To what extent does it or could it affect your path towards your mission?
How many times have you bought something or used a service, only to be followed up with a survey? “On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend Xxxx to a friend?”
I was asked this after a colonoscopy…and frankly the answer was -100.
The point I am making is “relevance”. So many organisations have heard of this thing called NPS (Net Promoter Score). Created in 1993, it became a trendy management tool in the early 2000’s. The question above is the key question in NPS, but hardly relevant in the case I quote. (Well not worded like that.) I will talk more about NPS in another article.
Jumping to the topic of this article, if I had a penny for every SWOT analysis I have seen, I would have…quite a lot of money. But…so many times some of the bullet points are simply not relevant. An issue that, whilst perhaps annoying, doesn’t really have an impact on the organisation’s progress towards its mission. An opportunity that is simply an idea or possible solution, but not sitting waiting to be optimised.
A strength is not a strength if it is not used. “I can lift 1,000 kilograms.” “Oh, do you compete in weightlifting or do you pick fallen objects off unfortunate people?” “Neither…I never use my strength, I sit at a desk all day and on a sofa watching TV at night.”
“We have operations in 14 countries.” “Whoopy, and…?? That sounds like a lot of unnecessary travel or possible communication issues.” “No, we are an international aid agency.” “Ohhhh!”
This is the ‘So What’ analysis. ‘We have this, which means that…to our organisation’.
What impact, implication, relevance does this strength, weakness, opportunity or threat have on your operation?
Like the clinic in my example at the top, who grabbed a management tool but didn’t stop to think how to best apply it, SWOT analyses often fall short.
How does one best apply the So What analysis, in practise?
As Socrates said, ask “What do you mean? How do you know?”. An analysis is just that. Analyse what you are thinking about. Ask the Socratic questions, or simply “so what?” When you get the answer, ask it again of the answer. A word of caution, if you question a colleague with these questions too often, especially in the same conversation, it may result in physical violence. But I’m sure you get the point.
Dig deeper than simply recognising a potential threat or a weakness. To what extent is it relevant and ultimately, to what extent does it or could it affect your path towards your mission?