Test
Your
Strategy

How to become better in “seeing”

Expose yourself to a wide set of diverse experience:

• Read widely not just content closely associated with your work
• Ask questions and listen rather than trying to come up with answers to questions you wonder about quickly.
• Talk to people who see the world very differently from you.

Work on your pattern recognition capabilities:

• Write down observations related to your work and ask what keeps recurring when you do well
• Look for anomalies. Something unusual or apparently irrelevant may signal a new opportunity.

Image the consequences of weak signals:

• Ask a simple question: “What if this continues?” and imagine the consequences

To learn more about how to become great in seeing, read Chapter 1 in the book.

How to “experiment” successfully

There are different ways to experiment. To figure out which form of experimentation is best for you, use the following decision tree.

To learn more about these different forms of experimentation, check out Chapter 2 in our book.

How to become better in “influencing”

Become a broker to build connections that help you to shape world in your favour:

• When you start building relationships, don’t start to wonder “what’s in it for you”. Ask how you can help others
• A great starting point is common interests and activities.

Cultivate pragmatism:

• Break grand plans into small steps. Identify immediate constraints and solve them before moving on to the next step.
• Think carefully who you need to persuade of your plans and what it takes to get them on board.

Package your idea as a story:

• A compelling story is a lot more memorable and persuasive than dry facts
• Make sure your repeat your story again and again

To learn more about how to become great in influencing, read Chapter 3 in the book.

How to become better in “creating”

Unleash Your Imagination:

• Idleness is your ally here. Reserve time for reflection instead of filling up your schedule with tasks.
• Allow yourself to (day)dream. New experiences, information and actual dreams can become an inspiration for new ideas.

Embrace Ignorance

• If you know all the obstacles that come your way, you might never start. Start without worrying about details too much.
• When setbacks occur – which is unavoidable – keep on going. Focus on what you can change, step-by-step
• Ignore naysayers and keep your focus, but take constructive criticism into account.

Use Storytelling

• Keep your story simple, personal and emotional. That’s a lot more effective than facts and figures.
• Make others part of your story. If they see a meaningful part for themselves, they are much more likely to become allies
• Practise telling story again and again.

To learn more about how to become great in creating, read Chapter 4 in the book.