Full Transcript for Elevating the Internal Advisor Mindset: From Reactive to Strategic

crucial because it changes how you 77 00:03:59,790 --> 00:04:01,550 approach every interaction. 78 00:04:01,950 --> 00:04:04,710 Instead of just responding to requests, you start thinking about 79 00:04:04,710 --> 00:04:05,870 the bigger picture. 80 00:04:06,430 --> 00:04:08,350 What's really driving this request? 81 00:04:08,810 --> 00:04:12,690 What does success look like for the person that's asking, how 82 00:04:12,690 --> 00:04:16,730 can you add a little bit more value than they're expecting? 83 00:04:17,210 --> 00:04:21,210 And this shift from reactive to strategic thinking distinguishes 84 00:04:21,210 --> 00:04:24,690 high impact internal advisors from those who remain confined to 85 00:04:24,690 --> 00:04:27,850 purely functional or transactional roles. 86 00:04:27,850 --> 00:04:31,970 And as Ian mentioned, we have a model for this role evolution, 87 00:04:31,970 --> 00:04:33,930 the Strategic partner pyramid. 88 00:04:35,140 --> 00:04:38,220 Mike, I love this and I love the fact that you and I can't remember 89 00:04:38,220 --> 00:04:39,940 where it came from exactly. 90 00:04:40,340 --> 00:04:42,940 I was saying before we started the show, didn't you work on this? 91 00:04:42,940 --> 00:04:44,740 And you were saying, no, no, yeah, I think this was you. 92 00:04:44,740 --> 00:04:48,900 It began life somewhere probably as a doodle on somebody's 93 00:04:48,900 --> 00:04:51,860 notebook somewhere or on a flip chart or on a post it note somewhere. 94 00:04:52,580 --> 00:04:55,580 And it's a pyramid that has three levels and you know the kind 95 00:04:55,580 --> 00:04:58,540 of thing, why there's a base level and a mid level and then the 96 00:04:58,540 --> 00:05:00,660 pointy bit at the top, the kind of nirvana level. 97 00:05:01,430 --> 00:05:04,190 And the pyramid is a really good analogy for this because it 98 00:05:04,190 --> 00:05:08,310 implies progress as you go up, but it also reminds us that the whole 99 00:05:08,310 --> 00:05:11,270 thing collapses if we don't have the foundation as well. 100 00:05:11,430 --> 00:05:13,550 So we're going to talk about these three different levels of value 101 00:05:13,550 --> 00:05:17,269 creation, each one, like I said, building on the previous one. 102 00:05:17,350 --> 00:05:20,590 And we found it really useful for our clients and our coaches to 103 00:05:20,590 --> 00:05:23,590 help them use this as a roadmap for professional development 104 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:26,310 as individuals or as teams. 105 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,240 And as well as being that kind of general framework, it's also useful 106 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,960 as a diagnostic for assessing where you currently are and what 107 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,280 might it mean to go to the next level. 108 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:40,800 So, Mike, I'm going to try and build the foundations here. 109 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:45,280 It turns out that, you know, besides WI fi and oxygen and all 110 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:47,080 the other things that are necessary for human life. 111 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,280 There is a base level of professional interaction, and the 112 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:52,480 base level is just answering the question. 113 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,080 People come to us with questions and we do our best to answer 114 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:56,240 them. 115 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,200 And if this is you, then you're probably valued for the expertise 116 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:00,720 that you bring. 117 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,440 Just answering the question doesn't mean that you're junior or 118 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,000 that your work is inconsequential because answering 119 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,919 a question requires technical knowledge. 120 00:06:08,919 --> 00:06:10,640 It requires attention to detail. 121 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,640 If this is you, then your role probably revolves around responding, 122 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,880 responding to somebody else's inquiries, responding to the need 123 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:22,140 to collect and and analyze data, being good at summarizing work 124 00:06:22,140 --> 00:06:25,620 and being precise and accurate and careful about how you summarize. 125 00:06:25,780 --> 00:06:30,260 This work is necessary and it's valued, but it's at the base 126 00:06:30,260 --> 00:06:30,500 level. 127 00:06:30,500 --> 00:06:33,940 And that means that it's reactive rather than strategic. 128 00:06:34,820 --> 00:06:37,660 Mike, I was thinking about who have I seen who does this and when 129 00:06:37,660 --> 00:06:38,820 have I seen it in myself? 130 00:06:38,900 --> 00:06:41,660 I think people who work at this level are necessarily good at 131 00:06:41,660 --> 00:06:44,660 what they do because as we said already, they're producing accurate 132 00:06:44,660 --> 00:06:47,290 reports and it's reliable and it's valid and. 133 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:52,160 But the downside of sticking at this level is that you tend only 134 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:54,600 to accept requests at face value. 135 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,720 You don't tend to question underlying assumptions. 136 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:58,800 You don't tend to ask much about context. 137 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,880 And we're going to get into context a lot, right. 138 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:02,240 As we get up the pyramid here. 139 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,760 People who are good at this level of operating can deliver what's 140 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,000 asked for without challenging whether it's actually needed. 141 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,840 It's not wrong, it's not inadequate, it's just a foundational 142 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:14,640 level of work. 143 00:07:15,290 --> 00:07:19,090 Every internal advisor needs this competency of being able to 144 00:07:19,090 --> 00:07:21,370 understand a question and answer it directly. 145 00:07:21,930 --> 00:07:26,570 The challenge comes when professionals get so focused on just 146 00:07:26,570

--> 00:07:30,170 delivering accurate answers, even if they're very high value, 147 00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:35,050 very kind of esoteric answers, that they miss opportunities to add 148 00:07:35,130 --> 00:07:38,170 even more value and also I think, therefore to get even more 149 00:07:38,170 --> 00:07:38,490 back. 150 00:07:38,810 --> 00:07:42,090 So, Mike, we've talked about the good things and the slightly, 151 00:07:42,810 --> 00:07:45,290 the limiting things about the foundational level. 152 00:07:45,370 --> 00:07:47,110 What's on level two? 153 00:07:47,510 --> 00:07:51,110 Yeah, Ian, I'm just reminded as I was listening to you talk through 154 00:07:51,270 --> 00:07:56,550 the foundational level of Scott Alldack, who was my first partner 155 00:07:56,550 --> 00:08:00,590 that I ever worked directly for, and he actually handed out a 156 00:08:00,590 --> 00:08:04,870 little cartoon for us all to pin on our walls or take with us 157 00:08:04,870 --> 00:08:10,590 wherever we were working, of somebody's car with a star shaped 158 00:08:10,590 --> 00:08:13,590 hole in the windscreen on the windshield, as we would say. 159 00:08:13,590 --> 00:08:15,870 I know the cartoon you right, exactly. 160 00:08:15,870 --> 00:08:19,570 And the question is can you cut a piece of GL glass to fit this 161 00:08:19,570 --> 00:08:19,970 hole? 162 00:08:20,050 --> 00:08:22,130 The answer was of course, yes. 163 00:08:22,450 --> 00:08:25,010 But that's your point, you know, foundational. 164 00:08:25,010 --> 00:08:26,010 Yes, that's it. 165 00:08:26,010 --> 00:08:28,890 Well, there's a better answer, you know, we shouldn't try to fit 166 00:08:28,890 --> 00:08:30,450 a star shaped piece of glass. 167 00:08:30,530 --> 00:08:32,930 While we can do that, that's not the best thing. 168 00:08:33,010 --> 00:08:37,490 It'd be better if we can move up a level to understanding the problem. 169 00:08:38,050 --> 00:08:40,730 And that was, he was trying to remind us all the time to say, no, 170 00:08:40,730 --> 00:08:41,490 no, no, no, no. 171 00:08:41,490 --> 00:08:44,930 The problem is bigger than can you cut a star shaped piece of glass? 172 00:08:45,410 --> 00:08:50,150 So at the middle level, you know, you add greater value by contextualizing 173 00:08:50,150 --> 00:08:53,390 the request and reframing them, you know, making sure that 174 00:08:53,390 --> 00:08:58,390 you're addressing core issues, pulling out the assumptions, targeting 175 00:08:58,390 --> 00:09:00,350 specific problems or opportunities. 176 00:09:00,350 --> 00:09:02,150 What are we really trying to do here? 177 00:09:02,550 --> 00:09:07,350 And you use judgment and experience, yours, your teams, even 178 00:09:07,590 --> 00:09:11,670 the person that is coming to you, the request, to move beyond 179 00:09:11,830 --> 00:09:17,120 merely delivering answers or information to offering up synthesized 180 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,120 and actionable insights. 181 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,320 Boy, that's where we

