A January 2024 Harvard Business Review article focused on problem-solving approaches and how those may evolve when situations change. An example given is of Miriam, founder and chief executive of an agriculture tech startup.
As someone who naturally solicits input from various people, Miriam gravitates toward maintaining a group of trusted advisors in discussing strategy and avoiding conflict when hard decisions must be made. Unfortunately and unusually, she found herself unable to bridge a serious communication gap with a fellow company founder, who wound up not answering messages or calls.
A key issue identified was that Miriam, a lab scientist who had never before inhabited a corporate role, was suddenly thrust into a CEO position. As she perceived it, this required that she shift from a “listener” orientation to a more assertive stance in driving business operations. As she put it, ”I felt I needed to move quickly and decisively because that’s what CEOs do.”
Upon reflection, Miriam realized that, in taking on a CEO role, she had neglected to create time or space for what actually drove her best decision-making process: collaborative, input-centered discussion. She was making all the decisions and encouraging team members, including a fellow founder, to operate independently on her orders.
When she reoriented her problem-solving approach, it was in the direction of regular meetings and communications, where team members could freely express ideas, which kept the operation collaboratively moving forward. Her conception of what a CEO was evolved to meet the decision-making and team-building approaches that worked for her and the specific organization best.
As someone who naturally solicits input from various people, Miriam gravitates toward maintaining a group of trusted advisors in discussing strategy and avoiding conflict when hard decisions must be made. Unfortunately and unusually, she found herself unable to bridge a serious communication gap with a fellow company founder, who wound up not answering messages or calls.
A key issue identified was that Miriam, a lab scientist who had never before inhabited a corporate role, was suddenly thrust into a CEO position. As she perceived it, this required that she shift from a “listener” orientation to a more assertive stance in driving business operations. As she put it, ”I felt I needed to move quickly and decisively because that’s what CEOs do.”
Upon reflection, Miriam realized that, in taking on a CEO role, she had neglected to create time or space for what actually drove her best decision-making process: collaborative, input-centered discussion. She was making all the decisions and encouraging team members, including a fellow founder, to operate independently on her orders.
When she reoriented her problem-solving approach, it was in the direction of regular meetings and communications, where team members could freely express ideas, which kept the operation collaboratively moving forward. Her conception of what a CEO was evolved to meet the decision-making and team-building approaches that worked for her and the specific organization best.