Image from http://www.theexclusiveelite.com/the-­‐power-­‐of-­‐positive-­‐progressive-­‐thinking/ Outcome Directed Thinking The Planning Process for Success Presented By: Luisana Lopez, Eduardo Lozano and Syed Pasha-­‐Group FR7B2 7/27/14 Organizational Behavior and Management MGMT 6330 Dr. Sturges Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
Positive Outcome Statement ................................................................................................ 2
Motivation .............................................................................................................................. 3
Obstacles................................................................................................................................ 4
Summary ............................................................................................................................... 6
References ............................................................................................................................ 7
1 We live in a world today where problems exist in every corner. Whether you are looking at the
news and hearing the politicians fight over what each party is doing or not doing or your local
news talks about a need for people to adopt pets. Each of these problems has a different way
of being tackled. Outcome directed thinking (ODT) is one of many planning processes that
allows people to come together and think about a solution and how to achieve the outcome.
You start off with a positive outcome statement which is meant to be the focal point of the
process. This statement is supposed to describe what you want to achieve and change the
focus from a problem orientation to an output orientation. Well what does this mean? Instead
of thinking about the problem as being negative, you think about the outcome and how positive
it will be. You then define what your motivation will be for each individual and then as a group
and also define the obstacles that may be holding you back in achieving the positive outcome
statement.
Positive Outcome Statement
A Positive outcome statement is a statement that is stated in such a way that it is
attempting to solve your problem and get a desired outcome rather than one that focuses on
why you have the problem and who is to blame. This is the key to ODT. It is changing the way
you think about your issue and making sure you stay focused on what you need to do to get it
solved in a positive way.
Some of the characteristics of positive outcome thinking are: 1
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Positive energy
Higher motivation and creativity
New opportunities and options appear
Higher morale and more positive attitudes
People are focused and moving forward
Whereas the characteristics of issue or problem driven focus are: 1
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Negative energy
Lower motivation
Few perceived options
Efforts often go in circles and downward spirals
Low morale; possible depression
People get stuck and don't move forward
What are some examples of statements turned to positive outcome statements?
At the individual level
“Why can’t I lose weight?” - Focuses on the problem not on the solution
“What can I do to lose weight?” – Positive directed thinking
At the group or organizational level
2 “Why do we keep working all this overtime every weekend?”
“What do we need to do to limit our overtime for the weekend?”
The difference between the positive statement and the negative one is that the positive
outcome statement focuses on what you need to do. This is critical to allow both the individual
or the group to be more efficient and effective in accomplishing their desired outcome. There is
a lot less time wasted when you focus on what you need to do. We can think of many
examples just in our every day jobs where we waste time and don’t get much done because
we focus on all the problems and not on what we need to do to get them resolved. Let’s take
meetings for example. I know from my personal work experience in a production environment
we have gotten together many times to go over why we might be having so many issues with a
certain product and on the surface it might seem like a good idea to go over all those issues
but at the end of the meeting we really didn’t solve anything. In reality we should have gotten
together to go over what we need to do to get the issue resolved which would be a much more
productive meeting. This is what positive directed thinking can do for us and why it is
applicable in all walks of life. It can be used in your personal life or in your work life and at both
the individual and group levels.
An example at the work level can be taken directly from a particular goal we have just
established where I currently work at. We have been given the goal of reducing our cost by
40% in the next couple of years. This is a long term goal and we need to plan for it. The
leadership in my company has gotten together for discussions many times already and we
have laid out a plan along the walls of our “war room” to determine what we need to do to get
there. This to me is a perfect example of positive directed thinking. We are focusing on what
we need to do to get to our desired outcome and not focusing on what our issues are that keep
us from getting there. This has resulted in very positive and productive meetings so far. Our
focus is that 40% and not the issues. It is apparent that in many companies and organizations
we use positive directed thinking without really knowing we are but it is good to know that you
are using this method because it ensures you stay focused on the goal and not deviate from it
so the desired outcome is always achieved.
Motivation
Motivation is one of the most important parts of the Outcome Directed Thinking model. In many
situation people are looking to reach this area since this is the main outcome from all the work
and planning. Decision-making can involve an entire group or just an individual. In the outcome
directed thinking process once we come up with the positive outcome statement we need to
understand what this positive outcome will do for us and that’s when motivation comes in.
Motivation shows the effect of the positive outcome statement. Motivation can involve shortterm goals or long-term goals. One of the main areas of business in every organization is
Strategic Planning in which experienced employees of the company that know the culture and
market work together to create positive outcomes based on company’s goals. Many time
organizations focus on short-term goals, which inclines with the long-term goals of the
company. When discussing and determining these goals the strategic planners have to think
3 about what will motivate the people to achieve these goals for them on a short term and longterm bases.