want to get to here. 182 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,240 If we can put it in a broader context, ensure that the real problem 183 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,680 is identified and addressed, that we understand perhaps what decision 184 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,240 the person's trying to make when they've made that request, perhaps 185 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,600 what constraints they're working under, what success means 186 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:40,040 for them. 187 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,660 Well, when we do this again and again ourselves, our team, the 188 00:09:44,660 --> 00:09:49,500 people we work with, we can see many more patterns across requests 189 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:53,500 and we can start connecting dots that others might miss. 190 00:09:53,660 --> 00:09:58,820 And that's where in doing this, we're really adding value all 191 00:09:58,820 --> 00:09:59,340 the way around. 192 00:09:59,340 --> 00:10:03,740 And we start to demonstrate that internal advisor mindset. 193 00:10:03,820 --> 00:10:07,100 And if you're doing this really well, as you said, foundational, 194 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:08,540 we can do this better and better. 195 00:10:09,020 --> 00:10:11,100 Next level, we can do this better and better. 196 00:10:11,340 --> 00:10:12,610 Now let's get to that point. 197 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:15,080 Pointy bit at the top, right? 198 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,920 So we've done the base level, we've done the mid level of understanding 199 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:21,400 the problem a bit more carefully. 200 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:27,480 At the top level is the level where we're actually provoking new 201 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:28,040 thinking. 202 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,440 So we're absolutely not being reactive, but we're going out to 203 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,040 our colleagues and our stakeholders and our internal customers 204 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,480 and saying, hold on a second, I might have noticed something here. 205 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:38,120 Maybe this is worth taking a look at. 206 00:10:38,690 --> 00:10:41,570 And at this level, you're valued not only for your expertise, 207 00:10:41,890 --> 00:10:45,730 but for your ability to bring a fresh perspective, to use an overused 208 00:10:45,730 --> 00:10:49,530 word, like a strategic perspective, which means that you 209 00:10:49,530 --> 00:10:52,210 get seen as somebody who brings their experience and uses 210 00:10:52,210 --> 00:10:52,690 it well. 211 00:10:52,770 --> 00:10:56,250 You're savvy, you're a collaborative thought partner, in 212 00:10:56,250 --> 00:10:59,730 the right moment, you can challenge conventional thinking and 213 00:10:59,730 --> 00:11:02,210 inspire people to try new things, to innovate. 214 00:11:02,210 --> 00:11:05,570 And that is where you get lasting value from expertise. 215 00:11:05,970 --> 00:11:09,130 I think answering technical questions over and over again, in 216 00:11:09,130 --> 00:11:11,610 the end, the value of that starts

to decay away. 217 00:11:11,610 --> 00:11:13,810 The real value of somebody who's got technical knowledge is 218 00:11:13,810 --> 00:11:16,610 when they can say, hey, I think something new is going on here. 219 00:11:16,690 --> 00:11:17,890 Let's take a look at it. 220 00:11:18,690 --> 00:11:21,810 That means being able to anticipate a little bit finding and 221 00:11:21,810 --> 00:11:24,530 earning the right to take a moment to say, hey, I have something 222 00:11:24,610 --> 00:11:27,850 new here to articulate and identify opportunities that other 223 00:11:27,850 --> 00:11:31,050 people might have missed to help shape the questions that the 224 00:11:31,050 --> 00:11:32,290 organization should be asking. 225 00:11:32,990 --> 00:11:36,270 So to go back to the question thing, base level, answer the question, 226 00:11:36,990 --> 00:11:39,990 mid level, understand the context behind the question and reframe 227 00:11:39,990 --> 00:11:45,390 it, top level, bring a whole new question and challenge things 228 00:11:45,550 --> 00:11:46,430 constructively. 229 00:11:47,310 --> 00:11:51,630 This level is about being the kind of internal advisor who is also 230 00:11:51,630 --> 00:11:55,950 a really true strategic partner who influences direction 231 00:11:56,350 --> 00:11:57,870 rather than just responds to it. 232 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:03,280 And I think it's worth taking a moment here to think about what 233 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:04,640 it takes to want that. 234 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,440 I think lots of people start out, especially in a career, whether 235 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:12,600 you're in a technocracy and you and your expertise and your training 236 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,240 are valued because of the technical attributes that you have. 237 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,440 It's sometimes easy to feel that you don't want to bring a new 238 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:21,280 idea that that is somehow somebody else's job. 239 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:23,080 And we're going to get into that in a second. 240 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,280 But I think you've used this phrase a few times, Mike. 241 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,680 Having the right answer and making the answer right, like making 242 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:34,720 it right for the organization and right for the situation, is a 243 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:36,920 really valuable thing for us to aspire to. 244 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,360 Yeah, Ian, I absolutely agree with you there. 245 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:40,519 I mean, it's both. 246 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,880 Sometimes we think about strategic thinking as like coming 247 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:45,480 up with the right strategy. 248 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,240 And that is great, you know, having the right answer sometimes, 249 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:50,930 look, the answer's already been made. 250 00:12:50,930 --> 00:12:52,290 We're committed on a path. 251 00:12:52,530 --> 00:12:54,050 How do we make that work? 252 00:12:55,170 -->

