Insights Success Strategies

Insights Success Strategies Model Background

• The methodologies used in the model have been used continuously and successfully since 1983 to provide services to over 100 organizations. They have been proven in a wide variety of situations and industries by successfully defining requirements and implementing the correct solutions for companies, corporations and government departments

• The simplicity and effectiveness of the concepts has resulted in many organizations requesting the means to apply them for themselves.  The model is now available for the first time for general use

Insights Success Strategies Challenge

• In the past the manual model had to be applied differently to meet each new requirement.  This required knowledge of the logic, structure and processes of the model and the ability to perceive the correct approach to be used

• The challenge of the current model has been to establish a standard, objective, complete means to meet all corporate or private requirements easily and successfully. This has required a "back to basics" approach to understand the essentials for success and the means to achieve them

• Insights Success Strategies is a complete, easy to use, versatile web based model that can be used to avoid mistakes and their consequences and successfully meet any corporate or private requirement

Why is success so elusive

• The "mind", "power", "think" authors tell us their way to success is easy, achieving success is far from easy.  The sales volumes of "success" books and the eagerness of readers to grasp each new idea that comes out indicates the difficulty of achieving it and a need for an approach that works

• Success is elusive because it is far more complex and extensive than we are led to believe, or would like to believe.  The factors, variables and relationships involved are obscure and therefore difficult to perceive, understand and define

• To be successful we need the means to address the essentials of the total picture.  Simplistic approaches, which only address part of the picture, have not worked in the past and cannot work in the future

Approach used to understand success

• The definition of success is:

  • "The achievement of something desired, planned or attempted"

• The opposite, failure is caused by mistakes, they result from

  • "An error or a fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge or carelessness"

  • "A misconception or misunderstanding"

• To gain an initial understanding of the complexities of success a reverse approach was used.  Step one was to study the opposite - "failures and mistakes"

• Understanding the reasons why mistakes occur indicates what is required to avoid them and points the way to the "essentials for success".  Establishing the "essentials for success" enables us to formulate the means to achieve them

Failures and mistakes - we can avoid them

• An analysis of five major "disasters" and mistakes made by governments and corporations show they have common causes and can be avoided.  They are:

  • Mindset - fixed mental attitude that predetermines responses and interpretations of situations

  • Logic - poor logic caused by inability, ‘mindset’ or ‘group-think’ over confidence

  • Superiority - feelings of superiority or invulnerability that can result from  'group-think'

  • Information - ignoring or misinterpreting Information that does not fit in with ‘mindset’ or ‘group-think’

  • Facts - acting on inadequate, incomplete or outdated information 

  • Requirement - the inability or failure to identify or define the requirement correctly

  • Cause - the inability or failure to determine the underlying causes and their significance

  • Communication - the inability to understand or convey requirements correctly

  • Preconceptions - opinions or conceptions formed in advance of full or adequate knowledge

  • Assumptions - accepting something as true without proof

  • Objectives - unrealistic, incomplete, incorrect, constraints not set and wrong priorities

  • Strategies - potential benefits do not justify the risks and costs involved

  • Foresight - failure to imagine or anticipate effects and consequences

  • Planning - inadequate planning or poor implementation

  • Management - lack of direction and leadership caused by inexperience or incompetence

  • Resources - underestimated or incorrect resources / expertise for the task on hand

  • Focus - failure to concentrate attention and resources

  • Commitment - not properly sanctioned or supported

  • Sanctioned - failure to determine validity, justification and viability

  • Decisions - making subjective instead of objective decisions based on justifiable criteria

• Governments, corporations, organizations and individuals continue to make mistakes with monotonous regularity.  Some mistakes are silly, irritating or amusing, some stupid and embarrassing, whilst others have disastrous consequences

• Mistakes waste time, money and effort and cause the loss of reputations, jobs, assets companies and lives. They have common causes, can be avoided and should not be accepted as inevitable in the learning process

• The experience that is necessary for us to avoid mistakes and ensure success may be gained the hard way by spending many years using trial and error methods, or by understanding the essentials for success and applying the means to achieve them

What are the essentials for success

• We need more than good ideas, commitment, determination and enthusiasm.  Identifying requirements and striving to achieve them is not enough.  We need to identify the correct requirements and meet them the best possible way

• Understanding the reasons for mistakes leads to an understanding of the essentials for success.  They include::

  • Expertise - skill or knowledge in a particular area

  • Resources - the total means available – time, money, equipment, materials, labour etc.

  • Understand - to perceive and comprehend the nature and significance of; grasp

  • Judgment - the ability to perceive relationships

  • Knowledge - familiarity or understanding gained through experience or study

  • Anticipate - to act in advance so as to prevent; forestall

  • Careful - forethought or thoroughness

  • Forethought - deliberation, consideration or planning

  • Thoroughness - complete, accurate, careful

  • Reason - logical and analytic thought

  • Intelligence - the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge

  • Information - a collection of facts or data

  • Plan - a scheme, program or method for the accomplishment of an objective

  • Evaluate - to ascertain the value, examine and judge carefully

  • Decide - to settle conclusively all contention / uncertainty

• To be successful we need to understand the reasons for mistakes and avoid them, understand the essentials for success and have the means to achieve them

• The means to understand the success "essentials" requires the identification of lower level "components"

• A study of the relationships between each essential and the relationships between their underlying components has determined the interactions, predecessor and successor dependencies and the structures and processes for a true success model

• The logic, knowledge and assistance contained in the Insights Success Strategies Model provides the means to avoid mistakes and achieve success

How do we achieve the essentials using Insights Success Strategies

• Knowledge of the concepts is not required to use the model.  The concepts have been included to indicate the techniques used to and substantiate the term Insights Success Strategies Model

