Kenneth G. McGee

Transform Business Surprises into Opportunities

Business “surprises” occur with an alarming frequency. It is an understatement to say they exact a considerable toll on the organization.

According to Kenneth G. McGee, even the worst catastrophes rarely happen without warning. The author is a group vice president and research fellow at Gartner, Inc., a consultancy that specializes in information technology. His book, Heads Up, is about predicting the present.

Managers need to understand what is happening now and how these current events will impact future success. This involves extracting raw empirical information, analyzing it and determining its meaning and implications.

So what is new, you ask? McGee answers managers do not need all the data to understand the present. Only enough to answer the question, “Where are we right now in meeting our corporate goals?”

To an effective executive, this current information always reveals opportunities to improve results. There is a tendency to confuse real-time information with real-time response. In the perfect situation, the following processes happen in the background between the time when an event happens and that event’s impact is felt.

1. Information related to the event is monitored.
2. A change in the information is captured.
3. The information is analyzed.
4. The information is reported.
5. A response is initiated.

No manager can afford to monitor all his information sources. To determine which sources to monitor, information should be filtered using the following Identification Model:

1. List goals for the planning period.
2. Prioritize them.
3. Evaluate them.
4. List causal events.
5. Prioritize the causal events.
6. Evaluate whether the real-time information will enable the executive to respond effectively.

Each candidate generated by the Identification Model is subjected to the Justification Model:

1. Does the goal the information further the corporate vision and mission?
2. Does the goal meet current corporate priorities?
3. Is the information material to the goal?
4. What is the goal’s corporate impact?

McGee’s book goes beyond the usual real-time hype. It will help executives anticipate events and changes. The result: potential disasters will be transformed into opportunities.… (more)