Understand Your Situation: How to do a Personal SWOT Analysis

Where are you right now? What is your location and present situation?

Having an accurate assessment of our current circumstances is very important. As novelist and poet Wendell Berry notes:

“If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.” – Wendell Berry

The importance of situational awareness

“Show me where you are.”

The sergeant looked at me expectedly, waiting for me to point out my location on the map. It was a simple question, and in most cases, a simple thing to answer but in this situation, it was not straightforward.

I, along with a group of other military trainees, had just been dropped off from the back of a truck. We had been travelling for over an hour and, during that time, we had not been able to see much due to the canvas covering the vehicle. The only glimpses of the outside world were through the flapping material to the rear, and that view was usually little more than a receding track.

So, in this case, the question (from the slightly scary senior non-commissioned officer) triggered immediate feelings of anxiety.

I took some deep breaths to stem the rising panic.

Having wrestled my pre-frontal cortex back from this temporary amygdala hijacking, I started to think. Where was I? What clues could I see that would help me identify my exact location?

We were not allowed to use a GPS device but there were other things to help me. I knew where I had started and, with a rough time and distance appreciation, I could at least guess at the general area we had been dropped at. Next, looking at the relief of the land, I could see a couple of distinct hills and the track intersected with a nearby stream in a re-entrant (small valley). I found similar features on my map and then made sure their alignment was correct by using my compass.

Don’t start moving forward until you know where you are

I looked up from the map and, using a blade of grass, pointed out where I thought I was to the sergeant. He gave no sign that I was either right or wrong. He just said, “Your next checkpoint is at grid 385957. The clock has started.”

The pressure of the situation rose again. More deep breaths. This was a timed march and we had to finish the course in under the set time or risk failing the course. I quickly found the grid reference on the map and started to take a bearing that would give me my starting direction.

As I was trying to do this, I saw people running off in various directions. Worry again. How had they finished so fast? Were they trying to go to the same place? If so, weren’t they going the wrong way? Or had I got the location wrong?

I suppressed the urge to start running. As people left the area, I swiftly re-checked my logic. I came to the same conclusion. my location was correct; I was ready to set off. Stowing my map, I fixed my eyes on a feature in the distance, as indicated by my compass, and started the shuffling run of the over-burdened soldier.

Fortunately, I got it right and I completed the test. Not everyone was so lucky. Hours later, after the cut-off, various figures hauled themselves and their heavy rucksacks back into the wagon. Their bodies sagged with defeat. I recognised many of the same faces that I had seen dashing off prematurely at the start.

The GPS Tool: A Personal SWOT Analysis.

I was not fortunate enough to have a GPS then but most of the time now, when I am in the mountains or on an expedition, I carry a GPS device. It is a great tool for quickly and accurately confirming one’s location. Along with other tools, such as a map and compass, one can build a good picture of the situation.

In our life’s journey, it is also important to periodically confirm our current position so we can make good choices about our next steps. We need to understand where we are to ensure we successfully get where we want to go.

Various conceptual tools can help with this, but it is hard to beat the SWOT analysis. Like a GPS, it gives us a quick snapshot of where we are and provides the data we need to do an effective situational assessment.

You have likely come across the SWOT Analysis tool before, but you might not have used it as a tool to examine your personal circumstances. We might think we know where we are and roughly what our situation is, but what does that actually mean? As Malcolm Gladwell puts it:

“The key to good decision-making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.” – Malcolm Gladwell

The SWOT analysis allows us to quickly identify the key themes of our current situation and then analyse them to have a better understanding and then make better decisions about future direction.

How to do a Personal SWOT analysis

To do a personal SWOT analysis you can follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Create

The SWOT table is created this way:

  • Strengths and weaknesses are usually listed in the first row of the matrix; S and then W. These relate to internal factors.
  • Opportunities and threats are external issues or circumstances. These create the second row; O and then T.
  • In this layout, the first column, strengths and opportunities, are the positive or helpful factors
  • The second column, weaknesses and threats, are the potentially negative or harmful issues

Step 2: Brainstorm

Now, brainstorm as many different considerations as you can under each heading to fill out the matrix.

