Victoria Sakal 🏴’s Post

Consider all angles before making a decision

Being evidence-based isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a commitment to making informed decisions that drive success. But why should every organisation prioritise it? Our latest blog post written by Jack has the answers. https://lnkd.in/exVS_QXK #evaluation #prove #socialimpact

𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕆𝕦𝕥 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 1. Spending 1 hour daily reading one of the top 6 recommended books for consultants. 2. Jotting down the key takeaways. 3. Connecting all of them and making a story out of it. So, here's the first quick read of my way to explain to a newbie what the book, "The McKinsey Way" contains in a minute. McKinsey has a great way of attracting clients; it’s pretty much inbound for them all the time. This comes with a lot of hard work that they initially put in. They take up complex problems from a pool of problems that are brewing every second and try to break down one complex problem to its core to find the root cause. They spend enough time on research to find evidence which organically leads them to a hypothesis. They do this very smartly by identifying those 20% of the problem factors that cause 80% of the trouble and get 80% of the output from 20% of the efforts, as time is the most valuable resource. That being said, to make it easy for other smart people to understand in 20% of the time they have taken, they try to maximize the use of visualizing the data by charts and exhibits. By doing this, they internalize the problem inside out and build that clarity, by which they can explain the problem statement, the key drivers, and a hunch of the solution in 30 seconds. They do all this because they like playing long games and looking at the bigger picture, and by doing all these, they're grabbing the low-hanging fruits and hitting singles, as they are building that trust among their clients. #Consulting #McKinsey #BusinessStrategy #ProblemSolving #DataVisualization #Efficiency #TimeManagement #ProfessionalGrowth #BookSummary #LeadershipDevelopment #TheMckinseyWay

Our Managing Director, Jim Berling, shares his thoughts on #Insights -- what they are, how to find them, and how to best leverage them to impact business strategy: Explore more on this topic with Jim in our upcoming Writing & Presenting #MRX Reports seminar! #BurkeInstitute

Maybe you shouldn't become more data-driven. Why? Three reasons.... 1️⃣ You have a fear of growing your organization Becoming data-driven will show where opportunities are, highlight potential risks, and reveal efficiency gains that are waiting to be acted upon. That means that, if you are terrified that growing your revenue, profit, and efficiency will cause you and your team heartache pain, then stay far, far away from efforts to become more data-driven. 2️⃣ You are terrified of positive ROI Becoming data-driven, when done properly and well, returns a super-strong ROI. So if you prefer spending money that provides a negative ROI, and you enjoy spending money on things that don't "move the needle", then trying to become more data-driven is something you don't even want to consider. 3️⃣ You are completely satisfied with the status quo Efforts at being more data-driven always create positive change - when they are done properly. So, if changes to the status quo are anathema to you, please take a hard pass on becoming more data-driven. Which of these fears is holding you back? :) #businessintelligence #businessanalytics #accountantsandaccounting

Impact measurement is essential in today's business world. Understanding your business's effects on stakeholders, employees, communities, and the environment can help drive growth and build a positive reputation. Why Focus on Impact? Impact is becoming a priority for several reasons: 1) Transparency: Stakeholders demand clarity on value creation and distribution. 2) Value Shifts: Society prioritizes sustainability and social equity. 3) Technology: New tools improve impact tracking and reporting. 4) Regulation: Governments enforce stricter reporting requirements. How to Apply Impact Measurement in Business Here's how boards, CEOs, and executives can apply impact measurement: 1) Set Clear Impact Goals: o Define success beyond financials, including ESG metrics. o Example: Set goals to reduce carbon footprint, boost employee well-being, and engage communities. 2) Integrate Impact into Strategy: o Align impact goals with your mission and strategy. Ensure decisions consider stakeholder and environmental impacts. o Example: Integrate impact into product development and supply chain management. 3) Implement Robust Impact Accounting: o Use ESG, SROI, and triple bottom line accounting to measure and report impact. o Example: Retail companies can use SROI to evaluate community outreach benefits. 4) Conduct Regular Impact Assessments: o Periodically assess business activities using environmental and social impact assessments. o Example: Energy companies can conduct assessments before launching new projects. 5) Monitor and Evaluate Impact: o Establish ongoing monitoring and evaluation systems like logframe and theory-driven evaluation. o Example: Tech firms can use outcome harvesting to track training program effectiveness. 6) Foster a Learning Culture: o Encourage continuous improvement based on impact data. Use insights to drive innovation. o Example: Hold strategic learning sessions to review and improve impact data. 7) Communicate Impact Transparently: o Share impact results with stakeholders through reports and digital platforms. o Example: Publish annual reports on sustainability and social responsibility impact. Success and impact measurement differ among businesses, employees, and communities: o For Businesses: Success includes financial performance, market share, and shareholder value, enhanced by sustainability and social responsibility. o For Employees: Success involves job satisfaction, career development, and work-life balance, enriched by a positive work environment and social initiatives. o For Communities: Success means improved quality of life, economic opportunities, and environmental health, driven by CSR programs and community investments. By embracing impact measurement, business leaders in Aotearoa can create a sustainable, equitable future. Together, let's drive meaningful change now. Kia kaha. Kia māia. Kia manawanui!