• Simplicity, versatility and flexibility is achieved by grouping, structuring and processing standard "components" in different ways

• Components are used on their own to meet a "single" usually simple requirement or several related components are combined to achieve a specific "function'. More extensive but related requirements are met with a "module" or "modules" which consist of two or more "functions"

  • Component - a "component" has an input, processes (sequence of guidelines), output and resource and information requirements

  • Function - a "function" contains related "components" and knowledge to implement the function

  • Structure - a "module structure" consists of levels, which are processed from top to bottom

  • Process - a "module process" is the left to right sequence of processing

  • Module - a "module" consists of related "functions" and a "structure" or a "process" or both

  • Model- the "model" consists of four "modules" and a "route map" to understand the interactions

  Components, functions and modules can be used independently or combined to make a powerful and effective multipurpose tool

• The model enables us to identify and define requirements, plan solutions, provide objective information to compare options / alternatives and make the correct decisions.  The " structure" and "process" indicate the steps that are followed and show preceding and succeeding dependencies

• Single requirements to be met quickly and easily and complex requirements like strategic planning can be  simplified into logical easy to follow step by step requirements

• The model guides the thinking process in a logical easy to follow way and provides advice and guidance to enable sound judgments to be made.  It leads us to “do the right things the right way”, thereby making us more effective and efficient

• The model provides a complete source of information to avoid mistakes and their consequences and successfully define and meet any corporate or private requirement.  It provides a single, easy to use, effective means to reduce time, money and effort and increase productivity

Insights Success Strategies Model Contents

• The model contains logic and knowledge to apply intelligence - "the capacity to apply and acquire knowledge".  Its inherent characteristics contain the essentials for success and the means to achieve them.

• The model contains four modules that enable us to achieve the essentials for success and a "route map" to understand how the four modules interact with each other

  • Requirement - provides the means to identify and define the requirement, understand the underlying reasons, cause and effect, approve or reject the requirement and decide the best course of action.  A seemingly complex requirement can be simplified, understood and meet by separating it into its basic types

    The term "requirement" is a general term that applies to the Requirement Module and also to specific corporate or private requirements.  The term  "need" has been avoided as it is only one of five "requirement types"

  • Requirement Planning Structure - used to meet single, multiple, simple or complex requirements and to plan.  It enables us to structure requirements to reduce complexity and understand dependencies

  • Resources - contains the resources and information needed for each function.  Resources are matched to the requirement.  Standard, objective, structured criteria determines the type of information required.  Information is obtained in varying levels of detail for quick or thorough comparisons of yes / no options or alternatives.  It is used by the decision function

  • Solution Process - sets and considers potential solutions for each level of the requirements structure.  It assesses the risk, cost and benefit of the various options / alternatives and enables the best ones to be selected and justified

  • Route Map - the Route Map defines resources and contains graphical representations of the model. It is used to understand the structure and processes of the "success picture" and the interactions and dependencies of the modules, functions and components.  The path  through the model is determined by the type of requirement, the extent of processing is determined by the value of the requirement and / or the time available

• The modules can be used in varying levels of detail.  Uses range from quick and simple yes / no decisions to meeting complex requirements like corporate strategies

• The inability to determine requirements correctly and implement the correct strategies to meet them will result in mistakes with their effects and sometimes disastrous consequences

Benefits of using the Insights Success Strategies Model

• The following are examples of benefits that can be achieved by using the model

  • Optimise -  optimise business performance with a standard, objective, justifiable means

  • Succeed - avoid mistakes and failures and achieve success

  • Requirements - identify and define requirements correctly

  • Plan - structure requirements to understand actions required and dependencies

  • Information - use standard, objective, justifiable criteria / information to compare

  • Compare - use the best means (consider, estimate or evaluate) to compare options / alternatives

  • Investment - invest time, money and effort in proportion to the value of requirement

  • Decide - make sound justifiable decisions

  • Justify - justify business / project plans, ventures or any decision

  • Action - decide best course - action, no action or defer

  • Reason - understand the cause and what initiated it

  • Proactive - use cause and effect to become proactive instead of reactive

  • Problems - solve problems by understanding the nature and the solution

  • Projects - take the complexity and risk out of projects and reduce cost

  • Manage - understand and manage risk, cost and benefit

  • Reduce costs - save time, money and effort

  • Reduce risk - calculate and reduce risk

  • Complexity - simplify complex requirements to reduce risk and cost

  • Expertise - understand expertise attributes needed and assign the correct resources

  • Optimize - select the correct objectives, strategies, tactics and resources

• All benefits are derived from understanding and following the concepts, logic and knowledge contained in the model

Uses of the Insights Success Strategies Model

• The modular nature of the model provides the means to meet simple requirements with a "component" or "function" or more complex requirements with "modules" or the complete "model".  More comprehensive uses include:

  • Planning - strategic and tactical planning at corporate, division or operational level

  • Consulting - define requirements and implement solutions

  • Troubleshooting - determining reasons and solutions

  • Knowledge transfer - educate, train and transfer knowledge

  • Mentoring - mentoring staff to make them more effective and efficient

• The logic within the model together with the ability for organisations and individuals to include specific information and knowledge provides the means to turn knowledge into intelligence - the capacity to apply and acquire knowledge

Implementation of Insights Success Strategies 

• The concepts, logic and knowledge contained in the web-based model provide the means to carry out the all services offered by the company

• The intention is to make the model available for use on corporate intranets for those organisations who have received services and wish to standardise their business practices on the model concepts

• Future development includes fully interactive Insights Success Strategies Software, which is to be developed shortly; enquiries from interested parties who wish to participate are welcome