Review the working thinking mode in old articles —— Help you to clarify the fourteen thinking dimensions of complex work.

Li Gongzi 2017 65438+1Kunming on October 27th.

The summary of the key dimensions of thinking about complex problems was first made in 2006. At that time, I felt that I needed to use some specific dimensions to structure complex information in my work, otherwise the information, inspiration and clues to perform tasks in my mind would be confused and I could not grasp the key points, so I consciously summarized the effective dimensions of thinking about problems. At first, six dimensions were summarized, and then they were continuously improved and supplemented. 20 12 basically defined thirteen dimensions, and 20 13 added another dimension. Combined with years of practical use, I wrote a systematic summary article.

In the past two years, with the change of job position and nature, the number of times I think about problems step by step with the "fourteen-dimensional thinking mode" has decreased. This is not to say that this thinking tool summed up over the years cannot play a role in the new work situation. On the contrary, in many cases, this model can still help me organize information and ideas quite comprehensively. This systematic, hierarchical and structured way of thinking is very classic.

Looking back now, this thinking tool is one of my most important thinking achievements, and it is also a very useful "crutch" in the primary and junior stages of my career development, which helped me climb over the rugged mountain road and go higher and further professionally.

Li was born in Beijing on February 20 13.

In consulting work, we have to face some complicated, vague and unplanned work every day. This complex task often has diversified requirements-both the requirements put forward by customers and the fragmented thinking and guidance of leaders; At the same time, this kind of work is often not a point task, but involves a lot of preparatory work and follow-up matters, which takes a period of time and certain human and financial resources to complete. This kind of task actually involves more people and takes longer, which is already a concept of "project".

What is such a complicated task?

"... what conclusions do these data support? ... ""... what is the key point of this case? ... ""Where can I find the in-depth information of the case? " "What form should the analysis result take?" "When will it be finished?" …

"... what is the time plan for this market adjustment? ... ""... what should my interview outline contain? ... ""... what conclusions do I need to draw from this part? What information is needed to support it? Who can help me get the information? …"

"... what should I say when communicating with PPT for the first time? How to write a weekly customer contact letter? ... ""... what preparations should I make to meet the customer this time? …"

"... several things mentioned at this meeting need me to implement ..." "... what the leader just told me should be done at once ..." "... in order to cooperate with this activity, I must finish these things first ..."

For this complex and large task involving multiple requirements, multiple work steps, multiple resources coordination and a certain work cycle, how to quickly straighten out the work ideas in the early stage, not delay the work, and efficiently organize personnel to promote the task execution is a typical test of managers' work ability.

What is the most efficient thing at work? My experience is: think in an effective way, instead of seemingly busy arranging a lot of things and working hard.

Here, I want to share an efficient thinking tool "working thinking model" that I have summarized for many years-it is used to quickly sort out information and straighten out ideas at the beginning of a task.

"Working thinking mode" contains fourteen thinking dimensions at three levels.

The first level is actually to find out why this complicated task should be done and whether it should be done.

Although the work is often arranged by the superior leaders, because the leaders do not think too deeply about the specific implementation of the work, many times a complex task may not be done according to the original ideas of the leaders, and there may even be a more direct and simple way to complete it, without completely following the ideas of the leaders, but the effect can still be guaranteed. Therefore, you need to think about the real purpose of doing this task first, whether to do it or not.

This level involves four dimensions of thinking:

(Note that "/"is a synonym, and several words express similar meanings. )

First, the goal/ideal/vision/desire-where to go.

Second, the principle/selection criteria/hard restrictions-hard, regular, objective and difficult to change restrictions.

Third, the task/purpose-what to accomplish/get; What to do.

Four. Meaning/Impact-What effect or impact will it have after completing the above tasks (events)? Only when the meaning of the task is clear can the work be motivated.

The second level is what necessary information and resources are needed to carry out the work after the necessity of task execution is clarified. If this part can't be sorted out clearly, the work is often difficult to advance (sometimes you will find that your own resources can't be completed at present, so you need to strive for resources quickly or let the leaders assign them to more suitable objects, otherwise you will delay time and waste resources, only to find that you can't do it at all, with serious consequences), or the work results are very different (sometimes there is too much communication and information, but it is easy to ignore many requirements).

This level involves five dimensions of thinking:

Verb (abbreviation for verb) needs/suggestions-Subjective needs need to be realized as much as possible, but they are not static and may not be realized.

6. Problems-Possible problems or ideas based on experience.

Seven, resource channels-where do I get the resources I need? Including experience, knowledge, contacts, etc.

Eight, content/composition-only list the work content modules that can be thought of, and don't formulate a logically rigorous idea here; The more detailed you can think about the main job content that a job may contain, the better.