00:12:57,970 Maybe if we had it to do over again, we would do it differently. 253 00:12:58,210 --> 00:13:02,370 So also making the answer right, all of this, that collaboration 254 00:13:02,370 --> 00:13:06,370 with these different stakeholders to do this is so important. 255 00:13:06,850 --> 00:13:09,490 But you and I, this all makes sense. 256 00:13:09,730 --> 00:13:12,650 But we've worked with a lot of these people at a lot of different 257 00:13:12,650 --> 00:13:16,090 organizations and kinds of organizations, and some people get 258 00:13:16,090 --> 00:13:19,630 stymied at up at a foundational level, perhaps at a 259 00:13:19,630 --> 00:13:20,110 mid level. 260 00:13:20,350 --> 00:13:23,510 What are the kinds of things that we've seen that stop people 261 00:13:23,510 --> 00:13:26,830 from wanting to move up the pyramid or being able to work at 262 00:13:26,830 --> 00:13:28,750 multiple levels of the pyramid. 263 00:13:28,990 --> 00:13:32,830 Well, I think one of the basic things is feeling unsure. 264 00:13:33,389 --> 00:13:36,150 When we're sure that our technical and scientific expertise 265 00:13:36,150 --> 00:13:38,710 is what's got us there, it's very easy to think that that should 266 00:13:38,710 --> 00:13:39,870 be what will keep us there. 267 00:13:40,590 --> 00:13:43,550 So feeling unsure about straying outside of our lane, outside 268 00:13:43,550 --> 00:13:45,300 of our area of expertise. 269 00:13:45,380 --> 00:13:48,220 You know, I'm a, I'm a clinical operations person and I 270 00:13:48,220 --> 00:13:51,300 shouldn't stray into epidemiology or I'm an IT security 271 00:13:51,300 --> 00:13:51,700 person. 272 00:13:51,700 --> 00:13:54,940 I shouldn't stray into the realm of, I don't know, user interface 273 00:13:54,940 --> 00:13:55,220 design. 274 00:13:56,660 --> 00:14:02,140 But I think that overcoming that uncertainty about straying out 275 00:14:02,140 --> 00:14:04,340 of your expertise is a really important part of this. 276 00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:07,580 And seeing yourself in your role in a new way is an important 277 00:14:07,580 --> 00:14:11,340 part of getting out of that kind of stymied feeling that you 278 00:14:11,340 --> 00:14:11,860 talked about. 279 00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:16,090 If we get there, then I think we feel differently about ourselves. 280 00:14:16,090 --> 00:14:19,330 Rather than feeling like order takers with little participation 281 00:14:19,330 --> 00:14:21,970 in the process, we get to feel like we have a bigger picture and 282 00:14:21,970 --> 00:14:24,090 we're bringing a bigger picture perspective. 283 00:14:24,170 --> 00:14:27,450 And maybe also we're bringing our expertise earlier on in the process. 284 00:14:27,930 --> 00:14:31,130 Many, many times I've heard smart, well qualified people say, 285 00:14:31,370 --> 00:14:34,210 ah, if only you'd asked me earlier on if you'd involved me, 286 00:14:34,210 --> 00:14:35,770 I could have given you better advice. 287 00:14:36,010 --> 00:14:37,090 Wow, okay. 288 00:14:37,090 --> 00:14:39,890 That's a challenge on us as well, to bring a perspective that 289 00:14:39,890 --> 00:14:42,090 gets us involved earlier in the process. 290 00:14:43,530 --> 00:14:48,010 And Mike, sticking with this idea of the fear of trying something 291 00:14:48,010 --> 00:14:51,770 new, I think that people in this situation might not realize 292 00:14:51,770 --> 00:14:55,850 that there's value being lost, that continuing to do the things 293 00:14:55,850 --> 00:15:00,330 the way that we've always been doing them, this transactional, somebody 294 00:15:00,330 --> 00:15:04,130 asks a question and we answer it method, that we're losing value 295 00:15:04,130 --> 00:15:07,950 there, that we get held back by a limited vision of what's possible. 296 00:15:08,350 --> 00:15:11,910 And in the end, when organizations stagnate and businesses 297 00:15:11,910 --> 00:15:14,670 start to lose their edge, I think that's often one of the sources 298 00:15:14,750 --> 00:15:16,430 of where the stagnation comes from. 299 00:15:17,470 --> 00:15:20,310 And then finally your question was, what's stopping us? 300 00:15:20,310 --> 00:15:22,910 I've focused on ourselves. 301 00:15:22,990 --> 00:15:25,390 Let's talk about the people that we're responding to as well. 302 00:15:25,470 --> 00:15:28,430 I think it's also sometimes about the perception of the person 303 00:15:28,590 --> 00:15:30,030 who's asking for work. 304 00:15:30,430 --> 00:15:34,550 They might not understand much about the value that the answerer, 305 00:15:34,550 --> 00:15:37,200 that is to say you, is capable of providing. 306 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,360 And with a bit more context and a bit more collaboration, they 307 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,280 might be able to think the opportunity, think the problem or 308 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,200 opportunity through more clearly together. 309 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,840 So what's stopping us is, I don't think it's expertise. 310 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:51,160 I don't think it's access to data. 311 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,200 I think it's different people's perspectives of who should 312 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,440 be answering what question and who should be bringing the new ideas. 313 00:15:58,000 --> 00:15:59,360 Yeah, I agree with you. 314 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:07,440 I think so many times people also don't value the, the questions 315 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:08,120 of the brand new. 316 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,640 People who've walked in those naive things that all of a sudden 317 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,160 cut right through all of our assumptions. 318 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,520 Those people who don't realize that, oh, the answer to this question 319 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:22,520 is always more or it's always north that say, well, why couldn't 320 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:23,160 it be this? 321 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,360 And sometimes it's those people who've got that long history 322 00:16:26,440 -->

00:16:29,080 that realize, oh my God, the world has moved on. 323 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,120 And sometimes it's a naive question that realizes that. 324 00:16:32,890 --> 00:16:35,130 I guess it's always been that because we've always done it this 325 00:16:35,130 --> 00:16:36,650 way or we hadn't thought about it. 326 00:16:36,730 --> 00:16:38,810 So yeah, I love that. 327 00:16:38,890 --> 00:16:41,530 How we stop ourselves, right? 328 00:16:41,530 --> 00:16:43,730 And there's an interesting challenge for us if we should all 329 00:16:43,730 --> 00:16:45,610 be better at asking the naive questions. 330 00:16:45,930 --> 00:16:48,530 I think we feel a bit of pride and a bit of anxiety about that. 331 00:16:48,530 --> 00:16:50,890 Aren't I going to look stupid if I ask the naive question? 332 00:16:51,850 --> 00:16:55,650 Am I not going to annoy my internal customers who would just 333 00:16:55,650 --> 00:16:57,290 like me to answer the darn question? 334 00:16:57,530 --> 00:17:00,010 If I keep pushing back and keep reframing the question? 335 00:17:00,010 --> 00:17:03,420 Am I not just making my life more difficult and my stakeholders 336 00:17:03,420 --> 00:17:04,420 more unhappy here? 337 00:17:04,580 --> 00:17:06,420 Yeah, I think that's exactly right. 338 00:17:06,580 --> 00:17:09,460 So many people are like, you know, that's not what they want. 339 00:17:09,540 --> 00:17:11,060 That's not what they expect to be. 340 00:17:11,060 --> 00:17:13,780 You know, it's that stay in the lane and they're thinking there. 341 00:17:14,020 --> 00:17:17,060 And you know, in our experience that, you know, the people 342 00:17:17,220 --> 00:17:21,140 who bring the answers to the question, that work is still being 343 00:17:21,140 --> 00:17:21,540 done. 344 00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:25,980 Moving up the pyramid means that you actually get a lot more 345 00:17:25,980 --> 00:17:29,149 efficient at doing that and a lot more efficient, effective at 346 00:17:29,149 --> 00:17:29,869 doing that. 347 00:17:29,949 --> 00:17:32,589 You know, you start to build in things like automation, process 348 00:17:32,589 --> 00:17:34,349 standardization, delegation. 349 00:17:34,349 --> 00:17:39,789 You also get more used to developing that by getting a little 350 00:17:39,789 --> 00:17:42,349 bit above that, just that foundational level. 351 00:17:42,829 --> 00:17:48,469 And that we as the answerers and the people who are doing the 352 00:17:48,469 --> 00:17:53,309 asking to us also learn to ask more interesting questions along 353 00:17:53,469 --> 00:17:54,109 the way. 354 00:17:54,349 --> 00:17:58,870 And like you said, sometimes that's the people coming to us asking 355 00:17:58,870 --> 00:18:02,510 bester questions, sometimes that's us asking better questions, 356 00:18:02,670 --> 00:18:06,790 which may frustrate some of our internal customers who haven't 357 00:18:06,790 --> 00:18:09,310 seen or participated in what's impossible. 358 00:18:09,950 --> 00:18:13,510 But our increased efficiency and efficacy helps to make up for 359 00:18:13,510 --> 00:18:13,790 that. 360 00:18:14,030 --> 00:18:18,270 Plus, what we found in so many organization is Nothing succeeds 361 00:18:18,270 --> 00:18:18,910 like success. 