| Managing
Dilemmas
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A critical organizational competency
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“A visionary company doesn’t seek to balance
between short-term and long-term. It seeks to do very well in the short
term and very well in the long term… it doesn’t simply balance
between a tightly held core ideology and stimulating vigorous change and
movement; it does both to an extreme….Rare? Yes. Difficult? Absolutely.
But as F. Scott Fitzgerald pointed out, ‘The test of a first-rate
intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the
same time and still retain the ability to function.,’ This is exactly
what the visionary companies are able to do.”
--Built to Last, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras |
CONSULTING ON DILEMMAS
If unmanaged dilemmas
are creating problems in your organization, we would be delighted
to consult with you to develop the understanding and skills needed
in your organization to manage dilemmas for competitive advantage.
Contact us at Geoff
Ball & Associates |
DILEMMA DEFINED
A dilemma is a pair of apparently contradictory
goals BOTH of which are valuable to the organization. These goals are
in tension – moving one goal up (up in terms of quality of outcome)
tends to move the other goal down and visa-versa. Managing Dilemmas focuses
on on-going approaches that maximize the benefits of both sides of a dilemma
while minimizing the drawbacks of pursuing either side alone.
We've created two short videos to make Dilemmas come to
life. (see next column) People often say after watching the videos
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"Oh that's what you mean. Why we face dilemmas
all the time in our business."
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DILEMMAS VIDEOS
Our "Dilemmas Ignored then Recognized" video shows
the consequences of NOT recognizing a dilemma on the first day - and,
consequently, not managing it well - followed by the meeting the next
day at which the dilemma is recognized. (7 minute video)
Downloads:
Windows version
of 'Dilemmas Ignored then Recognized' (11megs)
Quicktime
'Dilemmas Ignored then Recognized' Video Download (22Megs)
(The quicktime player for Windows is available at Quicktime
Players. Both the MAC and Windows videos are fairly large - you
may want to allow them to download in the background - or they may
start right
up if you have a DSL connection - try them both - see which works best.)
We have a second longer (25 minute) video -- Dilemmas
Worked. This video shows this same team working on their dilemma and
gaining enough value so that they agree to spend a full work session
on it. It illustrates tools that are helpful in managing dilemmas well
for competitive advantage.
Both videos are available on one CD-Rom for Windows and Macintosh
for $25. These videos are suitable for showing to a group via a data
projector.
The CD-Rom also includes the Dilemmas Paper. Please contact us at Geoff
Ball & Associates to request your copy.
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More Resources on Dilemmas
We also have prepared a paper on Dilemmas that
goes into some of the details and suggests effective ways to manage
dilemmas.
Download our Dilemmas
paper.
See also this paper on Nine
Dilemmas Leaders Face, which was written by Thomas Stewart
to define the dilemmas of management at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
as they prepared to open their
Edenic leadership center for managers and employees.
And be sure to stop by Jerry
Talley's Problem Solving 2.0 website.
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Dilemmas, when
well managed, are a major organizational strength.
Dilemmas, when
poorly managed, are a major source of organizational conflict.
Watch what happens when dilemmas exist but are not recognized. Watch
the video |
