In this article, I’d like to share with you more specific ideas on how to speed up your implementation approach through taking a multidisciplinary approach to planning.
I love doing a spin bike class at the gym. A spin bike has a flywheel at the back, a heavy wheel that stores rotational energy. It takes a bit of effort to get it going when you press down on the pedal, and then the wheel goes faster (and hopefully consumes more calories!) due to the energy it stores up.
In the same way, when you set up a program of change or any type of strategy initiative, it takes a bit of upfront planning.
The best way to approach planning is to gather a diverse, multidisciplinary team. Initially this can you feel like you’re slowing down while everyone has their input, but ultimately this type of planning helps you speed up implementation.
🌟 Here are 4 reasons why multidisciplinary skills improve planning 🌟
🔍 Diverse Perspectives: Multidisciplinary skills bring diverse viewpoints to the table, enabling you to approach planning from multiple angles, which is critical when conducting complex problem solving. In a McKinsey study (2020), 87% of executives agreed that multidisciplinary teams were more effective in solving complex problems.
🌐 Holistic Understanding: By drawing upon various disciplines, you gain a comprehensive understanding of project complexities, leading to more effective plans. Projects led by multidisciplinary teams had a 30% higher success rate in meeting project goals and objectives (Project Management Institute, 2019)
💡 Creative Problem-Solving: Multidisciplinary approaches break siloed thinking and challenge assumptions, enabling innovative ideas and unconventional solutions to complex problems. Li et al. (2020) found multidisciplinary skilled teams achieved a 25% higher rate of generating innovative ideas compared to specialized teams.
🚀 Collaboration and Synergy: Combining expertise from different fields fosters synergy, teamwork and engagement – this builds critical mass in support for your intuitive (more on this later).
Here are 3 things that will turbocharge your planning:
1. I encourage you to take the time to harness multidisciplinary skills to develop robust, innovative plans with strong engagement. “In a wicked (complex) world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous.” David Epstein, Author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
2. Boost the different opinions in planning by including some diverse people, and also generalists in your planning sessions, people that aren’t overly specialised. They will provide unique insights
3. Build multidisciplinary skills of your team – foster their interest in a broad range of content …….or invite them to sign up to Turbocharge Your Transformation membership where I go much deeper on all of this and build management-consulting-style problem solving skills sets and more.
Feel free to circulate this post to spread the importance of diversity in planning, and inspire others!
Together, let’s reduce the unacceptably high 78% failure rates of transformation.
Here’s to your transformation success.
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If you want more on this topic:
1. Get the playbook jam packed with templates, tips and examples.
2. Attend my LIVE Zoom masterclass
3. Join my group coaching session
This is all part of Turbocharge Your Transformation membership academy. You can join and pay by the month $99 USD, cancel anytime. Join here.
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About Lisa Carlin
As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbo-charge their business, cultural and digital transformation. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).
