. Writer and speaker Dan Pink encourages us to: “Pay people properly and treat them with respect and you get the issue off the table, leaving them free to concentrate on what matters”. The key message here is to provide chances to grow, develop and stay interested. If you lead a team, now is a great time to think about what you can do to minimise the impact of a potential landslide.
Flat is the new shape
Hierarchies have been around forever. They help us know our place in the line, shine clarity on roles and responsibilities and give us something to aspire to. They appeal to those motivated to climb the ladder and advance to the dizzy heights of senior leadership. We don’t predict leadership lines disappearing but we do think the world is going to get flatter. Organisations now are all about collaboration, consultation and breaking down the dreaded siloes. That is out of step with complicated hierarchies. Matrix systems where we all have a range of responsibilities, dotted lines and internal clients are becoming the norm. We all want autonomy – to have a say in the what/when/where/how of our day. To achieve this, we need freedom to act and make decisions for ourselves whilst feeling like what we do connects to something bigger. In decades to come we believe structures will be much flatter and freer with good process in place to ensure everyone is clear without having to check in with a manager all the time. Let’s get well prepared for it now by ensuring we feel comfortable to delegate and share responsibility with great comms in place to avoid confusion. Complex hierarchies are on the out so don’t make a mountain when a molehill will do.
Gen Z calling the shots
Disclaimer: In this section we will make a few generalisations. We find all that is written on the Generations utterly fascinating. It informs the way we work and live, how we sell to customers, gain trust with clients and has a lot to teach us about how we lead future teams and individuals. As proud Generation Xers, we know how to work hard and play hard. We embraced technology, put in long hours, socialised at work and juggled (not to mention struggled) our way up the career ladder. We hid our tattoos and our piercings. Okay, some of us did. Behind us came Generation Y (also referred to as Millennials) and some new expectations. If you fall in to that generation or you manage someone who does, you will know different things are valued. For Gen Y it is about purpose not profit, work life balance rather than bank balance and output not hours. They want to be paid properly by an employer who enables and provides opportunities for growth.
That may describe the now, but this is a blog about the future. What of the generation entering work at the moment? Generation Z. These are our future shapers and leaders so what do they want? They’re digital natives, that’s a given – and it means they expect the right tools for the job; they want to work with cutting-edge technology so consider where you make your investments. Gen Zs are in to ethics and sustainability. They choose where they work, not just based on the job and conditions. They want to know what you are doing to give back and what your policies are on how you work responsibly. Interestingly, they value both flexibility and face to face interaction. Flexibility is an expectation so ignore it at your peril, but they also want connection; to be more than suppliers of work, they want to be colleagues. Consider how you can create an environment where Gen Zs can thrive, develop and become our next generation of leaders in this ever-changing world. And what of the group coming up behind them, named Generation Alpha? Given that as of now, the oldest they can be is 12 we’ll save our views on them for a future discussion.
Don’t be concerned if you consider your characteristics, wants and needs don’t fit with the generation your birthday assigned you (as per our disclaimer, we made some generalisations). The point is, we need to continue to listen to what team members want from work and from their employer, if we are to keep and nurture talent.
So, there you have it and thank you for gazing in to the future with us. What did you think of our predications and do they match yours? In the end none of us really knows what the next 25 years will bring. How could we (unless we are Bill Gates apparently) have ever predicted what happened in just the last few years?! What we are sure of is that things change and we will need to evolve to survive and thrive in the future. And we hope to be around for many more great conversations with you where we put the world to rights and with any luck, make it a better place.
On 4th November we will be 25 years old. How did that happen?? In some ways, it seems like a few months ago that we started our consultancy but when we think about it, a lot has happened in our little world of Learning and Development (admittedly not as much as has happened in the wider world even in the last year!)
To mark our 25 years as a leadership and team development consultancy, here are our thoughts on some of the L&D trends we’ve seen since 1997 and what impact they’ve had. In part 2 of this article next month, we’ll do a bit of crystal ball gazing, looking forward to what the next quarter century may bring in training and learning.
We’ve seen quite a few comings and goings in the last 25 years. Here are 4 trends that came but didn’t go.
Coaching first began as a profession in the 1970s (and no, we weren’t old enough to do it then) although it was referenced way back in the 1800s in university settings. It really started to gain traction in the late 80s/early 90s and many said it was a fad that wouldn’t last. Fast-forward 30+ years and it’s clear that coaching is here to stay. Organisations steeped in the “sheep-dip” mass group training approach baulked at spending money on one individual’s development – until it became clear this sort of targeted learning led to better, faster and more impactful results. Coaching can provide a unique forum for a person to learn, think things through and solve problems. John Whitmore, a leading figure in the field describes it as “unlocking people’s potential to maximise performance”. Whether you are a coach helping to unlock that potential or you’ve been coached and had a few lightbulb moments, you’ll be aware of its impact. Possibly the greatest value that coaching brings is quite simply time to think and reflect, with someone who asks powerful questions and then gets out of your way. In “Time to Think”, Nancy Kline says “A statement requires you to obey, a question requires you to think.” Long live coaching!