Holding an hypothesis before testing can result in bias by anchoring on the answer suggested by your hypothesis. Anchoring is real, but having a hypothesis can advance your thinking rigorously: form and test hypotheses with a strong opinion, loosely held

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔 𝗛𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗧 … 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡 I was tagged by my good friend Jamie Robinson asking for my opinion when he replied to this article by a Jeff Winter … https://lnkd.in/genJcDZa … which partly quoted the McKinsey 70% stat as well as 3 others (Boston Consulting Group, Everest and Couchbase). Of course, I have an opinion Jamie, and quoted the excellent video on YouTube from David Wilkinson, Editor in Chief at the Oxford Business Review. My good friend Mark Green also chipped in with his usual musings. So what ensued was a bit of a tit-for-tat in the open forum and then suddenly the conversation was taken offline of which this is a synopsis: The Opening Shot (my comment in brackets) “First - you didn’t provide “imperial evidence” (I think he means empirical), just an 18-minute video done by one guy. Second - I have 3 other studies that say the same thing - and you can’t seem to explain or counter that. Since you’re the one saying I’m wrong, the burden is on you, not me. Either way, it doesn’t change my post if those stats are in there or not. So, what’s your point?” My Reply “Jeff, Why take it offline because it is of interest to the business community? Anyway ... Re "your didn’t provide “imperial evidence”, just an 18-minute video done by one guy" sure but with a host of research and proof. I have another academic paper written in 2011 by a Mark Hughes who was an Organisational Change Specialist (now retired) at the University of Brighton that comes up with the same answer. OK so the burden is on me to prove you wrong so give me time to follow the links you provided and I will publish my findings.” His Reply (my comments in brackets) “What point are you making? You’re just insulting me (no I wasn’t), my spices (not quite sure what that means) and arguing (was I?) and not proving any value (by providing evidence of the McKinsey myth I thought I was)” My Reply “I’m not trying to make any point just saying what I am going to do. I'll make my point once I've checked out the other articles.” His Reply “You’re only trying to prove a point, not have a healthy debate” End of exchange and next action I was blocked. I’m not quite sure exactly why. I may have been a bit curt but certainly not rude. Just as a matter of interest based on the comment exchange did I deserve to be blocked? The upshot is that because Jeff said “Since you’re the one saying I’m wrong, the burden is on you, not me” so I will consider taking up the challenge (I'm quite busy at the moment with training) but I won't be going down to the n’th of detail with it. If I do it, unfortunately, having blocked me, Jeff won’t be able to see what the results are. You never know they may have found in his favour which I will happily admit to if they do. #ronleeman #thehighwayofchange #changemanagement #changemanagementtraining 

A failure to build build confidence in a methodology runs the risk of truly innovative going head to head with a stakeholders gut feel. Here Leigh Caldwell discusses how you can get round the issue. https://hubs.ly/Q02wwrVR0

“Making High-Quality Decisions: A Practical Guide to Decision Analysis” starts January 29. Make sound decisions using the transformative field of decision analysis and learn to navigate decision-making challenges, avoid common pitfalls, and enhance your ability to make consequential choices. Learn more and enroll today: https://lnkd.in/ejCnmi77