362 00:18:19,470 --> 00:18:23,710 All of a sudden our group or ourselves or one of us has had a 363 00:18:23,710 --> 00:18:27,880 big breakthrough, and then other people who are the people who 364 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,640 typically come to our team or us, go, well, why am I not getting 365 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:32,040 that? 366 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,040 Actually, because of some of the stuff that's been going on with 367 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,640 this stakeholder that doesn't go on between you and me. 368 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,400 So we're trying to work. 369 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,840 We're trying to develop people, we're trying ourselves to 370 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,600 work at multiple levels of the pyramid, whichever is required for 371 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,800 this situation, and developing the capabilities and relationships 372 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:52,040 to do that here. 373 00:18:53,380 --> 00:18:55,900 So this doesn't mean labeling yourself as a pain in the ass for 374 00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:56,620 asking questions. 375 00:18:56,620 --> 00:18:59,100 This means turning yourself into a successful pain in the ass. 376 00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:01,100 And a successful pain in the ass is not a pain in the ass. 377 00:19:01,100 --> 00:19:01,780 They're a leader. 378 00:19:01,940 --> 00:19:03,300 Maybe a maverick, but a leader. 379 00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:04,020 Yeah. 380 00:19:04,020 --> 00:19:04,740 And not thinking. 381 00:19:04,740 --> 00:19:07,500 I can only answer questions that I know the answer to. 382 00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:10,580 This is not a lawyer asking a witness a question on the stand. 383 00:19:10,820 --> 00:19:14,020 Some of it's just being curious, and that's great. 384 00:19:14,100 --> 00:19:17,540 I mean, some of the best people who, you know, it's not that 385 00:19:17,540 --> 00:19:19,300 I'm going to think of what that answer is. 386 00:19:19,300 --> 00:19:23,740 It's that person that's coming to me to ask, has this in their mind. 387 00:19:23,740 --> 00:19:26,680 I'm just, just helping them to bring that out or to communicate 388 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:27,080 it to me. 389 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:28,560 They may already have that figured out. 390 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,440 But me knowing that is going to help put me in a better position 391 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:31,920 here. 392 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:32,640 Yeah. 393 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:38,520 So, Mike, another objection that I've heard is people say to 394 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,000 us, I'm junior. 395 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,120 Like, I'm early in my career or I'm early in this particular professional 396 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:43,920 stage of my life. 397 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:48,040 And

this internal advisor elevating up the pyramid stuff seems 398 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,840 to me like it's the territory of senior people or subject matter 399 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:53,920 experts or pushy extroverts. 400 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:58,280 And I think this perception that it's not my job or that it's 401 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,400 for somebody else is a big hurdle, especially in big matrix 402 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,880 organizations like pharma companies, like banks, like certain 403 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:09,280 kinds of tech companies, where we are encouraged in some respects 404 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,200 to stay in our lane. 405 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:12,720 What do you think about that? 406 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:13,680 It's interesting. 407 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,640 I mean, how much individual and team development actually happens 408 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:18,280 on the job. 409 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:19,840 80%, 90%. 410 00:20:20,530 --> 00:20:24,210 Some of the organizations that I've known, probably 99%. 411 00:20:24,290 --> 00:20:31,130 It's pretty much swim or sink, but the strategic pyramid and this 412 00:20:31,130 --> 00:20:35,810 approach makes this development much more intentional. 413 00:20:35,890 --> 00:20:39,410 Look at the career path of most folks working at that foundational 414 00:20:39,410 --> 00:20:41,330 level of asking questions. 415 00:20:41,490 --> 00:20:47,250 At the very least, this kind of thinking really dramatically increases 416 00:20:47,250 --> 00:20:51,410 the Rate of speed at which those individuals get up to proficiency 417 00:20:51,810 --> 00:20:55,410 and are starting to really add value back to the people that they 418 00:20:55,410 --> 00:21:00,010 answer questions for it also by doing it across a team increases 419 00:21:00,010 --> 00:21:02,690 the team's effectiveness and efficiency. 420 00:21:03,330 --> 00:21:10,530 So I think that's, you know, that really says juniors are particularly 421 00:21:10,530 --> 00:21:14,810 appropriate for this because we don't want them sitting on the 422 00:21:14,810 --> 00:21:18,610 back burner for a year until they can really be effective. 423 00:21:18,930 --> 00:21:23,400 And by doing this as a way of life in our groups, we're bringing 424 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,920 everybody up to speed quicker with this contextual thinking and 425 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:27,240 that. 426 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:32,040 But now we'll say that not everybody that's asking the questions, 427 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,120 you know, are all the same. 428 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,360 Sometimes there's some, it depends here. 429 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,120 So yeah, some of the folks might have that you're a junior, 430 00:21:40,120 --> 00:21:43,800 you know, if I, if I want you to help me understand what I think, 431 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:44,760 I'll tell you. 432 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:47,960 But we'll come back to it depends in a minute here. 433 00:21:48,820 --> 00:21:53,060 So, Ian, we've talked about the concept of the pyramid and potential 434 00:21:53,060 --> 00:21:55,140 benefits from moving up the pyramid. 435 00:21:55,540 --> 00:21:58,620 How can our listeners get started if some of this is ringing 436 00:21:58,620 --> 00:22:01,220 like that might be a possibility in my position? 437 00:22:02,420 --> 00:22:05,340 I think the first thing to do, I think in our introduction we called 438 00:22:05,340 --> 00:22:06,420 this taking inventory. 439 00:22:07,140 --> 00:22:10,260 A good first step is to take a look at the work you're doing and 440 00:22:10,260 --> 00:22:13,260 look at it from the perspective of how far up the pyramid 441 00:22:13,260 --> 00:22:14,410 am I already. 442 00:22:14,730 --> 00:22:18,770 Because I think you might be doing more advisory, more consultative 443 00:22:18,770 --> 00:22:21,050 work than you already think. 444 00:22:21,370 --> 00:22:24,730 You're probably functioning as an internal advisor or an internal 445 00:22:24,730 --> 00:22:28,290 consultant any time that you are helping your colleagues think 446 00:22:28,290 --> 00:22:29,050 through problems. 447 00:22:29,370 --> 00:22:32,850 Anytime you're providing recommendations beyond just handing 448 00:22:32,850 --> 00:22:36,570 over data, anytime you're getting asked for your opinion on 449 00:22:36,570 --> 00:22:38,490 decisions and execution of decisions. 450 00:22:38,970 --> 00:22:41,610 So we're sitting here, Mike, It's July, it's coming up to the 451 00:22:41,610 --> 00:22:43,210 summertime, people are going on vacation. 452 00:22:43,290 --> 00:22:45,770 It's the time for the kind of mid year reflection. 453 00:22:46,150 --> 00:22:49,590 Maybe this is a good time to do a little bit of an inventory, 454 00:22:50,150 --> 00:22:51,750 take a look at the work that you're doing. 