First of all, let’s knock the name on the head. Soft skills? They are anything but. But 25 years ago, that was what we called any non-technical training or learning relating to people skills. Back then it was seen as a luxury, an add-on. Now it is the difference that makes the difference. Whether you consider yourself a people person or someone who prefers minimal contact with other humans, certain skills are always on trend. In 1999 we invested in a relationship with a company called Insights Learning and Development and started to use their behavioural tools. 23 years on our relationship is as strong as ever and their tools have helped us help others to gain self-awareness, awareness of others and a route to better relationships with colleagues. The ability to listen actively, get your point across, engage with others, converse, share and adapt to deal with a range of different people – these things aren’t soft, they’re essential to our survival. So invest as much in them as your technical skills and you won’t go far wrong.
We set up as a training company. We ran courses and workshops. Then clients started to seek us out to steer their teams through a complex meeting, suggest ways to discuss and explore a contentious issue or hold the reins at a series of away days. Actually, there weren’t that many away days back in 1997 and we certainly hadn’t heard of “off-sites” – but we have now! The idea that the leader doesn’t have to lead everything and in fact shouldn’t chair everything is one of the reasons why using facilitators has become popular. At first some leaders were a little reluctant. Would it look like they were abdicating their role? Giving up control? But good facilitation isn’t leading and it definitely isn’t controlling. It requires an unbiased approach, sensitivity and diplomacy, a sharp sense of timing and more than a little creativity. If done right, it frees those in charge to be contributors and to fully involve themselves without having to run the room. It also gives teams exposure to innovative ways to explore, discuss and take action. The role of facilitator kept us on our toes then and still does now. It is said that a good facilitator doesn’t just guide the discussion, they also encourage the group to have the conversations that need to be had to get to a better place. PS – we still run courses. Facilitation is an “and” not an “or”.
Back in the early 90s, we had a colleague who worked in IT for a company who conducted all their training in Los Angeles. Based in the UK he would regularly jet over for weeks of courses. It was the norm then. Nowadays less so, to protect our budgets and our planet. But even 25 years ago, everything we offered as a consultancy, was delivered in a room. It’s hard to imagine now, but back then, if you didn’t get there you missed out. The word “hybrid” was only used to describe different species or varieties of plant or animal. Then saw the arrival of online learning. It was a bit clunky and dry at first but as new tools came on the market, it became a real alternative to in-room learning events. Now it is part and parcel of the way we all work and in the periods of lockdown during the Pandemic, it came in to its own. Now that we’ve been let out again, we can be more discerning. There’s nothing quite like the warm body experience for some learning. We know what works better with us physically together – including relationship-based learning and team coaching and what can work well with us apart – like general skills and knowledge updates. It’s a great addition to the world of learning and you save a fortune on work shoes – win/win.
Next month we’ll suggest some future trends for learning and development. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy (and giggle at) a picture of us in the 1990s which proves that it’s not just L&D that evolves…
During a recent coaching session, a senior manager, newly appointed as leader to the team they used to manage, asked for help on building credibility. They had no issue with team members in non-technical roles. The ones in more technical jobs, however, felt what made a leader credible was how much they knew about the jobs of their team and whether they could do those jobs as well. We discussed if that was relevant to leadership or not, and how, if you find yourself leading in a field you know less about, it can have its advantages. You can’t show how clever you are at the work, so you put your energy in to being a good leader and driving others to achieve great things.
Bill Gates said: “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” He was talking about the century we’re in and he’s right. To be a good leader, sometimes you have to stop trying to be the best at everything.
Leaders come in different shapes and sizes. Some rise up the ranks through their technical abilities. They are good at the work so that earns them promotion. Some enter through a different route. They are good at leading teams and managing projects and are able to apply those skills in a range of settings. Neither one is better; it just is what it is. You can’t help what you don’t know and you can’t unlearn what you do know, but you can make the best of either situation and avoid the inevitable traps.
So for leaders and managers who are experts in the work of the people in the team:
And for leaders who didn’t take the technical route:
We coach leaders and managers at all levels. Whatever route has got you to where you are now, we’ll commit to helping you use your knowledge and skill – your cleverness - to be the kind of leader people want to have around.
The year is flying by, isn’t it? Someone stole January, February disappeared in a cloud of smoke and next week will see the start of April. Organisations like yours are juggling a busy workload with all the fun and games of adapting to new ways of working, mainly where we all work post-pandemic. Hybrid working trials have taken place and now we’re trying to bed in longer-term patterns.
