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In everyday life, you know that the first idea you think of to meet a need, or address a problem, may not always the best one. But when it comes to running a firm, far too many advisors never go through a proper brainstorming process to determine which option may be the best one for their firm.
Think about the typical process that an advisor might go through to accomplish something to which they aspire if left to their own devices. First they would identify the goal – they might say, “I want to grow my business.” Then they would most likely move quickly to coming up with a way to accomplish the goal, such as “I need a new brochure” or “I need to hire a business development person.” They would then set out immediately to put this solution in place.
What’s the problem with the typical approach? It doesn’t allow for the thoughtful planning necessary to generate creative ideas and account for all of the factors that might prevent success. Consider the many things you would like to put in place at your firm, or within your individual practice, that never seem to get done – or things that get done but do not work out the way you would like. If this is the case for your advisory firm, review your goal-setting and goal-achievement planning approach and see how closely it maps to the process outlined in this series of articles.
The fourth stage in the S.H.I.F.T. Model for Success™ is uncovering alternative solutions available to you for reaching your desired outcome. Let’s take a minute to recap the process to date – the first step is to (S)pecify clearly your desired outcome, which means you outline in detail what success will look like to you once you achieve it. Second is to (H)ighlight and categorize past or expected obstacles that might stand in your way, and third is to (I)dentify the human element such as personal behavioral style, emotions, stakeholders, etc.
At the fourth stage, where the advisor begins to identify his or her alternatives, there is an important first step to take – developing personal and business criteria for choosing a solution to implement. This involves creating a list of what’s important to you and prioritizing those things before considering the different options.
For example, a group of advisors we worked with wanted to implement a plan to motivate their employees more effectively. They were clear about what success looked like, understood the obstacles and the impact of the human factor, and they were ready to begin to implement new ideas – like many people, they just wanted to act!