Here are some questions to help you:

Strengths (internal/personal):
  • What are your key skills, areas of experience or expertise?
  • Can you define what makes you different? What is your USP (unique selling point/proposition)?
  • What are your core values? What do you love, enjoy, or prioritise?
Weaknesses (internal/personal):
  • What do you not enjoy doing?
  • Where have you failed or fallen behind others?
  • What skill gaps do you have?
 Threats (external/circumstantial):
  • What circumstances are most troubling you?
  • Who is your major competition?
  • Which challenge is the most important right now?
  • What is the worst thing that could happen to you/?
Opportunities (external/circumstantial):
  • How can you leverage your present situation?
  • Who/what could most help you right now?
  • How is change providing new openings?

Step 3: Prioritise

Now prioritise the items in each section and work out which are the top three to five things in each quadrant.

Step 4: Analyse

Look at each item in turn and consider the actions you could take. Here are some questions to help:

  • How can you play to or maximise your strengths?
  • What personal development goals, people and processes can help address your weaknesses?
  • How can you exploit, expand or multiply the opportunities?
  • What control measures do you need to put in place to limit the threats?

Now look for any further relationships you can identify across the columns, rows and diagonals.

Remember that weaknesses are often a reflection of strengths. For example, if you have a strength in that you are very good at coming up with lots of ideas, or you are a business with lots of products, a weakness might be that you find it hard to focus on just one of them.

Similarly, look at the flip side of external factors; you may find that threats can also provide opportunities.

Personal situational awareness: know where you are and what that means

The instructions above are taken from a longer post, so if you would like more background on the SWOT analysis and an example then please read: How to Do a SWOT Analysis

You can also watch the YouTube video for further explanation and a visual of how to create a personal SWOT template.

Once you are happy, take some time to do a personal SWOT analysis and note down your findings. Sometimes that means facing some unpleasant realities but confronting the brutal facts (as per the Stockdale Paradox) is a crucial element of planning for a successful outcome. As writer James Baldwin observed:

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” – James Baldwin

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

How to Be More Situationally Aware

Have you ever been lost, and I mean really lost? The sort of lost where a dawning realisation of your circumstances, coupled with a rising panic, starts to overwhelm you? What did you do? How did you do an analysis of the situation?

I was once on an expedition in the jungles of Central America doing some mapping of archaeological sites and stepped a few metres away from the main group. Very quickly I realised I could not see or hear anyone and I had lost the trail. I really had to work at getting calm. I stopped and thought before moving. Then I clearly marked where I was (to stop me getting even more lost) and started an outward circular search until I found something or someone I recognised.

JRR Tolkein wrote “not all who wander are lost”, but equally, there are many people wandering through life with no real idea of where they are of where they are going. Sure, you may know geographically that you are in a certain place, but are you truly in the right place? Are you where you meant to be, where you need to be?

Are you exactly where you need to be according to your greater life purpose? If not, then like I did in the jungle, it is worth stopping and thinking before moving on again.

The Importance of Situational Analysis

The ‘Where’ questions (particularly in The Right Questions approach) relate to the present location and the destination; the starting point and the vision.  The first of these we need to consider is our starting point.  In other words we need to do some situation analysis.  This is because, when you set off on any journey, you need to know where you are first.  If you look at a map or want directions, the initial thing to identify and confirm is your present location.

I learnt this lesson as an officer in the military and as a mountain leader.  Constantly we were asked during training to get out our maps and indicate to the instructor exactly where we were.  You can’t expect to lead others unless you know where you are and where you are going.

