Here at STI Press, we're excited to announce the next business fable in the series pioneered by our own Matt Weilert and BonnieRobin Watau. This is a quick read, recasting for business audiences, a story beloved by children for generations. Stone Soup tells the story of three soldiers who impart a great gift to a village. In this retelling, The Copper Ladle teaches a fresh per­spect­ive: good meals are good theatre.

For centuries it's been true that good theatre starts great conversations. Flourishing conversations can open hearts that open minds. In today's globally competive, borderless digital environment, the fresh perspective of a child's mind drives innovation by clarifying the nuances of business intimacy:

Create the conditions that foster flourishing conversations.

Make it safe for people to tell us what we need to hear, rather than what they think we want to hear. That is a story worth telling over and over and over again!
 

Want to know more?

Reach out to us [1, 2] if you're interested in more detail. We're easy to talk with and fun to work with.

Every task can be layered

Every task can be layered, the thinner the layer, the easier it is to understand. That is one of the keys to the Systemkey™ Risk Intelligence Framework. Making something "sashimi simple" is the verbal shorthand for conducting a "thin slice interview" which Whitney Johnson does so masterfully.

As a classically-trained pianist, she is tuned (pardon the pun) to recognize nuances & subtle distinctions, that we here at STETA Group call #bizint, or business intimacy. Those experienced souls like Whitney, who continuallly empty their cup, so they can learn more, derive answers from the nuances others simply overlook.

In the East, the concept of the empty cup, 初 心 者 (sho­shin­sha) expresses this other-centered outlook that fosters the rich dialog where innovation thrives. In the West, it’s the idea of renewing your mind, μετάνοια (metanoia). In other words, from every direction, innovative leaders embrace the challenge of change rather than run from it!

Now for Part Two of "Why is Whitney so much smarter than Mariela (me!)?"

Thin Slice Interviews

We view TSIs or Thin Slice Interviews as an x-ray into the heart of the organization to evaluate the potential for Systemkey™ Solutions to flourish inside your existing culture. For non-technical people we actually have a cartoon story walking people through the “leadership discovery” process in a mythical company, so there's no “we don't do that here” objections. As a follow-up, read our founder's blog on "Keeping Work Playful."

Part of Whitney's genius is the way she has done TSIs in her own career. Denise Lee Yohn talks with Whitney about putting things together in new ways, (mp3 timecode 2:00-2:10). In keeping the conversation simple enough for the intern or the newest member of the firm to understand, Whitney's music sense equips her to maintain a coherent scheme of data-driven decision making, effectively "scaling" the usefulness.

This scaling attribute allows other subject-matter "experts" to filter out obscuring detail or "peel back the layers of the onion," to recognize big-picture trends simply unavailable in the unstructured (or unintuitively structured) data of many company knowledge-base tools.

Workload layering is one of the topics which has always amazed us at STETA Group that people seem to have so much challenge or difficulty understanding. Darren Denenberg's information layering approach is one of the better references on the topic.
 

In multiple choice questions, remove the distractors

In risk assessments: financial, operational, supply networks or otherwise, insurance can actually increase accident probabilities, by inducing both false economic incentives (see Petter Osmundsen et al., http://su.pr/2zOPy6) and a false sense of reduced hazard (see Warwick Cairns, http://su.pr/2EAEpC).

This thin slice approach uses the product lifecycle and the real-life experience of the veterans to uncover layer upon layer of potential risks. Only risk discovery with this level of transparency allow senior leaders to understand the limits of the analysis. Perhaps not surprisingly, this clarity disrupts the entrenched status quo: there is no more "mystery" or "expertise" to hide behind.

More advanced analysis takes more steps. Where a simple analysis is required by time or budget constraints, those requesting the analysis are now presented with clear, audit-ready limits to the results they can expect.

In our view, clarity increases survivability. We are not merely contractually-bound to deliver conformance to spec. We are honor-bound to deliver the unreasonable excellence that can only come from a history of asking hard questions and delivering honest answers. That level of transparency:

• » saves lives


• » saves money


• » saves time

but it does not respect fragile egos who are just going through the motions.

At STETA Group, we believe that the duty and responsibility in crafting risk solutions is too important to be left to those who are "just meeting the spec" or "just fulfilling a contract."

We ask unreasonably hard questions.

We expect transparent answers…

…from companies seeking to be certified in the Systemkey™ Risk Modeling Framework as an emerging defacto global standard, the way Adobe Reader is the defacto global standard in document delivery.

Our vision is to transform how risk is measured and managed, by Making Risk Social to Make You Safer SM from the seabed to the stars.
 

Excellence is not optional.

Not only should it be expected, it should be the foundation of the analytical strength that energizes the merely compliant into the thoughtfully creative, in ways that can be documented, repeated and that deliver enduring value to those who will use the systems in their life's work, their vocation.

1st layer: Risk recognized sets the course for risk resolved.
2nd layer: Dialog-Driven Risk Discovery equips people to discover – and manage – the small details that make a big difference in their profit & loss.

Transformational leaders respond (in their own words) that they are purposefully engaged, they are rarely ever busy, because the 4 letters of that simple word weave a message of disinterested superiority – I'm too busy for you and your needs (as in, I'm too important, Hegel's master-slave roles).

Delivering exponential improvements in risk results (http://db.tt/meWiUrP1) means that we listen intently to the music behind the words and ask purposeful, structured questions about details that are out of tune. Listening is one of the most vital first steps to gaining trust and trust is the central element of building business intimacy: that culture where people tell us what we need to hear, rather than what they think we want to hear.

Our RedSky™ software takes tribal knowledge and turns it into actionable insight that can scale across not only your specific value delivery circle but mature implementations can scale across entire supply networks. The cold hard facts of doing business in a post-9/11 world take that statement out of the realm of hyperbole and place it squarely in the sweet spot of today's best industry strategists.

• » Leaders state they want to be close to the customer.


• » The only way to do that at the enterprise level is to have the distributed workforce speak with a common voice, expressing a common vision.


• » The only way to do THAT (uniform vision driving consistent action) is to effectively influence the discussions by shaping the company culture. Systemkey™ Solutions are bottoms-up, embracing every level of the enterprise, while the other 150+ players in the enterprise risk management space are selling technology-centered solutions, "software for experts."

Organizations not using the structured conversations that Systemkey™ Risk Solutions enable, have next to no idea what's going on at the intimate level of detail it takes to deliver order-of-magnitude risk reductions.

For years, so-called experts have told young people to specialize so they can "stand out from the crowd." The risk in that specialization is getting defined by it, rather than equipping themselves to make the transition in levels of thinking as easily as one changes from office shoes to running shoes, each tailored for the task at hand.

Note: This post reuses previously published material, with permission. Our founder, Matt Weilert's blog posts and his leader's innovation manual: 19 Days to Business Intimacy [read sample, buy the book] both provided key ingredients to the tasty morsels served here.

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