When I set myself an outcome of buying a home in Wiltshire, it
seemed like a major decision. It was frightening when I thought
of all it entailed for me at that time. My action steps were very
small. Each one felt safe at the time I took it. My plan was:
1Find out what sort of magazines/brochures would have
details of the kind of house I wanted. (I didn’t even buy the
magazines at this stage.)
2Register with the sort of estate agents who had details of this
type of property. At this stage I made it clear I didn’t want to
view any properties.
3 Drive through areas where I thought I might want to live.
4 Visit one or two chosen properties, but on the clear
understanding that I was not ready to buy.
It was a year from the time I started this process to the time I
found a house I wanted to buy. Each step was a realistic one for
me at that time. The result was I found a cottage with which my
family and I fell in love.
It helps to set a time frame for each of your action steps. Give
yourself a date by which you will have achieved each one. It
may not always be necessary to know them all in advance, but
set out the first one or two. This way you will have started your
journey toward your outcome.
The characteristics of well-formed outcomes work in just the
same way for organizations as for individuals.
Problem-centered organizations are moving away from what
they don't want. They are more likely to react to the
competition and in so doing to become dependent on what
the competition does next. They are driven by market trends
and are directly affected by the economic climate. They step
into a “fire-fighting,” crisis-based way of working. Their goals
are set in reaction to others. They have difficulty planning and
then sticking to any plans that they do manage to set. Their
actions are determined by what other companies do next.
Organizations functioning solely in this way cannot maintain
Small steps to successProblem-centered
organizations are more likely
to be reactiveACHIEVE WHAT YOU REALLY WANT: WELL-FORMED OUTCOMES 279