The same applies for any new project or venture in any walk of life.  Your route or your plan can only properly be defined once you know your start point.  This is not just a geographical appreciation, it is an understanding of how you relate to your present circumstances.  Therefore going through a thorough appreciation of where you are is essential before moving forward.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” 

Seneca

The importance of perspective

Keeping the right perspective is not always easy. Jim Collins, in his excellent book Good to Great, talks about the ‘Stockdale paradox’, the idea of confronting the ‘brutal facts’ of the situation while maintaining the belief that you will prevail. Admiral James Stockdale survived as a prisoner of war in Vietnam for over seven years under the most horrific conditions. Stockdale concluded this about the mentality that helped him survive:

“This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” 

Admiral James Stockdale

Stockdale did not try to fool himself over his present situation and neither should we, especially as what we face is unlikely to be anywhere near as bad as the years of torture he had to confront! We need to maintain our hope for the future, tempered with a healthy realism about how we deal with the present.

When one looks at the hard data it can be daunting at first but as you take things to their natural conclusion it can also be releasing.  If we ask ourselves ‘so what?’ of every challenge we face, and think through what could happen, and – more importantly – what you would do if the worst was to happen, then we can confront our fears and dismantle wrong assumptions and defeater beliefs.

Be honest with yourself

Once you realise the importance of facing the brutal facts it is time to be honest with yourself. Self reflection can be painful but unless you can be honest with yourself you will struggle to be honest with anyone else.

“Truth – more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality – is the essential foundation for producing good outcomes.”

Ray Dalio

Identifying and analysing where you are

When doing some self reflection and situational awareness it is worth getting multiple inputs and viewpoints.

This is similar to when trying to navigate in the wilderness. You need to use all your senses and tools at your disposal to help you. You would use your eyes, ears, your smell to give clues. You would look not only at your map, but also take bearings to known landmarks. You might also use a GPS or altimeter.

The point being that the more data you have, the more likely you are to have an accurate and rounded awareness and therefore be able to make an effective situational analysis.

There are various exercises to get you going, as an individual, in working out the reality of your present situation.  Here are few things you can try:

Phone a friend

In terms of your personal life why not ask someone close to you – a good friend, partner or mentor – how they think you are doing. If you are like me, and don’t like criticism this can be really hard, but if these are people that respect or love you then what they are telling you is for your own good.

So, get them to be really honest with you!

Ask them:

  • What do they see as your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What do they think of what you are doing now and your present direction?
  • What hopes and concerns do they have for you?

Check your diary and finances

Have a look at your calendar and personal finances for the last few months.

I use my online calendar constantly. It is synced between my various devices and I update it regularly, including specific time each week and then every day to update my tasks and priorities. Then, at the end of the day I go back and update the day with what actually happened. This is helpful in terms of reflection, re-organising tasks that have not been achieved, and creating a record for when I look back in the months to come.

You can do a similar exercise looking at your finances, your bank and credit card statements. It is particularly useful if you have set some sort of budget previously as then you can review your actual spend against what you planned.

When you looking at your diary and finances identify the trends:

  • What are you spending most money and time on?
  • Where are you failing to achieve your aspirations in terms of time and finance?

How you spend your time and money will give you an idea of your priorities and therefore get an insight into your values. It gives facts on the external commitments and pressures you are facing too.

Do some self reflection

Review your journal or note books.  If you don’t have a journal, start one, or find some way to record and reflect on what you do.

I end up keeping a record in various places. I always have a paper notebook with me which I make notes in but also use it for sketching and thinking through ideas spatially. I use the note function on my phone and computer to keep lists, the most important of which is my to-do list. I already mentioned how I use my online calendar to record as well as plan. As well as all this I write posts and articles such as this one. Some are practical, some are more introspective, but the discipline of writing helps to reinforce learning and provide reflection.

So how about you?

  • What methods can you best use to record and reflect upon life?
  • What themes can you identify in your thoughts and actions?

Write your bio

One good idea is to write a short biography. Try and keep it to one page but try to encapsulate your story to date; how you arrived where you are today and what have been the key milestones. Limiting the length of the bio forces you to edit and prioritise the most important events.