455 00:22:51,910 --> 00:22:55,550 Common signs that you're already doing advisory or consultative 456 00:22:55,550 --> 00:22:59,710 work include being somehow the go to person for certain kinds of 457 00:22:59,710 --> 00:23:00,230 decisions. 458 00:23:00,710 --> 00:23:04,830 People coming unannounced to seek your perspective on challenges 459 00:23:04,830 --> 00:23:07,390 that lie outside your formal job description. 460 00:23:07,390 --> 00:23:10,510 But where you're known already to have some qualifications and some 461 00:23:10,510 --> 00:23:11,030 expertise. 462 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,040 It might be that you're finding yourself in meetings where 463 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,520 you're helping others think through issues rather than just reporting 464 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:17,840 information. 465 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,080 And I think taking a moment to step outside yourself and spot those 466 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:22,880 is really key. 467 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:26,720 Become a bit more intentional about how you Approach them so that 468 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,480 instead of just responding to requests, we start

thinking about 469 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,520 the broader context and how you can add strategic value. 470 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,840 So I think the first step is taking a look at the work and spotting 471 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,510 the exciting opportunities for. 472 00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:43,220 For extending your consultative or your advisory mindset. 473 00:23:43,220 --> 00:23:43,500 Here. 474 00:23:43,660 --> 00:23:48,380 We've got some exercises coming later to do with practicing 475 00:23:48,380 --> 00:23:49,900 the skill and the mindset itself. 476 00:23:50,060 --> 00:23:52,860 But, Mike, I think that's where we should start with recognizing 477 00:23:52,860 --> 00:23:55,420 the consultative nature of the work that we're doing right now. 478 00:23:55,579 --> 00:23:56,140 Yeah. 479 00:23:56,140 --> 00:23:59,260 And if you're looking at that and say, well, that's not me, but 480 00:23:59,260 --> 00:24:02,860 that's other people in my group, that could be you. 481 00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:06,020 And so I think that's another thing to say, yep, there are people 482 00:24:06,020 --> 00:24:07,980 in my group that do that, and we're in there. 483 00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:10,500 They perhaps have been doing this longer, or they do it differently, 484 00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:13,470 or they do it with certain other stakeholders. 485 00:24:13,470 --> 00:24:15,590 But that doesn't work that way with our stakeholders. 486 00:24:15,590 --> 00:24:18,830 Ah, these are some great areas of opportunity. 487 00:24:19,070 --> 00:24:22,150 Now, we always remember that the person we're providing answers 488 00:24:22,150 --> 00:24:27,070 to has a great deal of context knowledge from their domain and experience, 489 00:24:27,710 --> 00:24:30,190 but they may not have shared that with you. 490 00:24:30,270 --> 00:24:33,550 They may not have realized that could be really helpful to you 491 00:24:33,550 --> 00:24:35,070 doing an even better job. 492 00:24:35,230 --> 00:24:38,910 You having a better idea of what's the target that you're shooting 493 00:24:38,910 --> 00:24:39,230 for. 494 00:25:38,226 --> 00:25:40,546 You know all about the data and the analytics. 495 00:25:40,546 --> 00:25:43,406 You know all about how you do certain things in your function. 496 00:25:43,406 --> 00:25:46,286 But what is it that they're really trying to get to? 497 00:25:46,686 --> 00:25:52,846 But you also have a lot of knowledge and experience and context 498 00:25:52,926 --> 00:25:58,566 information from inside your team and your team's domain that's 499 00:25:58,566 --> 00:26:00,046 going to be very helpful to them. 500 00:26:00,366 --> 00:26:03,646 So if you're doing, for example, contracting, that person 501 00:26:03,646 --> 00:26:07,646 does contracting every once in a while for something that might 502 00:26:07,646 --> 00:26:09,166 be a commercial partner of yours. 503 00:26:09,566 --> 00:26:13,206 Your team does contracting every minute of every day in lots 504 00:26:13,206 --> 00:26:14,446 of different situations. 505 00:26:14,846 --> 00:26:17,966 So you can be learning from that as well. 506 00:26:18,446 --> 00:26:21,246 Now, this, we keep talking about context knowledge. 507 00:26:21,406 --> 00:26:26,446 Context knowledge is the stuff that makes you say it depends. 508 00:26:26,766 --> 00:26:31,606 It makes you recognize that there's often not one best answer, 509 00:26:31,606 --> 00:26:36,166 not one golden nugget silver bullet to all situations, but that 510 00:26:36,166 --> 00:26:40,846 in any one situation, not all answers are equally good for that 511 00:26:40,846 --> 00:26:41,236 situation. 512 00:26:42,426 --> 00:26:45,986 So if in answering the question, you find yourself saying 513 00:26:45,986 --> 00:26:50,786 it depends, whether that's out loud or in your mind a lot, that's 514 00:26:50,786 --> 00:26:51,386 awesome. 515 00:26:52,186 --> 00:26:53,386 You're our kind of person. 516 00:26:53,626 --> 00:26:57,625 If you don't find yourself saying it, then you should pay especially 517 00:26:57,946 --> 00:27:01,266 close attention to this episode, because that's the way the 518 00:27:01,266 --> 00:27:01,866 world is. 519 00:27:02,266 --> 00:27:02,746 Yeah. 520 00:27:02,826 --> 00:27:08,876 So be aware of how you know how that context knowledge is shared 521 00:27:08,876 --> 00:27:12,156 with other people in your team, how that context knowledge 522 00:27:12,156 --> 00:27:16,116 is shared with other people in your network, how that context knowledge 523 00:27:16,116 --> 00:27:20,436 is shared with the stakeholders that depend on you or 524 00:27:20,436 --> 00:27:23,076 that you work with to serve other stakeholders. 525 00:27:23,236 --> 00:27:27,236 And as a result, a lot of that context knowledge is available to 526 00:27:27,236 --> 00:27:28,276 everybody already. 527 00:27:28,996 --> 00:27:32,236 We just have to focus on it and those kinds of questions and 528 00:27:32,236 --> 00:27:37,336 what we're talking about here and is what gets that out and upfront 529 00:27:37,336 --> 00:27:38,656 and really adding value. 530 00:27:38,976 --> 00:27:43,416 So, Ian, we're focusing a lot on the benefits of this internal 531 00:27:43,416 --> 00:27:46,936 advisor mindset to the person making the request, the person that 532 00:27:46,936 --> 00:27:47,456 came to us. 533 00:27:47,456 --> 00:27:49,776 What about to the benefits of our listeners here? 534 00:27:49,776 --> 00:27:53,536 The benefits to the person who are fielding the requests, who have 535 00:27:53,536 --> 00:27:57,136 up to this point, primarily been providing answers. 536 00:27:58,016 --> 00:28:01,816 I think this is another reason why it's good to take a moment to 537 00:28:01,816 --> 00:28:05,456 reflect on which of the many possible benefits is playing the 538 00:28:05,456 --> 00:28:06,776 most strongly in your mind. 539 00:28:07,336 --> 00:28:09,896 People that we've worked with who have been trying to turn themselves 540 00:28:09,896 -->

00:28:13,656 into more of a partner, more of an advisor, have found typically, 541 00:28:14,056 --> 00:28:17,016 number one, that the job itself becomes more interesting. 542 00:28:17,416 --> 00:28:21,056 Lots of us are in the kind of work that we're in because it's intellectually 543 00:28:21,056 --> 00:28:25,256 interesting and stimulating, but actually thinking more carefully 544 00:28:25,256 --> 00:28:27,896 about context in this way makes the job itself more interesting. 545 00:28:29,106 --> 00:28:31,426 Second of all, I think it increases learning. 546 00:28:31,426 --> 00:28:34,826 And we know from really lots of research that human beings are 547 00:28:34,826 --> 00:28:38,546 very, very strongly motivated by the desire to master skills and 548 00:28:38,546 --> 00:28:39,426 improve themselves. 549 00:28:39,826 --> 00:28:44,546 So if that's you, then learning something about context 550 00:28:44,786 --> 00:28:48,546 is a really important and valid bit of extra personal learning. 551 00:28:49,746 --> 00:28:53,026 Number three, if you care about the value, the consequences 552 00:28:53,026 --> 00:28:56,346 and the impact of what you do and how it affects the rest of the 553 00:28:56,346 --> 00:28:59,906 organization, then I think it's really clear that thinking more 554 00:28:59,906 --> 00:29:03,426 carefully about your advisory work creates more value for you and 555 00:29:03,426 --> 00:29:06,066 for the team and for the company from a professional point 556 00:29:06,066 --> 00:29:08,106 of view and from a personal point of view. 557 00:29:08,906 --> 00:29:10,346 So it makes the job more interesting. 