Get rid of the “can’t because” mentality

While engaging with clients at eatbigfish, I come across many organizations stuck in a “can’t because” mindset. This results in problems going unsolved, growing larger and more intractable over time. The “can’t because” mindset is extremely detrimental to progress – it removes the oxygen needed for ideas to emerge and the flow needed for solutions to flourish. While we are all guilty of this thinking at times, the cost of this long-term mindset for an organization that wants to thrive is too severe to ignore.

Let’s explore some signs that your organization is at risk of “can’t because” thinking:

Path Dependence

When organizations fall into the trap of “we’ve always done it this way” or “category best practices,” these practices become “proven practices,” then “corporate preferred practices,” until they become fixed behaviors. This limits the organization’s ability to learn, adapt, and grow.

Prioritize process over schedule

While process is important, over-reliance on process to get answers can stifle the agile creativity that is so critical to challengers. Progress is the permission and ability to move forward, the ability to solve problems, build, and iterate to find answers.

Lack of gaming culture

Play might not look like playing ping-pong with coworkers (we don’t all work at Google). Play might look like taking a walk or changing the scene — anything to disrupt the status quo and spark experimentation.

Delayed route to market

Long periods of inactivity reduce an organization’s voice and relevance. This is often caused by waiting for perfection before launching, rather than taking a test, learn, and iterate approach.

High employee turnover

Fixed cultural systems reject new ideas and people who don’t fit the “local way of doing things.” This resistance to change makes it difficult to retain talent and create a dynamic work environment.

As you can see, traditional thinking, bureaucracy, and fear of failure can often become ingrained in company culture, especially in a “command and control” environment where people have limited autonomy in making decisions and owning results. Effective leaders create an environment where it’s safe for people to ask smart and naive questions, share ideas across departments, and encourage risk-taking and learning from failure. They foster a culture of sharing and cross-pollinating ideas within and across business units. For any organization looking to grow and challenge the status quo, it’s dangerous if employees are more afraid of making mistakes or failing than thinking differently and exploring opportunities.For leaders who want to get the best performance from their teams, it’s important to measure and incentivize desired behaviors—because the truth is, what you reward (or don’t reward) is what you get.

So what are the alternatives to the “can’t because” stance that humans often default to? While there is no step-by-step guide, I can offer some helpful principles and approaches to get you started on this journey.

Unified Faith

Organize everyone’s efforts around a unified belief that will serve as a beacon to illuminate the way forward.

Driving Questions

Start with the right question (what we call a driving question) as a catalyst to find the right answer. A driving question combines big ambitions with big constraints, driving more creative solutions. For example, one of Audi’s driving questions was “How can we win Le Mans (ambition) without our car being faster than other cars (constraint)?” This is the exact opposite of blue sky thinking because it brings constraints into the ideation process, driving more creative solutions.

“We can, if…”

We use a handy tool called a “Can-What-If Diagram” that helps stimulate multiple prompts and thought paths to answer driving questions. Can we, if we work with…; Can we, if we think of this as…; Can we, if we replace y with x…” These prompts themselves can unlock and stimulate new thinking because they help to shake teams out of complacent, path-dependent thinking.

Agility and innovation

In entrenched organizations, it is sometimes helpful to create dedicated agile and innovation spaces that give businesses the power and freedom to think differently, unencumbered by bureaucracy. A great example is retail giant TFG, which created TFG Labs, a technology center with more than 100 employees, with the goal of transforming TFG into a high-tech omnichannel retailer.

cooperate

Collaborate widely and frequently, taking a foundational rather than a departmental approach to ideation and solution finding. When we worked with Albany to reposition their brand, they invited non-marketing and non-manufacturing people to participate in the discussion.

Redefining category boundaries

Challenge yourself to keep learning and push the boundaries of the category. For example, Innocent Drinks intentionally sees itself as number two in the category, which allows them to continually redefine boundaries and drive the category forward through innovation.

Changing the pervasive “we can’t because…” culture is not easy, but it is important. By applying some of these principles and tools, a new way of thinking can be achieved. Perhaps the most powerful tool, even on a personal level, is to change your language and challenge yourself to say “we can if…” more often. There is a lot of potential on the other side of this sentence. For more information, visit www.eatbigfish.com