The Power of What We Don't Have

"The grass is always greener on the other side".

Because it is human nature to undervalue and overlook what we have. Something that holds back not only individuals, but many families, organizations and entire societies as well.

An equally serious problem is the failure to realize and tap the power of what we don't have. To count the blessings we don't have (yet). Let us reflect on how fatal this can be, in an organizational context.

Complacency

An organization which is not aware of what it lacks is easily misled into believing that it has everything that it needs to perform. This complacency is often contagious, and can be a very powerful force in defending the status quo. And in further closing one's eyes to what the organization does not have. Thus feeding on each other.

The social pressure and tendency to conform can make this blindness particularly entrenched. Leading to a situation where everyone tells everyone else: All is well. A sure-shot prescription for obsolescence.

Low Aims

The inability to appreciate what we lack is often responsible for (very) low aims and aspirations. Forget the stars or even low-hanging fruits, organizations might end up aiming at the roots. 

This is aggravated due to a planning handicap. I have seen this happening in project after project, in an organization I am familiar with. The leaders at the very top articulate high aspirations and give sufficient autonomy to the next leadership level to meet them. However, the leaders at this level, who have to execute the project, end up being highly conservative, laying down very low aims. Aims which sometimes don't even better the past.

Why do they do so? One reason I have observed is this. They take the resources they have (at present) as the starting point. The aims flow from - and hence are determined by - this. This approach not only limits what the organization can achieve, but also confines the ambition and imagination of everyone. 

The leadership should instead have taken the (lofty) aims as their starting point. And then figured out what resources (and processes) were needed to attain them. As Gary Hamel and the late C. K. Prahalad say, "Competitiveness is born in the gap between a company's resources and its managers' goals". By fitting their goals to current resources, the managers above fail to bolster the competitiveness of their organizations.

Thereby killing innovation systematically, though (perhaps) unwittingly. 

What can be done

Some humble pointers.

1. Make an inventory of the resources the organization has, and how they align with its processes and priorities. Understanding what we have is perhaps the best first step in understanding what we don't.
2. Keep looking outward as well. Analyze not only competitor organizations, but competitor industries and processes as well. And well, potential partners/collaborators too. 
3. Apply the Johari Window to the organization.

4. Keep asking: 

   Questions #innovators love: What are we (really) doing? What (all) are we not doing (today)? #Innovation #ChangeLeadership
   — Dheep (@TheDeepServant) March 10, 2015

5. Aim high. Stretch resources, processes, systems, people. And of course oneself.
6. Based on the above audit and the stretch goals, make an inventory of the resources the organization needs, but does not have.
7. Figure out how to make use of these resources to meet organizational goals.

Does this make sense? Please share your thoughts. Thank you.