558 00:29:10,346 --> 00:29:13,946 We learn more, we get to exchange more value as a result. 559 00:29:14,426 --> 00:29:18,186 And then finally, I think it brings networking into play. 560 00:29:18,746 --> 00:29:23,496 And we've had conversations before on the podcast about how challenged 561 00:29:23,496 --> 00:29:26,736 we all are sometimes in our kind of technical and scientific 562 00:29:26,736 --> 00:29:29,256 world to take networking seriously. 563 00:29:29,256 --> 00:29:34,016 If you ever needed a reason, then elevating yourself up the pyramid 564 00:29:34,016 --> 00:29:37,176 is a really, really good reason to pay more attention to extending 565 00:29:37,176 --> 00:29:41,896 the depth and the interest of your personal network, making relationship 566 00:29:41,896 --> 00:29:45,816 building part of the job and part of your value, rather than just 567 00:29:45,816 --> 00:29:49,186 an abstract exercise in, you know, how many friends have you got? 568 00:29:50,376 --> 00:29:55,336 Those are some of the benefits of using and kind of moving up the 569 00:29:55,336 --> 00:29:57,656 pyramid, learning to work at different levels. 570 00:29:57,976 --> 00:30:00,856 What should we look out for along the way? 571 00:30:02,216 --> 00:30:05,776 Mike, this is a really good moment because we've kind of sold 572 00:30:05,776 --> 00:30:06,496 it quite hard, right? 573 00:30:06,496 --> 00:30:07,976 We've said we've got these three levels. 574 00:30:07,976 --> 00:30:09,016 It's really going to help us. 575 00:30:09,016 --> 00:30:10,776 It's going to transform the way people see us. 576 00:30:11,336 --> 00:30:13,016 We have some great benefits. 577 00:30:13,176 --> 00:30:17,466 We should talk about where we might get stuck because knowing that, 578 00:30:17,466 --> 00:30:18,826 I think, is going to increase our confidence. 579 00:30:18,906 --> 00:30:23,546 For me, trap number one is what I call the perfectionism trap. 580 00:30:24,186 --> 00:30:27,626 Lots of professionals get stuck at the foundation level because 581 00:30:28,026 --> 00:30:31,866 they really want to be respected for delivering perfect 582 00:30:31,946 --> 00:30:34,666 completist answers to the questions that they field. 583 00:30:35,626 --> 00:30:39,546 And that then takes priority over the value and the strategic 584 00:30:39,546 --> 00:30:40,826 context for the insights. 585 00:30:40,986 --> 00:30:45,716 That means that we spend time, an unlimited amount of time, adding 586 00:30:45,716 --> 00:30:48,796 pieces of detail, adding pieces that make it both correct 587 00:30:48,796 --> 00:30:49,556 and complete. 588 00:30:50,196 --> 00:30:51,716 And that means that we miss opportunity. 589 00:30:51,716 --> 00:30:54,316 We don't have enough hours and minutes left in the day to think 590 00:30:54,316 --> 00:30:55,476 about the strategic value. 591 00:30:56,036 --> 00:31:01,716 So being perfect and seeing perfect as being complete is a problem 592 00:31:01,716 --> 00:31:02,276 for us. 593 00:31:02,516 --> 00:31:06,116 Of course, accuracy is important, but perfectionism can 594 00:31:06,116 --> 00:31:09,276 prevent you from asking the bigger questions or providing some 595 00:31:09,276 --> 00:31:10,246 contextual insights. 596 00:31:10,716 --> 00:31:14,156 And an insight that's delivered on time with, with a bit 597 00:31:14,156 --> 00:31:18,236 of knowledge of context but is only 80% accurate is more valuable 598 00:31:18,396 --> 00:31:22,756 than a perfect analysis that's delivered too late for people to 599 00:31:22,756 --> 00:31:24,796 understand it or for it to influence decisions. 600 00:31:25,196 --> 00:31:29,036 So we should not let the perfect be the enemy of better. 601 00:31:29,596 --> 00:31:32,036 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 602 00:31:32,036 --> 00:31:32,836 Oh, my gosh. 603 00:31:32,836 --> 00:31:33,156 Yeah. 604 00:31:33,156 --> 00:31:37,756 I've got a couple of bullet wounds, scars that remind me of what 605 00:31:37,756 --> 00:31:39,436 I've done, just exactly that. 606 00:31:40,136 --> 00:31:40,416 Yeah. 607 00:31:40,416 --> 00:31:44,136 Eddie, I think the other one is this kind of scope limitation 608 00:31:44,376 --> 00:31:48,856 mindset, a pitfall that involves artificially limiting our 609 00:31:48,856 --> 00:31:50,976 scope to our formal job description. 610 00:31:50,976 --> 00:31:52,856 You kind of alluded to this a few

minutes ago. 611 00:31:53,576 --> 00:31:56,896 Many professionals assume that they should only provide expertise 612 00:31:56,896 --> 00:31:59,096 within their specific functional area. 613 00:31:59,816 --> 00:32:03,576 Missing opportunities to add strategic value by connecting their 614 00:32:03,576 --> 00:32:08,016 expertise to the broader organizational challenges or to the 615 00:32:08,016 --> 00:32:13,036 specific goals or challenges or opportunities of their stakeholders. 616 00:32:13,036 --> 00:32:17,276 To say, I need to understand it about my area, but I also need 617 00:32:17,276 --> 00:32:20,396 to understand it about the people I'm answering questions for 618 00:32:20,396 --> 00:32:23,156 or working with to answer questions. 619 00:32:23,236 --> 00:32:29,196 And by doing that, we start to think beyond just functional boundaries. 620 00:32:29,196 --> 00:32:33,196 And our expertise becomes more valuable when we can connect it to 621 00:32:33,196 --> 00:32:37,076 these broader business challenges and opportunities, even 622 00:32:37,076 --> 00:32:40,796 if those connections, and I would say, especially when those 623 00:32:40,796 --> 00:32:44,636 connections cross traditional organizational silos. 624 00:32:44,796 --> 00:32:45,916 You know, this is the. 625 00:32:46,156 --> 00:32:50,156 From silo thinking to process thinking to, you know, our informational 626 00:32:50,156 --> 00:32:55,916 connection, all of this says we Know that to really do well, to 627 00:32:55,916 --> 00:32:59,876 really create and exchange more value, we have to be able to 628 00:32:59,876 --> 00:33:03,196 be both within and across this way. 629 00:33:03,276 --> 00:33:03,676 Good. 630 00:33:04,316 --> 00:33:07,876 So, Mike, one way to put that is it's a kind of skepticism, right? 631 00:33:07,876 --> 00:33:11,276 We're saying we should be skeptical about boundaries and silos. 632 00:33:11,726 --> 00:33:16,126 I think we can in general be skeptical of anything that we or 633 00:33:16,126 --> 00:33:17,886 somebody else thinks they know is. 634 00:33:18,046 --> 00:33:19,646 So what do we think is true? 635 00:33:19,806 --> 00:33:23,286 So this is the assumption acceptance trap or the assumption 636 00:33:23,286 --> 00:33:24,846 acceptance pattern. 637 00:33:25,006 --> 00:33:28,446 This involves accepting requests at face value without ever 638 00:33:28,446 --> 00:33:30,286 questioning the underlying assumptions. 639 00:33:30,526 --> 00:33:35,326 Like the star shaped hole in the glass of the windshield of the 640 00:33:35,326 --> 00:33:35,646 car. 641 00:33:35,726 --> 00:33:37,046 Like not challenging the assumption. 642 00:33:37,046 --> 00:33:39,716 Like, why are we not thinking about just replacing the whole windshield? 643 00:33:40,906 --> 00:33:44,986 And assuming that people were correct and had all the right assumptions 644 00:33:44,986 --> 00:33:48,426 when they originally put their question to us is one of the things 645 00:33:48,426 --> 00:33:51,306 that is most likely to keep us stuck at the foundation level. 646 00:33:51,706 --> 00:33:55,226 Because then all you're doing is optimizing your own workload in 647 00:33:55,625 --> 00:33:59,226 efficiently answering questions rather than thinking about 648 00:33:59,546 --> 00:34:02,666 effectiveness in answering the right questions and in particular 649 00:34:02,826 --> 00:34:04,986 in answering questions that solve problems. 650 00:34:05,716 --> 00:34:09,396 So good internal advisors who have this strategic mindset have 651 00:34:09,396 --> 00:34:12,596 the habit of gently probing assumptions. 652 00:34:12,836 --> 00:34:13,996 So they take a moment. 653 00:34:13,996 --> 00:34:17,516 It could just be a few sentences, just an exchange of emails, 654 00:34:17,516 --> 00:34:21,556 or five more minutes in the call to look at assumptions before 655 00:34:21,956 --> 00:34:23,396 diving into the analysis. 656 00:34:23,636 --> 00:34:27,796 So they ask questions like, what's driving this request? 657 00:34:28,436 --> 00:34:32,756 Or what would change if we discovered something different? 658 00:34:33,116 --> 00:34:35,276 Find out what your frame is for the answer that you're expecting. 