The TK Factor(TM) process
The TK Factor ™ process
transforms executive performance
in the knowledge economy
Clarify Direction using the unique ‘bull’s eye’ technique. This is a measurable statement of excellence for products / services, sales / profit aspirations and customers. It is the process of directors discussing, debating, agreeing and finally signing off ONE bull’s eye that reveals transformation number one. The demands of the global knowledge economy require this degree of clarity of direction.
Develop Trust by starting with the 360-degree appraisal of the CEO and then those of each co-director. All personal development points are then shared and linked to the bull’s eye. Transformation number two takes place when each director’s personal commitment to excellence is aligned with the organisational commitment to excellence. It is the speed of change in the market place that requires high levels of trust and therefore response at the top.
Enhance Performance by exploring the unique tacit knowledge that makes each director special. This powerful interpersonal work stimulates transparent relationships and transformation number three occurs when one and one can make three or even four. It is the challenge of World Class competition that demands great relationships in the Boardroom. This is the key to both innovation and creativity.
Innovation and creativity are the keys to developing and sustaining competitive advantage in the knowledge economy.
Transforming executive performance in the knowledge economy
The knowledge economy is creating entirely new ways of playing the great game of business for all organisations. It doesn’t matter whether they are in the public, the private or the ‘not for profit’ sector, the rules are changing.
This is a world where:
Customers want and expect more for less
Competitors can emerge from anywhere on the globe
Market places are evolving as we speak
Technology is revolutionizing business models at 186k miles per second.
Today more than ever before, we all have to do things differently, we all have to think differently, we all have to behave differently. We increasingly need an ‘outside in’ perspective on our organisation and on ourselves.
The problem is however that all our experience of the world to date has been from the ‘inside out’. Individually, we experience everything in the first instance through our five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. We are programmed from birth to see everything from ‘first’ position, our own views, our own perspectives. And this approach to business worked well enough in the ‘old’ manufacturing economy, where demand exceeded supply, there were quotas, tariffs and the fixed assets on the Balance Sheet were the key to generating profit. A reactive paradigm worked well for many because the business environment appeared to be slow moving in those days.
In order to develop and sustain competitive advantage in the global economy where knowledge is the new asset, we have to learn to see the world from ‘second’ position. We have to aspire to excellence, we have to get closer to our customers than ever before, we have to benchmark ourselves against world class competitors, we have to adapt our offering to the changing demands of the market place. Essentially this means being proactive.
In our work we sometimes use a sequence that can help us with this. A ‘trigger’ experience is something that happens causing us to think. When we think about that experience, we can make decisions and the decisions we make can lead to action. We all have trigger experiences but we all think, decide and act in a unique manner, using our tacit knowledge, the stuff that lives inside our heads.
Because of the speed of change in the world, the exponential increase in the speed of product / service life cycle changes, there are a lot of trigger experiences available to anyone that runs a business today. Therefore the think, decide, act, sequence requires a further element to be successful and that is transparency. This does not mean telling everyone everything, but it does mean discussing, sharing and acting upon information infinitely more effectively than ever before.
We have to communicate and listen more intently, both individually and collectively, with the three groups of people that we need to apply this process to. The first group are our ‘internal customers,’ this means everyone on the payroll. The second group are our external customers, the people that pay us. The third group are our stakeholders, anyone materially involved with the organisation.
However, there is a health warning that goes with this model. When we share our unique tacit knowledge with others, it will always lead to business reward for the organisation. This is because the process develops trust by encouraging closer, better quality relationships with the key people that have an impact on our organisation. It can also lead to a parting of the ways. Some people, for a great variety of reasons may simply want something different; their personal bull’s eye may not be in alignment with the organisational bull’s eye. Transparency may speed up an inevitable process.
The steeper the gradient on the flight path towards the bull’s eye, in other words the more ambitious the directors are, the more important the quality of relationships with our people, our customers and our stakeholders will become.
We believe that the unique tacit knowledge, the unique ‘specialness’ that everyone in an organisation possesses must be harnessed. This means the conscious, deliberate and unique identification and use of tacit knowledge in the interaction with others, leading initially to transparency, and ultimately to business reward. This is how to develop the Intellectual Capital of any organisation, the ‘new’ asset for the ‘new’ knowledge economy.
In practical terms, how do you do this? How do you transform executive performance? We use the model below:
1) Clarify Direction using the unique ‘bull’s eye’ technique: this is a measurable statement of excellence for products / services, sales / profit aspirations and customers. It is the directors that need to discuss, agree and sign off the bull’s eye in the first instance.
2) Develop Trust by starting with the 360-degree appraisal of the CEO and then those of co-directors. All personal development points are then shared and linked to the bull’s eye. This is each director’s personal commitment to excellence aligned with the organisational commitment.
3) Enhance Performance by finding out the tacit knowledge that makes each director special. This TK Factorâ process stimulates transparent relationships where one and one can make three or even four. This is the key to both innovation and creativity.
Innovation and creativity are the keys to competitive advantage in the knowledge economy!