This isn’t working out as well as everyone hoped. It is really difficult to keep all of us happy on the subject of location. Some were and still are champing at the bit to get back in to a shared working space. Others are less keen, preferring working remotely. Business needs must be met but no one wants an unhappy team.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. We are great proponents of remote working. And we should know – we’ve done it for 3 plus decades. You get more done in less time without hours and money spent getting to and fro. When it is combined with the kind of job that involves some out and about activity and no lockdowns, it’s a recipe for a happy work and life. And it is how we are positioning the out and about element we may be getting wrong right now.
We keep talking about location – where that should be, keep the office, lose the office, convert to a shared work space. Two days a week in, weekly ratios of 3:2, everyone in on Wednesdays, no more than two teams in at the same time and so on. It’s an emotive discussion and understandably, hard to get people to agree.
So, let’s change the narrative and start talking about why - not where we want to meet up. We want to meet up for connection. We don’t need to be together to plug in and sit silently side by side doing our individual work. We can do that anywhere that has the necessary resources.
We do want to be together for connection. This might include any or all of the following:
When you look at it like that, it’s less about rules and more about reasons. We aren’t “coming into the office”, we’re meeting to discuss, relate, learn and get better. And whilst that may involve an office or agreed meeting place, we’re doing it because it makes sense, not because the policy says you have to be in X days a week.
We are meeting to do what is better done in person. Over the last two years, that was stolen from us and whilst we all coped admirably, there was a cost. Not to work output but to – and here’s the word again – connection.
So, the key message here is – stop talking location and start talking connection. It will help you work out when it makes good sense to bring people to a shared space and when it doesn’t. Involve others in that conversation because you aren’t talking about the where, you’re talking about the why. People always react better when they feel listened to and are encouraged to input to something that makes sense to them. This makes sense. And with any luck, cooperation will follow.
Imagine you are driving a car with a passenger beside you. In the back are a bunch of people laughing, mucking about and munching on snacks. In the front, your face is grim. You can see the road ahead and it doesn't look good. Black clouds are coming over and you have an uneasy feeling that you are lost. You catch a sideways look from your passenger and realise they see it all too. The noise from the back and the seemingly carefree behaviour is beginning to grate on you. Can't they see the challenges ahead? Why don't they help? Why is it always you who has to sort everything?
We use this analogy to describe what happens when senior managers don't communicate with the rest of the team. Challenges and problems are not shared with those in the back seat who are kept in the dark about the road ahead.
This often results in a feeling of "them and us", which is probably one of the top unproductive behaviours in organisations. When push comes to shove, it weakens an organisation. Have you ever tried to restructure a region, close a service, implement a new CRM system or introduce a new procedure? How did it go? If it went smoothly, you probably don't have a" them and us" issue. A change led well is a beautiful thing full of communication, honesty, transparency and a feeling of being in it together. If those changes went badly, is it because no one knew why, it came out of the blue and no one knew things needed sorting out? Was there a privacy screen between you in the front and them in the back?
We work with teams at all levels of organisations and watch out for the "them and us" syndrome. Here are some ways we can spot it:
How do you turn this around? By inviting the people in the back seat to lean over the front seat and see the road ahead, the black clouds, the map and how lost you are. Once they know they can help, you are still accountable, but harnessing everyone's skills will make sure you get to your destination successfully. You create understanding and that brings creativity and teamwork.
What does this look like?
Gripping the steering wheel of your car and not sharing the burden is a lonely place to be. You have a wealth of talent in that back seat who can help shape and transform anything in your organisation. So, look after yourself, pull over before you feel tired and lean over the back seat, grab one of those snacks and join in the fun of teamwork.
During a recent coaching session, a CEO admitted that when he headed up an Engineering firm he was a great engineer, but as a leader he was a pain in the neck. Too much nit picking and not enough enabling. He just couldn’t resist getting stuck into the work of others and what was intended to be helpful was received as interfering. When he then went onto a role leading an organisation in a totally different field – a field he knew nothing about – he had no choice but to lead. He couldn’t do the work of the people below him, so his role was clearly defined: to put energy in to leading and managing the organisation and its people to achieve better things.
This year has taken the skill of backing off to a whole new level. Without having people under our noses, we couldn’t engage in close contact managing (for that, read meddling in some cases) so we had to learn to trust and enable. Now that we are entering our next phase of working, which for many is shaping up as a mix of office and remote working, it is time to take yourself by the scruff of the neck to avoid unlearning the good habits the pandemic forced us to embrace. Let it go, let it go…
It helps to remember what got you to this point. Did you rise up the ranks due to your technical abilities? You were so good at the work it earned you a promotion. Or perhaps you entered through a different route. You were good at leading teams and managing projects and able to apply those skills in a range of settings. Neither route is better; it just is what it is. You can’t help what you don’t know, and you can’t unlearn what you do know, but you can make the best of either situation and avoid the inevitable management traps.