659 00:34:35,916 --> 00:34:39,516 This kind of probing helps you to ensure that you're solving the 660 00:34:39,516 --> 00:34:42,876 right problem rather than just answering the stated question. 661 00:34:43,116 --> 00:34:47,036 And I think spotting that moment, Mike, where you can just 662 00:34:47,356 --> 00:34:51,036 gently uncover the assumptions and test them out is a really critical 663 00:34:51,036 --> 00:34:52,596 moment in the life of an advisor. 664 00:34:52,596 --> 00:34:56,316 Yeah, I'll tell you, I remember going back a number of years, 665 00:34:57,036 --> 00:35:00,596 you know, both this assumption, the scope limitation, 666 00:35:00,596 --> 00:35:01,676 the perfectionism. 667 00:35:01,756 --> 00:35:07,996 My daughter was having horrific medical issues and we were 668 00:35:07,996 --> 00:35:12,156 being sent from specialist to specialist to specialist to specialists, 669 00:35:12,556 --> 00:35:13,596 getting nowhere. 670 00:35:14,156 --> 00:35:18,956 And we finally landed with one specialist who had a daughter exactly 671 00:35:18,956 --> 00:35:23,836 her age and stepped back and took this personally to say, wait 672 00:35:23,836 --> 00:35:27,476 a minute, what if this were my daughter? 673 00:35:27,716 --> 00:35:30,276 And instead of doing what every other specialist had said, 674 00:35:30,276 --> 00:35:34,036 which was, nope, in my lane, I don't see this. 675 00:35:34,196 --> 00:35:38,716 And I did this work based on this thing, and therefore my answer 676 00:35:38,716 --> 00:35:42,596 is, and went and looked across everything that everybody had done, 677 00:35:42,596 --> 00:35:47,356 and in looking across all that actually was the breakthrough that 678 00:35:47,356 --> 00:35:48,116 we needed. 679 00:35:48,196 --> 00:35:52,196 So I think not only in organizations,

but in real life, 680 00:35:52,866 --> 00:35:55,906 this ability to say, you know, let me start with the mindset of 681 00:35:55,906 --> 00:35:57,746 the person I'm answering the question for. 682 00:35:58,146 --> 00:36:00,586 And, you know, really, I mean, the. 683 00:36:00,586 --> 00:36:04,506 The value that they added to us and our family and my daughter's 684 00:36:04,506 --> 00:36:06,226 life is just unbelievable. 685 00:36:06,466 --> 00:36:08,946 So this really rings home for me here. 686 00:36:10,066 --> 00:36:10,466 It. 687 00:36:10,706 --> 00:36:17,186 So we've been working with why to do this, what to do, some pitfalls 688 00:36:17,186 --> 00:36:17,826 to avoid. 689 00:36:18,596 --> 00:36:22,756 Can we really get down to immediately applying these concepts 690 00:36:22,916 --> 00:36:28,756 and helping our listeners as internal advisors with some exercises 691 00:36:28,916 --> 00:36:31,956 that they can use as diagnostic tools and development 692 00:36:32,276 --> 00:36:32,996 challenges? 693 00:36:40,196 --> 00:36:42,116 Mike, that's a really, really great question. 694 00:36:42,436 --> 00:36:45,806 I think, like you say, we've talked enough about the why and the 695 00:36:45,806 --> 00:36:46,086 what. 696 00:36:46,086 --> 00:36:47,806 Let's talk a little bit about the how. 697 00:36:48,206 --> 00:36:51,646 And you and I work with our clients a lot on these kind of topics. 698 00:36:51,806 --> 00:36:54,646 We know that they really start to see the difference when they start 699 00:36:54,646 --> 00:36:55,566 applying things. 700 00:36:55,726 --> 00:36:59,406 I have a couple of ideas that I want to share, but I know earlier 701 00:36:59,406 --> 00:37:01,686 on we were talking about a particular exercise that you had 702 00:37:01,686 --> 00:37:01,966 in mind. 703 00:37:01,966 --> 00:37:02,926 Tell us, what was that about? 704 00:37:03,246 --> 00:37:04,206 Yeah, yeah, this is. 705 00:37:04,206 --> 00:37:08,726 This is the idea of anytime you have a request, start reframing 706 00:37:08,726 --> 00:37:09,006 it. 707 00:37:09,006 --> 00:37:10,766 So, say just for the next week. 708 00:37:10,816 --> 00:37:14,526 And every time somebody makes a request of you, pause before responding 709 00:37:14,526 --> 00:37:16,206 and ask yourself three questions. 710 00:37:16,206 --> 00:37:20,406 Number one, what decision is this request really about? 711 00:37:20,486 --> 00:37:21,966 What decision you're trying to make? 712 00:37:21,966 --> 00:37:23,686 What action are you trying to take? 713 00:37:23,926 --> 00:37:24,646 Number one. 714 00:37:25,046 --> 00:37:29,646 Number two, what constraints might be influencing this request? 715 00:37:29,646 --> 00:37:31,366 And some of these we can ask directly. 716 00:37:31,366 --> 00:37:33,606 Some of it we might be saying, well, let me think about it. 717 00:37:33,606 --> 00:37:34,086 Yeah. 718 00:37:34,246 --> 00:37:39,056 And number three, what would success look like, like, from the 719 00:37:39,056 --> 00:37:43,496 point of view of the person making the request from their perspective? 720 00:37:43,816 --> 00:37:47,376 If we know this, if our team members know these things from past, 721 00:37:47,376 --> 00:37:47,976 that's great. 722 00:37:48,456 --> 00:37:49,256 Even better. 723 00:37:49,656 --> 00:37:50,456 Ask them. 724 00:37:51,016 --> 00:37:57,736 And then before providing your standard response, ask at least one 725 00:37:57,976 --> 00:38:01,216 clarifying question that demonstrates that you're thinking 726 00:38:01,216 --> 00:38:02,776 beyond the immediate request. 727 00:38:02,936 --> 00:38:06,336 For example, if somebody says, you know, I'd like you to run a budget 728 00:38:06,336 --> 00:38:10,036 variance report, you might say, what specific decisions are 729 00:38:10,036 --> 00:38:11,716 you hoping this report will inform? 730 00:38:12,116 --> 00:38:16,196 Or are there particular areas of concern you'd like me to focus 731 00:38:16,276 --> 00:38:16,836 upon? 732 00:38:17,156 --> 00:38:21,276 And this reframing, this request, reframing practice helps 733 00:38:21,276 --> 00:38:25,716 us move from that foundational level of answering questions up towards 734 00:38:25,795 --> 00:38:29,316 and into the middle level of understanding the problem or the 735 00:38:29,316 --> 00:38:32,996 opportunity by ensuring that you've got a bit more of the broader 736 00:38:32,996 --> 00:38:37,506 context before diving into a, if you will, a tactical response. 737 00:38:38,226 --> 00:38:40,346 Yeah, that's great, Mike. 738 00:38:40,346 --> 00:38:43,746 And it's a good habit to have, like you say, right at the beginning 739 00:38:44,306 --> 00:38:47,906 of any process of doing data analysis or report writing. 740 00:38:48,786 --> 00:38:55,186 My tip is going to be for what we can do after we've done our piece 741 00:38:55,186 --> 00:38:56,026 of work, whatever it is. 742 00:38:56,026 --> 00:38:58,546 I'm going to call this the value add identification. 743 00:38:59,826 --> 00:39:02,266 So at the end of a piece of work, or even better, just at the 744 00:39:02,266 --> 00:39:05,546 end of every day, look at the interactions you had, look at the 745 00:39:05,546 --> 00:39:08,766 questions you have answered for other people, and identify some 746 00:39:08,766 --> 00:39:12,086 moments where you think you could have added more value, more 747 00:39:12,086 --> 00:39:15,526 value in the context of the bigger picture, more strategic value. 748 00:39:16,326 --> 00:39:22,166 So this prompts us to think more widely than just satisfactorily 749 00:39:22,246 --> 00:39:24,166 coming up with the data to answer the question. 750 00:39:24,246 --> 00:39:28,246 This prompts us to look for instances where I did provide what 751 00:39:28,326 --> 00:39:31,766 exactly was asked for, but I didn't explore something else that 752 00:39:31,766 --> 00:39:32,646 could have been more useful. 753 00:39:33,226 --> 00:39:35,946 So write down an additional question that you could have

