Envisioning Approach. PERSONIFIED BY Carl Sagan

People with a bias toward this approach are creative and have a big-picture perspective. They seek complete solutions to long-term problems and favor the use of subjective information and personal views in decision making. They have a keen interest in envisioning alternative conditions or states. They seek something larger than the best solution; they seek universal truth, preferably one that has not been seen before. They like outcomes that are consistent with their visions and seek to adjust their visions and/or the processes to keep them aligned. They tend to be most sensitive to human and systems issues and are concerned about longer-term problems. They have a high tolerance for ambiguity. They can quickly recognize patterns across seemingly unrelated elements.

Those biased toward an Envisioning approach scan the horizon for opportunities and threats and can see possibilities that are often not apparent to others. They are creative in finding answers to problems and can easily visualize future alternatives and consequences. They tend to make a decision first and then gather information to support or challenge that decision. They then modify their decision based on a review of that information. They repeat this trial-and-error cycle to refine their decisions and plans. They are intuitive in their priority setting and decision making. The strength of those biased toward the Envisioning approach is the ability to see and have confidence in relevant options that are not widely recognized as being valid or worthwhile. They tend to excel at creative and innovative decision making.

People favoring this approach tend to be motivated by praise and recognition. They value independence and dislike following rules. At times, others view them as being perfectionists, even fanatically so regarding issues related to their visions. Communication with them is open and wide-ranging. These leaders can be heard to say, “Let’s take a step back and look at this from a different perspective.”

Under stress, they become erratic as they search for solutions. The "approach advisory" includes a tendency to look for new solutions when current ones are sufficient, to rely too much on their own intuition, and to be erratic on issues that do not engage their interest. Also, they tend to struggle in the execution of their visions. This can be seen in a “Concept Execution Anxiety” condition when the reality of what is being executed falls short of the vision that inspired the action.

General example: You are stuck in traffic and wonder if there is a way to alleviate it, go around it, or go under it (much as Elon Musk did prior to starting the Boring Company).

Investment example: You alone must create an estimate of economic conditions for 24 months from now for the US.

Person: Carl Sagan, famed astrophysicist and astrobiologist. He extrapolated from scientific knowns to paint a vivid image of an alternate reality. He encouraged people to look beyond their current conditions and consider the Cosmos.

Management Priorities and Practices Associated with Envisioning Approach

Organizational Structure: They prefer to have flexible organizational structures that adjust to current priorities by drawing on resources from across the enterprise.

Methods of Control: Those biased toward the Envisioning approach prefer loose controls such as a loyalty-inspiring vision, cultural priorities, and broad goals. They are willing to share power.

Reporting and Communication: They prefer verbal over written reports.

Move to Decision Making: They feel comfortable proceeding to a decision when an innovation or innovative way of looking at a problem has been identified and articulated.

Process Character: They prefer flexible processes.

Motivational Techniques: People favoring this approach tend to motivate others through their compelling vision, the opportunity to participate, and by offering general future benefits.

Habits of Effective Envisioning Managers

One can improve skills in using this approach by doing the following:

<> Make extra effort to take a step back from a problem and look at it from a different perspective

<> Consciously emphasize future conditions in the work you do

<> Brainstorm alone and with others

<> Investigate the novel and atypical options for solving a problem

<> Search for and address problems related to inflexibility and a failure to scan the horizon for opportunities

<> Search for and address problems related to the integration of systems and those related to marrying technology and human processes

Helping Entrepreneurs Take Growth to the Next Level

Envisioning Approach. PERSONIFIED BY Carl Sagan

Cookie Policy