My experiences with strategic planning comes from the banking industry. After working at a
management level within the consumer banking area for 4 years I have realized that decisionmaking is used in banking on a daily, quarterly, yearly and long term basis. Many times if there
is a product coming out our strategic planners are already focusing on the positive and
negative outcomes of the change and figuring out what we can do to motivate our employees
to achieve this level of change. The majority of time these changes are long term but are
divided in many short-term goals. One examples of this is how my employer has switched
gears and made customer service our main priority instead of sales since 2011. This process
was started with many short term planning by the strategic planners with a bigger long-term
goal in mind. One main obstacle in this situation was employees’ unwillingness to perform new
required activities since they are so used to the old ways of doing things. To make this switch
smoother our strategic planner came up with motivational processes that will yield a positive
outcome such as recognition, additional compensation and additional positions around
customer service. So our short-term motivation statement on an ODT map would say:
“I want to perform all the required activities around customer service experience
because I was to receive recognition and additional compensation”
And our long-term motivation statement would be:
“We want to satisfy all our customers’ needs and provide an excellent customer service
experience because it’s a part of my development and will help my company succeed.”
These motivation statements show that organizations can use outcome directed thinking to
create great results in the short term and long term.
Obstacles
When faced with a problem or a challenge, what is the first thing that we tend to do. We
usually think of all the things that are holding us back from getting the task done. It is not that
we do not want to complete the task, we just cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. An
ODT map is an excellent tool to keep us on track and layout the roadmap for a successful task.
One key part of the ODT map is the obstacles. The word obstacles in general has a negative
connotation and if you see an ODT map the obstacles are located at the bottom. You are
probably thinking, I have to go through all of these steps to reach the positive outcome
statement and the motivation, that is a lot of work. Well not really, the obstacle are laid out to
provide a step by step guide on what needs to get done to overcome these obstacles. When
you identify your first obstacle, the goal is to determine what needs to be done to overcome
this obstacle and you repeat this process until no other obstacles exist.
At my current job, I’m constantly faced with obstacles and involved in team projects where we
all have to determine what the next step is to get the project completed. One project I’m
currently working on is the implementation of an Ecommerce website for the company. I work
in accounting and we have revenue recognition requirements we must adhere to based on US
4 GAAP requirements. Our goal for the first meetings was to establish requirements from every
business partner, operations, accounting, IT, etc. After all the requirements were established,
the discussions started on what would not be feasible to accomplish within the established
time frame. Each of these discussions presented various obstacles that each business partner
had to determine how they were going to overcome. Here is how I was able to overcome the
obstacle of recognizing revenue when the items are shipped.
Figure 1
Revenue can not be recognized unHl items are shipped Purchase a tool to track shipping Test transacHons for compliance Implement project Develop connecHon between the shipping program and our POS system There are other steps you can take to overcome obstacles and whether you are working on a
short term project that is due in a couple of weeks or a long term project that is due in a year or
two, proper planning and follow ups are key to keep your project on track. David K. Moldoff
provides 15 tips to problem solving and overcoming obstacles in Problem Solving Skills are in
High Demand.2
1. Reinforce a positive outlook
2. Make sure to ask questions so you understand the problem
3. Be open-minded to other possibilities
4. Look down on problem, you’ll get a better view
5. Define the problem from start to finish
6. Take bite-size chunks
7. Think logically
8. Find similarities
9. Mistakes happen
10. Keep your emotions in check
11. Focus on the end game, the solution
12. Take notes and keep track of your progress
13. Challenge your assumptions, you could be wrong
14. If you don’t find success, you can always start over
15. Be honest and realistic with yourself and others
5 Next time you find yourself analyzing a problem you are trying to solve, see how many of these
tips you find useful.
In closing, the Outcome Directed Thinking Map is a great tool to use to keep focus on positive
outcomes. It can be utilized both at the individual or group level. There is really no bounds for
what it can be used for. The tool essentially changes ones thought process into thinking about
things in a positive way and not focusing on all the issues or symptoms of a problem. It
ensures that you stay properly motivated to get your desired outcome. Most people in all walks
of life and in everyday situations might not realize that they actually already utilize this thought
process in determining solutions to their issues. The critical part is to understand your
obstacles and provide solutions to overcome them and stay properly motivated to get to the
positive outcome. 6 References
Cover image retrieved from http://www.theexclusiveelite.com/the-power-of-positive-progressive-thinking/
1. http://www.baclass.panam.edu/mentor/ODT_print.html
2. http://www.collegetransfer.net/ContinueMyEducation/ChangeSwitchTransfer/Iwantto/EarnMyCollegeDegree/O
vercomingObstacles/tabid/937/default.aspx
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