asked 754 00:39:36,026 --> 00:39:37,426 with the benefit of hindsight. 755 00:39:37,426 --> 00:39:39,866 Like doing this at the end of the day or the end of the piece of 756 00:39:39,866 --> 00:39:43,146 work allows you to have 2020 hindsight and credit yourself with 757 00:39:43,146 --> 00:39:43,786 all of that. 758 00:39:44,106 --> 00:39:46,906 What additional insight do you think might have been available? 759 00:39:47,466 --> 00:39:52,026 A retrospective analysis might allow you to look ahead at the beginning 760 00:39:52,026 --> 00:39:54,986 of the next opportunity to operate it a bit more strategically. 761 00:39:55,386 --> 00:39:59,186 And if you're just giving a little bit of self criticism, self 762 00:39:59,186 --> 00:40:02,356 reflection, at the end of a piece of work, you might start to 763 00:40:02,356 --> 00:40:05,396 recognize opportunities as they come in, in real time. 764 00:40:05,716 --> 00:40:11,316 But jumping straight in and identifying new context and new opportunities 765 00:40:11,476 --> 00:40:13,796 from the very, very beginning is going to take a little bit of 766 00:40:14,196 --> 00:40:15,156 a learning curve. 767 00:40:15,316 --> 00:40:18,156 So give yourself the chance to exploit the learning curve by looking 768 00:40:18,156 --> 00:40:21,156 back at the end and saying, what could I have done differently? 769 00:40:21,236 --> 00:40:24,316 What questions could I have asked that would have elevated my 770 00:40:24,316 --> 00:40:25,396 contribution somehow? 771 00:40:25,956 --> 00:40:28,676 And I love this because I think the first one is somebody who's 772 00:40:28,676 --> 00:40:31,156 more like, I want to jump right into it and be a little more 773 00:40:31,156 --> 00:40:31,716 proactive. 774 00:40:32,006 --> 00:40:34,486 Second one say, okay, let's say maybe you're still not ready 775 00:40:34,486 --> 00:40:34,966 to do that. 776 00:40:35,126 --> 00:40:37,966 All right, let's look at it afterwards and ask ourselves and 777 00:40:37,966 --> 00:40:40,966 think about it and process it a little bit more, because then you 778 00:40:40,966 --> 00:40:42,566 will have that ahead of time. 779 00:40:42,566 --> 00:40:43,446 I like that. 780 00:40:43,846 --> 00:40:45,526 You know, I'm an old strategy guy. 781 00:40:45,766 --> 00:40:48,646 Let me add a third one, a strategic context map. 782 00:40:48,646 --> 00:40:51,326 Because of course, we've said strategic and we said context. 783 00:40:51,326 --> 00:40:53,046 And I always love having a map. 784 00:40:54,326 --> 00:40:58,166 So choose three of your regular, if you will, customers, 785 00:40:58,166 --> 00:41:01,356 three of the people that you are typically advising or fielding 786 00:41:01,746 --> 00:41:02,466 requests from. 787 00:41:02,466 --> 00:41:06,546 They're coming to you for information analysis, perhaps recommendations, 788 00:41:06,546 --> 00:41:09,026 perhaps just data for each person. 789 00:41:09,346 --> 00:41:13,426 Create a simple map, if you will, that includes what are their 790 00:41:13,426 --> 00:41:19,146 key responsibilities, what are their current challenges, what are 791 00:41:19,146 --> 00:41:23,986 their success metrics what do they get measured on and what are 792 00:41:23,986 --> 00:41:25,986 their upcoming decisions? 793 00:41:26,146 --> 00:41:29,306 And this starts to, you know, you're doing a little bit of the 794 00:41:29,306 --> 00:41:33,716 work ahead of time for your three, if you will, best customers 795 00:41:33,716 --> 00:41:38,116 or most frequent customers, to build that context ahead of time. 796 00:41:38,116 --> 00:41:41,636 It helps you to understand their world more completely, which 797 00:41:41,636 --> 00:41:44,956 allows you to provide more relevant and strategic support. 798 00:41:45,276 --> 00:41:49,276 And when they make requests, you then connect your response back 799 00:41:49,276 --> 00:41:54,396 to this broader context rather than just fielding that immediate 800 00:41:54,476 --> 00:41:55,196 questions. 801 00:41:55,596 --> 00:41:58,076 So continue to update these maps. 802 00:41:58,316 --> 00:42:00,316 I would come back to them monthly. 803 00:42:00,556 --> 00:42:04,416 And your organization may have certain cycles too, you know, really 804 00:42:04,416 --> 00:42:05,976 heavy, then we're in between. 805 00:42:06,456 --> 00:42:12,216 You can use those cycles to learn more about evolving priorities 806 00:42:12,216 --> 00:42:13,336 and challenges. 807 00:42:13,416 --> 00:42:17,416 And this helps you develop that strategic thinking that characterizes 808 00:42:17,416 --> 00:42:18,856 top level advisors. 809 00:42:19,496 --> 00:42:22,176 If I was going to push it even further, if there's somebody out 810 00:42:22,176 --> 00:42:24,336 there who's an important customer or an important stakeholder 811 00:42:24,336 --> 00:42:26,216 and I've got a good relationship with them and they're 812 00:42:26,216 --> 00:42:29,096 likely to respond well, I could even take my strategic context, 813 00:42:29,096 --> 00:42:32,256 my map to them maybe when I'm doing a little bit of review and 814 00:42:32,256 --> 00:42:35,776 saying, this is what I think your priorities and your hurdles 815 00:42:35,776 --> 00:42:37,656 and your challenges are, help me make it better. 816 00:42:37,656 --> 00:42:40,856 It might generate an interesting conversation all by itself. 817 00:42:41,016 --> 00:42:42,376 I love that, Mike. 818 00:42:42,776 --> 00:42:44,096 Like you say, I love a map. 819 00:42:44,096 --> 00:42:46,816 Let's see if we can get a visual about that, share that online 820 00:42:46,816 --> 00:42:47,176 somewhere. 821 00:42:47,176 --> 00:42:47,896 That's really great. 822 00:42:48,616 --> 00:42:52,696 Let's look back at everything that we've talked about so far in 823 00:42:52,696 --> 00:42:55,896 today's episode and see what are our final thoughts. 824 00:42:56,966 --> 00:43:02,326 It seems to me that the key to this whole internal advisor mindset 825 00:43:02,646 --> 00:43:06,566

is, number one, recognizing that we're doing already interesting 826 00:43:06,566 --> 00:43:10,566 consultative work and that it's about becoming intentional, 827 00:43:10,566 --> 00:43:13,686 about adding value rather than just seeing it happen by accident. 828 00:43:14,166 --> 00:43:19,326 This mindset isn't about changing so much what you do, it's 829 00:43:19,326 --> 00:43:21,686 about changing how you think about it and what you do. 830 00:43:21,686 --> 00:43:25,816 Kind of in the cracks to be more strategic about the value that 831 00:43:25,816 --> 00:43:26,456 you create. 832 00:43:26,776 --> 00:43:31,016 I remember well, Mike, you said that the process of elevating 833 00:43:31,016 --> 00:43:34,296 ourselves up the pyramid isn't about abandoning the foundation, 834 00:43:34,296 --> 00:43:35,896 it's actually about building on it. 835 00:43:36,376 --> 00:43:39,056 So we still need to be able to answer questions accurately, we still 836 00:43:39,056 --> 00:43:42,696 need to be able to provide reliable expertise, but we need to 837 00:43:42,696 --> 00:43:46,296 think strategically about how our expertise can address bigger 838 00:43:46,296 --> 00:43:48,696 problems and create greater value. 839 00:43:48,776 --> 00:43:52,176 I think that's been the key thing for me, moving up from the 840 00:43:52,176 --> 00:43:54,616 foundation, building on it so that we're creating more value. 841 00:43:55,966 --> 00:43:57,846 Yeah, I absolutely agree, Ian. 842 00:43:57,846 --> 00:44:00,926 This internal advisor mindset is ultimately about seeing ourselves 843 00:44:00,926 --> 00:44:02,606 as strategic contributors. 844 00:44:02,846 --> 00:44:07,846 Rather than just insert your job title or function here, functional 845 00:44:07,846 --> 00:44:12,286 experts, mid level managers, senior individual contributors, program 846 00:44:12,366 --> 00:44:17,566 project managers, whatever, those are your strategic contributors 847 00:44:17,566 --> 00:44:18,206 within them. 848 00:44:18,206 --> 00:44:22,736 And when we make that shift, we find that others begin to see 849 00:44:22,736 --> 00:44:26,976 us differently too, which creates greater opportunities to 850 00:44:26,976 --> 00:44:31,656 have even greater impact and for career advancement. 851 00:44:31,736 --> 00:44:35,016 So I think there's, you know, this is, this is one where it is 852 00:44:35,016 --> 00:44:37,016 absolutely win, win, win. 853 00:44:37,816 --> 00:44:38,616 Very good. 854 00:44:38,776 --> 00:44:40,536 I know we've enjoyed talking about it, Mike. 855 00:44:40,536 --> 00:44:43,976 I hope listeners, we hope you are enjoying this conversation as 856 00:44:43,976 --> 00:44:47,606 well, especially if we've lit one or two light bulbs about how 857 00:44:47,606 --> 00:44:51,086 you work internally as an advisor and about what might be in 858 00:44:51,086 --> 00:44:53,726 it for all of us if we can get even more intentional. 859 00:44:53,726 --> 00:44:58,086 Like you said, Mike, thank you very much for listening to this week's 860 00:44:58,086 --> 00:44:59,686 episode of Consulting for Humans. 861 00:45:00,246 --> 00:45:04,766 Next time, our Strategic Partner Internal Advisor series continues 862 00:45:04,766 --> 00:45:07,766 with Part three, Asking Better Questions. 863 00:45:07,766 --> 00:45:09,686 We've hinted at it a few times. 864 00:45:09,846 --> 00:45:12,446 Next week we're going to get deeper into the mechanics of how 865 00:45:12,446 --> 00:45:13,996 do you ask really great questions. 866 00:45:14,866 --> 00:45:17,946 Like the title says, we're going to build on the foundational 867 00:45:17,946 --> 00:45:21,706 skill of answer giving to the much more interesting and deeper 868 00:45:21,706 --> 00:45:25,426 skill of question asking and better diagnosis of problems. 869 00:45:25,746 --> 00:45:28,226 We hope that you've enjoyed this week's episode. 870 00:45:28,226 --> 00:45:32,746 We hope that you'll join us next time on the Consulting for Humans 871 00:45:32,746 --> 00:45:33,266 podcast. 872 00:45:38,386 --> 00:45:41,276 The consulting for humans women's podcast is brought to you 873 00:45:41,276 --> 00:45:43,916 by P31 Consulting.