The invitation is to join the dots
What do detectives, entrepreneurs, innovators, doctors, lawyers, and effective business analysts all have in common? More importantly, why does it matter to you and I?
I’m asking you to connect the dots, which is in fact, exactly the answer I’m looking for. Like detectives sorting through evidence to solve a crime, doctors piecing together symptoms and information to provide diagnosis, or business analysts sifting through data to identify problems and uncover solutions, an essential part of the process is the ability to see the bigger picture and connect the dots.
We now live in a world more connected than ever before, yet still, there are so many untapped wells of opportunity – there are so many dots to still connect. As a part of futureproofing our businesses through innovation, productivity and insight, we need to be encouraging collaboration, maximizing business intelligence and leveraging our data effectively. How do we do this? By connecting the dots: connecting diverse people to combine talents, experience and perspectives, connecting with customers to provide insight and engagement, connecting partners to gain capability and reach, connecting products and services to provide richer customer experiences, etc. There are so many possibilities, should we choose to look for them.
Although the phrase “connecting the dots” has been around for a long time, it has crept into popular culture, thanks in part to Steve Jobs. He talked about it in August, 2011, when he described what connecting the dots meant to him. He said, “You cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that somehow the dots will connect in your future.”
So, in a new business world of pull instead of push, how do we set ourselves up, to allow the dots to connect in the future? We need experience, which is where collaboration and coordination comes in – collective experience is powerful. We need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, so we can have context. We need the ability to recognise patterns, and identify where they serve us and where they need adjusting. We need to be using both our rational minds and our intuition. We need to think critically, and understand that our actions are part of the dots that need to be joined.
At KDZA, our job is to create the opportunity, resources and space for productivity. To do so, we need to continuously join the dots for our own business, as well as our clients. Sometimes we’ve got to change the way we usually connect the dots to get a different and better result. Which dots will you be connecting in the next week, month, year?
Nancy Meyer - Business Development Director - KYOCERA Document Solutions South Africa