You may already have bios on social media, websites or elsewhere. These can provide a good starting place but go beyond just your work history – or the things you want other people to see!

  • What are the events that shaped you?
  • Who were the people that really helped you to where you are now?

Update your CV

In a similar vein to the bio, it is also a great exercise to update or write a new CV. This process helps you to summarise your achievements in a structured way. Similarly to writing your bio, think of the most significant events in your history and the part you had to play in them.

One specific approach you can use is the ‘Made Of’ model. Chose a timeline or event and analyse:

  • the people involved
  • your goals
  • the successes
  • the obstacles you overcame
  • what you learned

There are lots of resources online to help you and if you don’t know where to start then click here:

How to write a successful CV

Review reports and appraisals

Regarding your work life you can look at past appraisals, reports and testimonials you might have. All of these things start to build up a picture. This is similar to the ‘phone a friend’ exercise in that it provides an external view of you at a point in time.

I keep all my old appraisals and reports – from my school days up to the present – in a folder. It is fascinating to look back on the common themes that various people, at various times, have picked up on. Themes such as leadership, communication, people development and adventure keep coming up and still resonate with me today. But there are also plenty of ways that I have changed, and there are also a few reports that record and illustrate my failures and shortcomings. These are good to keep me honest!

if you are interested you can read more about my failings in the post ‘My Many Leadership Failures’

Try a personality or psychometric test

I am not a big believer in the being able to put our personalities into neat boxes. I believe we are all unique in our own way and the many facets of our personality, our preferences and gifts are too complex to easily sum up. That being said, psychometric tests can help us learn more about ourselves and give us greater understanding of those we live and work with.

“All models are wrong but some are useful.”

George Edward Pelham

There are plenty of paid and free personality and psychometric tests available, most of which you can find online. Here are a few popular ones that I have tried out and found insightful:

  • Myers-Brigss (based on the psychological research of C.G. Jung)
  • The Big 5 – You can sign up for a free account at Finding Potential and do this and similar tests. I have used their service for myself and teams I have managed and have found their reports very useful (and no, I am not getting paid to recommend them or if you follow the link!)
  • StrengthsFinder 2.0 (developed by Gallup)
  • Belbin (more for use in a team context but really useful)

My big advice when using these tests is to remember that they are just tools. Don’t get too worried by the reports they generate. Sometimes I don’t like the results I see in these tests as I don’t think they fit for me personally. But that can be helpful; that feeling or thought is an indication of something that needs further analysis. So if you see an outcome that surprises you, question it:

  • Is that answer or output really true of who you are?
  • Is the test giving a more honest appraisal of you than you are willing to admit, or is it wrong?

The SWOT Analysis

Another simple assessment tool that many people know about is the SWOT analysis. Many people have used it but few do a SWOT analysis for themselves. I really recommend it – it is one of the simplest and more informative ways you can do a quick situational analysis. You can also do it for your team or your whole organisation. ‘SWOT’ stands for:

  • S: What are the biggest strengths of you, your team or your situation?
  • W: What are your inherent weaknesses?
  • O: What are the opportunities of your situation?
  • T: What are the external threats that you are facing?

The great thing about the SWOT analysis is takes a balanced view of your present situation. This is very important because we face a couple of dangers at this stage.  Firstly we can paint too rosy a picture of our situation if we choose to overlook or gloss-over certain facts.  The second danger is that by looking at all the challenges the situation can seem overwhelming and this can lead to paralysis rather than action – just the opposite of what we are trying to achieve. So we need to have the right perspective.

You can read more about the SWOT analysis in this post on How to do a SWOT analysis.

The challenges of life

Compared to a prison camp we might think our problems are small, but life is full of its own challenges that can seem big enough. Unless we identify and deal with these issues they will hold us back.  You cannot be happy or successful by ignoring things.  As Philip Wylie said, “Ignorance is not bliss, it is oblivion.”

