The question posed (by the instructor) was about the difference between "forward" and "forward thinking".
You may be wondering what this has to do with the office environment... but bear with me....
When we are talking about a horse being "forward", we don't mean they are making inappropriate advances .... just that they are moving in a forward direction. Normally in response to a stimulus or cue - a leg aid, a lunge whip, a vocal command.
Forward is about movement; it implies a direction, and a speed (probably fast). It has a sense of energy. It is about the "what" is happening. The upside is there is energy, movement, momentum that you can work with. The downside is it can be rushed, tense, lack control or elevation.
Forward-thinking is subtly different. Synonyms include "dynamic", "progressive", "positive".
We talked about there being a willingness involved. But you can be forward-thinking and slow. Forward-thinking is about attitude, it's about the "how". It's about a willingness, about being motivated.
In a work sense, I see people around me who are in "forward" mode. They are always doing something - normally at speed. These are the folk who will head straight into task-mode. Yes, they are action-orientated and no, that isn't a bad thing. But it has it's risks. In going straight for "doing", they run the risk of solving the wrong problem, and of leaving their team behind. They may know an "answer", but they don't take the time to discuss, so they don't know if there are other answers available.
You can end up with a lot of activity, but that at least some of the activity is noise and not genuinely contributing to progressing towards the objectives of the team, organisation, business.
But if we can take that energy, that activity..... and focus it, direct it, guide it.... Now then we start to get somewhere. And going in the right direction slowly gets you there sooner than randomly rushing around..... well most of the time anyway !
No comments:
Post a Comment