Nine, creativity and ideas-all kinds of ideas, inspiration, creativity, etc. , may become a bright spot, innovation and breakthrough in the work results.

This level is about how to implement the specific thinking, will implement the task to people, money, things, time. I also want to emphasize that you should not want to carry out things at the level as soon as you start, and assign tasks in a hurry in order to catch up with the progress or keep people busy. The problems in the first two levels are not clear, and there are often many detours in implementation. Take the time to think about the first two aspects, which can be said to be "sharpening the knife does not mistake the woodcutter."

This level involves four dimensions of thinking:

X. mode/form-the way the work is carried out or the form of the work result.

XI。 Tools/props/skills/technology-the necessary tools to complete the work.

Twelve. Stage/Step/Process-At which stage is the work going on? How many steps do you need to complete? How many stages will it take?

Thirteen, time limit-the limitation of working hours, how long will it take to complete? When must it be finished?

Fourteen, division of labor-who will carry out.

From a practical point of view, about ten of the fourteen dimensions are most commonly used, namely: purpose, significance, requirements, problems, resources, content, ideas, forms, time limit and division of labor.

I suggest you memorize it. When you encounter a complicated task with many clues, take a notebook and list it immediately, and quickly sort out all kinds of information in your mind.

What if some dimensions can't be filled out in the actual filling process? When you encounter a dimension that can't be filled in, it's probably a blind spot of thinking that you didn't figure out and didn't expect; If you're sure it's not your blind spot, skip it quickly, fill in the next one and add it later.

There are many practical application scenarios, and it is a very versatile thinking tool, ranging from the preliminary thinking arrangement of a project, the arrangement of specific work content of the project, the writing of project proposal, the design of interview outline of urban survey, the design of case analysis and the writing of customer communication letter.

In order to use this thinking model conveniently and quickly, and to spread and use it in the team, I made these fourteen dimensions into a brain map model tool. When using it, I can directly open the file or send it to someone to fill in.

Brain board "working thinking mode";

After receiving a complicated task, carefully filling out the "working thinking model" can really help you straighten out information and ideas efficiently. This is definitely a kind of "sharpening the knife without cutting the firewood", "getting twice the result with half the effort" and may even be the most effective thing you can do before starting work.

Don't just look at the diagram of the "working thinking model" and think that "this thing is so complicated, and it's a waste of time to fill it out" and "I can figure it out myself, so it's not so complicated". Be sure to practice more times and make good use of it, which will obviously improve your thinking efficiency and make your work ability even more powerful.

Finally, three examples of using "working thinking mode" are attached as signs.

Example 1: Preliminary thinking on a large-scale special research project

Background:

For a large-scale special research project, the company leader verbally communicated the project situation to me, and then my team will formally carry out the follow-up research package. I am not very familiar with the area where the project is located and the professional fields involved in the project, and I have mixed feelings about how to carry out research work. Before formally meeting with customers, it is necessary for young team members to start doing some effective homework, which will be used as the material for talking with customers and future work.

The application of "working thinking mode";

Application effect:

After sorting out this preliminary idea, I have a good understanding of the key points and necessary work contents, and began to convene a team meeting and divide the work. The discussion deepened many aspects of work.

Example 2: Prepare the first communication document with an enterprise about the project.

Background:

For the first time, I formally communicated with the senior management of the enterprise on the specific situation of the project. The communication was in the form of a meeting, which was the first formal team meeting between the two sides. The senior management of the other party will answer our various questions in the meeting, and use the opportunity of the meeting to help us coordinate various resources and implement the person in charge of the docking work. So this is a very important meeting. During the meeting, we have many ideas about what questions we need to ask and what meeting materials we need to prepare, and the things we need to prepare are also very trivial. Limited by the space here, I only show the thinking content of the problem communication part, omitting the thinking of other meeting contents.

The application of "working thinking mode";

Application effect:

After figuring out the main problems and communicating with senior customers, I quickly wrote the PPT of the communication meeting, and the content was in good order. The follow-up communication will be very successful and the communication information will be sufficient, laying a good foundation for the follow-up work.

Example 3: Write a work contact letter with the customer.

Background:

After the market adjustment of a project, we should keep in touch with customers every week. The latest work progress will be written into a work contact letter and sent to customers every week to keep the information symmetrical. Although it is only a simple communication letter, it must convey a sense of professional value, and at the same time, it must be completed quickly, so as not to take up too much time and affect other work.

The application of "working thinking mode";

Application effect:

By quickly sorting out ideas, I wrote the contents of the letter in an hour, which is very efficient and fast. Every 1~2 weeks, communication ideas will be sorted out in a similar way, and contact letters can be written quickly and efficiently.