What are you facing at the moment? Financial insecurity? Challenges at work? Difficulties in your relationships? A lack of confidence or motivation?  Whatever it is, the first step to overcoming the challenge is to identify it.  Do some situation analysis. Call it out; don’t ignore it, deny it or hide it.  Confront it.

This can be easier said than done, I know.

In my experience, as well as taking time to think about an issue it can also be worth writing it down or speaking to someone about it.  Externalising can help (and I say that as an introvert).  This is where a good friend, coach or mentor can be invaluable.

I have appreciated times when people have really listened to me when I have been working through problems and professionally I have spent a lot of time, as a coach, creating an environment where people can talk about and think through challenges.  And in my experience, it really works.

Reflection Question:

Have you ever resolved a bad situation by facing up to it and seeing it in a new light? What was the outcome?

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

How to do a SWOT Analysis (With Simple Explanation and Examples)

The SWOT analysis is one of the easiest and best-known decision-making tools. Leaders and managers employ this method frequently, but it can be used by anyone. Here is an explanation of what a SWOT analysis is, when to use one and how to write a good SWOT analysis. I have also included a worked example.

What is a SWOT Analysis?

SWOT is an acronym that stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The SWOT analysis was developed by researchers at Stanford University, following a study in the 1960s. The study looked at various Fortune 500 companies and found that there was a difference between an organisation’s set strategic priorities and what was actually done. The study also revealed that the problem was not poor employees, but rather a lack of clear objectives. Therefore, SWOT was developed to give staff a clear understanding of a business or project.

Why is SWOT analysis effective?

The SWOT analysis is one of the most important and popular tools for decision making and strategy development. This is because of its:

  • Simplicity – it is simple to learn and quick to use
  • Clarity – it focusses on the key issues and aids clear communication
  • Flexibility – it is applicable to individuals and organisations.

Having a coherent strategy is vital to any organisation, and equally, self-awareness is critical to personal effectiveness. But you need to be able to understand and communicate these things clearly. This is why SWOT analysis is such an important tool.

When should you use SWOT analysis?

The SWOT analysis is best used to:

  • Improve situational awareness
  • Develop strategy
  • Identify and refine actions and goals
  • Improve self-awareness (for an individual or team)
  • Reflect upon a completed project or activity

The SWOT analysis was designed for organisations but it can equally be used by individuals. The SWOT process identifies crucial internal and external influences within a given situation. Therefore it gives us a snapshot of where we are and is excellent for situational analysis.

SWOT Template

The most common way to present and consider the SWOT approach is as a matrix. Here is an example template:

How do you do a SWOT analysis?

Do you want to know how to do a SWOT analysis? Don’t worry; it’s easy! Just follow these steps.

Step 1: Create a SWOT table:

The SWOT matrix is set out thus:

  • Strengths and weaknesses are usually listed in the first row of the matrix; S and then W. These relate to internal factors.
  • Opportunities and threats are external issues or circumstances. These create the second row; O and then T.
  • In this layout, the first column, strengths and opportunities, signify the positive or helpful factors
  • The second column, weaknesses and threats, are the potentially negative or harmful issues


SWOT Analysis Template Layout

Step 2: Brainstorm

Next, brainstorm as many different considerations as you can under each heading.

Here are some questions to help you:

Strengths (internal/personal):
  • What are your/your team/organisation’s key skills, areas of experience or expertise?
  • Can you define your USP (unique selling point/proposition)?
  • What are your core values? What do you love, enjoy or prioritise?
Weaknesses (internal/personal):
  • What do you not enjoy doing?
  • Where have you failed or fallen behind the competition?
  • What skill gaps do you have?
 Threats (external/circumstantial):
  • What circumstances are most troubling you?
  • Who is your major competition?
  • Which challenge is the most important right now?
  • What is the worst thing that could happen to you/your organisation?
Opportunities (external/circumstantial):
  • How can you leverage your present situation?
  • Who/what could most help you right now?
  • How is change providing new openings?