So, for leaders and managers who are experts in the work of the people in the team:
And for leaders who didn’t take the technical route:
Whichever route has got you to where you are now, make a commitment to using your knowledge and skill to be the kind of leader people want to have around. Meddling is so 2019.
When we ask a group of leaders about the best leader they ever had, they tell us about the one who supported, stretched and believed in them. It is never a leader who gave great speeches, spun awful news, or kept them in the dark. At the root of the relationship, with their favoured leaders was trust. A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
Think about who you listen to through this pandemic. Chris Whitty is our choice. He is knowledgeable, consistent, and human. He can speak to us straight; have our back and wants us to avoid the virus. Not a whiff of hot air from Professor Witty.
How do we get to the nirvana of a trusted leader? Let's explore its four elements.
Credibility – you know what you are talking about, you know what you don't know, and you treat those with less expertise with respect. You speak with an air of authority, not superiority and never trip people up with your knowledge.
Reliability –doing what you promised. It includes being on time. We worked with a team whose leader was always late to sessions. His team were resigned to it. What they really thought was, "why can't he get up earlier, be more organised and show us some respect by being here on time?". It undermined so many of his great attributes and was so simple to fix.
Intimacy – do not panic, this isn't about any weird exercises or confessions. It is about your people feeling psychologically safe with you and valued for their differences. We recently coached a young woman who was terrified of public speaking. Her last boss often ridiculed her when she presented, delighting in any mistakes. It had a profound effect on her and was holding her back. Who wants to be that boss? Needless to say, she didn't trust her boss as far as she could throw her.
Self-orientation – this is the secret sauce. High self-orientation is to be avoided. It is all about you – how you are coming across, feel today, and how this is all impacting you. You have to be managed; an email is sent round every morning by reception warning everyone of your mood. Instead of spending energy working, your people are steering you around the hurdles like a toddler.
Low self-orientation is the aim. You are okay with yourself, so use your energy to grow fabulous people and to make sure everyone achieves. Yes, deep down, you allow yourself a little smile of satisfaction when someone in your team is impressive, nails the pitch or gets promoted. You deserve a quiet moment of reflection on being a trusted leader and what that does for the team.
Finally, a few ideas for you around trust.
Another question we ask groups we work with is about who has influenced them. Mothers are top of the list way above David Beckham and the Queen. We like to think our children would mention us if asked that question.
Aim to be the leader your team members name when we ask them who is the best leader they ever had.
"Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people", Stephen Covey.
"Several times lately, I have finished my work, closed the laptop and sat staring out of the window of my spare room office worrying that I don't have the answers. That my team are looking to me for guidance about the future…and I simply don't know."
A genuine, honest reflection from one of our clients. He is an impressive and successful leader. He has gravitas, is trusted and a great coach to his senior reports. He is also highly intuitive, with an innate ability to be a pioneering visionary who can then work with others to ground that vision into reality. And yet, he is stuck. He still has his instincts, yet with the world, in flux, he is finding it hard to convince his team to go with him because they need more tangible evidence to ground his ideas.
He is leading from his gut because he thinks that's the only way to respond to the unknown. If in doubt, follow your instincts.
It is an exciting area of leadership and one that, perhaps, has been overlooked in a world that can access evidence, stats and data at the swipe of a screen. Making decisions on gut instinct might be making a comeback, it could come back into fashion and for many leaders, it never went away.
Agile thinking is a crucial leadership skill. We work with teams to help them widen their abilities in this area to impact decisions, problem-solving and prioritising. If you unpack it there are five facets:
Systems thinking – investigating an issue from a broad perspective to understand the interdependencies
Possibility thinking – to be open-minded and generate a wide range of possibilities, the classic brainstorm
Logical analysis – to reach valid conclusions using clear, rational logic
Evidence-based thinking – identify core issues by analysing evidence from relevant resources
The fifth one is gut-feel judgement – relying on your gut instincts to provide valuable input for decisions.
Richard Branson says, "I rely far more on gut instinct than researching huge amounts of statistics", and he's not done too badly.
Most of us use all or a few of them combined. Yet in this world of unknowns, your instincts may need to be more finely tuned. It isn't easy to find evidence and interdependencies if we have never been in this situation before. Rational logic needs something tangible to test it against, the world feels pretty nebulous at the moment. Being open-minded looks like a good option yet can get stifled because the possibilities are almost endless.
Think about letting your instincts run free:
You have a wide range of experience so even if you think gut feel is not reliable or scientific in there somewhere will be sound judgement.
As Anderson Cooper (US journalist and writer) observes, "You do what's in your gut – if you've been doing it long enough, what's in your gut will be appropriate".
Next time you find yourself staring out of your home office window, let your thoughts wander, don't evaluate them or crush any ideas that come to you, it might be that your gut is trying to tell you something.