Step 3: Prioritise

Now prioritise the lists; work out which are the top three to five things in each quadrant.

Whether you are using it as an individual or as part of a team, keep it simple and high-level; that is the systems greatest strength.

Step 4: Analyse

Look at each item in turn and consider the actions you could take. Here are some questions to help:

  • How can you play to or maximise your strengths?
  • What personal development goals, people and processes can help address your weaknesses?
  • How can you exploit, expand or multiply the opportunities?
  • What control measures do you need to put in place to limit the threats?

Now look for further relationships that you can identify across the columns, rows and diagonals.

Remember that weaknesses are often a reflection of strengths. For example, if you have a strength in that you are very good at coming up with lots of ideas, or you are a business with lots of products, a weakness might be that you find it hard to focus on just one of them.

Similarly, look at the flip side of external factors; you may find that threats can also provide opportunities. For example, a competitor could actually be a potential partner.

A failed project is always an opportunity for learning. From your analysis, how could you use that learning and pivot the idea, or re-purpose the team?

How to do a SWOT analysis

SWOT Analysis Example

Here is a short example using personal strengths and weaknesses:

SWOT Analysis Example

First looking at the strengths I recognise that I am quite task-focused. This means I am a good planner and show determination when seeing a project through. Moving across to the right quadrant I have noted a related weakness. Because I am task-focused that means I am quite future-orientated. The downside of this is that sometimes I can forget to be content in the moment or to celebrate the success of achieving something before moving on to the next goal.

Then looking at threats I have noted down that there is increased competition in my industry, with more people entering the market all the time. This threat does lead to an opportunity in the bottom left quadrant. I have the chance to refine my USP (unique selling proposition) in order to stand out from the crowd.

Example analysis

It is more likely that I would list more items under each heading before continuing, but for the sake of simplicity let’s do a little analysis on what we already have.

How do I maximise my strengths and minimise the impact of my weaknesses? There are a few options I could consider under the ‘3 Ps’:

  • Personal development: I could attend some training to improve my mindfulness and being ‘present’
  • Person: find or employ someone else with a complementary skill set whose strengths/weaknesses are the opposite of my own
  • Process: put some time in the diary to be more reflective on a daily basis and plan ahead to celebrate after achieving a goal

When considering the threats, I cannot control new people entering the market but I can work out how to best serve, and therefore retain, my existing clients. The opportunity of refining my USP becomes a strategic task, something that is going to require more work delving into why I do what I do, how that makes me different, who I can best serve and what extra benefit I can bring. The other items that I list in the strengths quadrant will help to develop that USP.

Making a plan from your SWOT Analysis

The ‘Right Questions’ format is an excellent way to examine this issue and so if this is something you want to pursue further then I recommend that you read my post on What are the Right Questions for Decision Making and Strategic Planning?

If you would like to explore more decision making tools then I recommend ‘The Decision Book’:

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

Need help navigating your journey to success?

I love to serve people, helping them unlock their potential, empowering them as leaders, and assisting them in achieving their goals. Please get in touch and let me know how I can support you!

The Best Decision-Making Tools That You Should Know About

Decision making is a fact of life, we have a constant barrage of information we need to analyse and choices we have to make. Here are some simple tools to help you.

The SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis is a simple yet effective way of doing a situational analysis and exploring the internal and external influences that are affecting an individual or organisation. SWOT stands for:

  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors; opportunities and threats the external ones. The idea of the SWOT analysis is to keep things simple and concise. All that needs to be done is to record the key considerations under each heading to highlight the critical information that needs to be acted upon. The SWOT analysis is based upon a study done at Stanford University.

The Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix (named after US President Dwight D. Eisenhower) is another simple yet powerful tool but in this case it is used for time management. The process is based upon identifying whether something is either important or not important, urgent or not urgent. The matrix is then made up of four boxes:

  • Important, but not urgent – things that you decide when you will do them
  • Urgent and important – things that should be done immediately
  • Not important, not urgent – things that can be done at a later date
  • Urgent but not important – things that can be delegated to someone else

Items on a to-do list are categorised into the four boxes in order to help prioritise them.

The Conflict Resolution Model

Psychologists have identified that our responses to conflict situations can be categorised in six different ways. Understanding these reactions and being able to identify them in can help to resolve or de-escalate a situation. By looking for the best way to respond good communication and relationships can be restored. The six responses are:

  • Fight. The aggressive response is to try and defeat the cause of the conflict but this has a downside in business and relationships as someone has to become the loser (lose-lose)
  • Flight. Running away is just avoidance; it does not solve the issue so it will still be there at a later date (win-lose)
  • Give up. This is the opposite of the fight response but the result is the same; there is a loser, and therefore this should be avoided (lose-win)
  • Evade responsibility. If someone cannot handle the situation they might give the responsibility to someone else. Bringing in another party generally reduces the chances of a favourable solution. (lose-lose)
  • Compromise. This is when negotiation leads to a solution but one where both parties lose some ground, therefore the conflict is resolved but at a cost to both sides (win-lose/win-lose).
  • Reach a consensus. This is where the conflict is turned into an opportunity where both parties can benefit; therefore it is more productive than a compromise and the best overall result (win-win).

The Making-of Model

This model was developed by The Grove consulting agency and looks at how someone’s past has an influence on their future. It is done by looking back at a specific period of time; be that a project, business venture or important period of life and then analysing it. For each time period the considerations are:

  • The people involved
  • The goals that were set
  • The challenges that were overcome
  • The successes
  • What lessons were learned

This tool can be particularly helpful when crafting a CV.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Developed by the psychologist Abraham Maslow, the hierarchy categorises human needs as:

  • Physiological needs (such as eating, sleeping, sex)
  • Security (shelter, work, health, physical security)
  • Social relationships (friends, community, love, a partner)
  • Recognition (money, status, power)
  • Self-actualisation (faith, self-belief, fulfilling potential, spirituality)

The first three are the basic needs and form the bottom three tiers of the triangle. If these needs are supplied a person no longer considers them. The last two (that form the top two levels of the pyramid) can never really be satisfied and are therefore areas of continual growth.

The Pareto Principle (The 80/20 Rule)

Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, identified that 80% of success and good results come from just 20% of the input. In other words 20% of a company’s customers will be responsible for 80% of its revenue. 80% of a person’s results is down to 20% of their time. The key is identifying the productive 20% in any given situation and focussing on that.

The Belbin Team Model

Meredith Belbin conducted a series of studies and identified nine profiles that were needed in any successful team. They all have particular strengths and weaknesses, which is why all the roles are needed to provide balance. In summary the roles are:

  • Plant – an ideas generator, good at thinking but can find it hard to focus on one thing
  • Co-ordinator – a decision-maker and delegator who takes responsibility but can appear manipulative
  • Shaper – a ‘can-do’ person who overcomes challenges but can be impatient
  • Resource Investigator – someone who looks at possibilities and contacts external to the team; can be over-optimistic
  • Implementer – action-orientated, this person is reliable but can be inflexible
  • Monitor Evaluator – analytical and level headed but can be overly critical
  • Team worker – fosters communication and good relationships internally but can be indecisive
  • Completer Finisher – has very high standards, conscientious but can be too much of a perfectionist
  • Specialist – provide specialist insight and skills but can be too narrow in their thinking

If you want the right answers you have to start with the right questions

About The Right Questions

The Right Questions is for people who want greater clarity, purpose and success. There is a wealth of resources to boost your effectiveness in achieving goals, your leadership of yourself and others, and your decision-making.

Wherever you are on your journey, I hope that you find information on this site to help you on the next leg of your quest. Even if that is just the inspiration to take one small step in the right direction, then that is a success. If you can take pleasure in learning and travelling as you go, then so much the better.

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