5 Sources to Activate the Collective Intelligence of the ...

5 Sources to Activate the

Collective Intelligence of the

Company

Increase Strategic Readiness Through

Crowd Intelligence

Written by: Ronald Herse I April 23, 2020

Image: MicroStockHub/istockphoto.com

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If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the

rate of change on the inside, the end is near.Jack Welsh

The only effective way to improve one's own ability

and speed of change is by increasing the level of

networking and using the right evaluation procedures.

2 | Activating Collective Intelligence in Times of Crisis

5 Sources to Activate the Collective Intelligence

The first shock has been overcome. Now high

economic uncertainties are becoming the new

normality for some industries and organisations.

These uncertainties will be with us all for a long

time to come. The great challenge of securing

our own liquidity and sales, keeping an eye on

costs and at the same time remaining capable

of acting globally is becoming part of our

everyday business.

Especially for complex, internationally operating

organizations, it is now a matter of quickly

activating the collective intelligence of the

entire company.

This paper describes the 5 sources for

activating the collective intelligence of the

company and what is essential in order to

master the next phase of the crisis in a

resource-saving, successful and especially

sustainable way.

Mastering the Crisis in a Resource-Saving and Sustainable Way With Crowd Intelligence

What will be the key issues over the next 6 to

9 months?

It is becoming the most important task of

management to remain capable of acting as an

entire system. This with the aim of ensuring the

effectiveness of our own activities with regards

to our business planning. We have to collect

and consolidate the upcoming faults, risks and

opportunities worldwide in short cycles, and

then set the right priorities immediately and

distributed.

We also have to ensure that we remove the

barriers to successful action on the front lines

and increase the degree of changeability of our

people globally.

Last but not least, direct channels of

communication are necessary to regularly

"flush" the many outstanding questions,

problems and ideas into the overarching crisis

control center, which interprets them in a

superordinate manner and derives

interventions. All this must be done quickly and

systematically. This is a challenge that should

not be underestimated, as very few companies

are prepared for it.

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In order to obtain a holistic view of the current

situation in our businesses (segments, regions,

products, customers, etc.), we must have our finger on

the pulse close to the place of change or on the crisis

front, activate the intelligence of a large number of

people simultaneously and mobilize their self-

organising forces at short notice. This does not only

apply in times of crisis, it will have to become the new

normality.


The Great Man Remains Ineffective in Turbulent Times

Collect, Condense, Evaluate and Quickly Get the Right Things Started

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It is a matter of finding the right sources in order to obtain a picture of the current situation on the

ground that is as holistic and action-oriented as possible.


5 Sources That Are Decisive for Success in Overcoming the Crisis

Securing liquidity and strengthening the cost

position through CRISIS INITIATIVE

MANAGEMENT

The aim is to achieve permanent transparency

regarding current activities and the expected

impact of activities on liquidity, costs, profit and

sales.

Cushioning potential disturbances and risks

through FAULT & RISK MONITORING

Identifying occurring faults and risks at an early

stage and evaluating them in the form of

scenarios on a higher level in order to

immediately initiate the right countermeasures

and thus avoid potential losses.

Removing the barriers to correct action on site

through AGILITY ENABLEMENT

Ongoing comparison of current success-critical

skills with the urgent challenges on site. This

makes visible the knots that are preventing the

necessary agility on site and that need to be

untangled in the short term.

Recognizing the need for action for

adaptability through CHANGE MONITORING

Assessment of the ability and speed of change in

the areas on the front line that have been

affected differently by the crisis. This is done with

the aim of introducing the right measures for

each area in order to support change and

correctly assess the effectiveness of the

interventions.

ISSUE-CLUSTERING enables crisis-adapted

communication

The aim is to obtain information about the

problems, open questions and also ideas of those

affected in an unstructured way, via permanent

feedback channels. Based on the qualitative

feedback from the crisis front, text clustering

procedures of transfer learning are used to

efficiently generate comprehensive insights with

measurable benefits.

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The Level of Structuring and Control of the Survey Process Depends on Sources


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Depending on business field,

region/country or product group,

different challenges have to be

overcome on site. In addition, different

groups of people have to be involved

in the information gathering process

and different levels of maturity of the

crisis zones concerned have to be

taken into account when dealing with

the local situation. To enable this

collection, condensation, evaluation

and feedback of information, a

globally uniform process and a robust

methodology are crucial for success.

At the same time, the process and

methodology must be sufficiently

flexible to be adapted to different

crisis areas and different groups of

people affected.

Depending on sources, different levels

of the given structure are necessary.

At the same time, the collection

process – the control of the request

and the feedback of information as

well as the frequency of feedback –

must be differentiated for each search

field and crisis zone. It is therefore a

matter of combining the right degree

of structuring with the way in which

the control and feedback is managed.

The process and methodology for

collecting the signals must be robust

and easy to use for the operators.

Intelligent analysis methods should be

used to condense the large amount of

information from the organization.

"Necessary and sufficient" should be

the keyword for the practical design of

the sources, evaluation and feedback.

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The 5 Sources Are to Be Marked Differently Along the Individual Crisis Zones


„A Crisis is a terrible

thing to waste.

We must assume that

volatility and uncertainty

in our markets will

continue to increase and

become the new norm in

the business world. The

crisis-like disruption that

we are currently

experiencing clearly

shows us our vulnerability.

We should actively use

the chance to learn from

it.

Securing Liquidity &

Strengthening the Cost Position

CRISIS INITIATIVE MANAGEMENT

Specifics of Source 1


The activities in your organisation should

be fully mapped, high frequency reviewed

and the following questions should beasked:

1. What contribution do the activities

make to strengthening liquidity and

what sales, cost or profit effects do

we expect?

2. Which activities should be prioritized,

which ones should be stopped? How

do we strengthen the desired

activities?

3. Which gaps arise with regards to our

business planning and how do we

close them?

In times of crisis, the most importantmaxim is focus.

It is about identifying where a direct

or indirect contribution to mastering

the crisis is made.

Identify which activities are critical for

success during and after the crisis.

And which are strategically so

important that we cannot stop them.

Also use the opportunity to

"systematically collect waste".

Keep an Overview of the Activity Landscape and Its Effect on Business

Planning.

You should know which activities are currently running and which effect they have.

Cushioning Potential Disturbances & Risks

FAULT & RISK MONITORING


10 | Activating Collective Intelligence in Times of Crisis Evaluate Potential Gaps With Their Deviations From the Original Plan.

Simulate the effect of identified disruptions against the business plan.

Identify and assess risks on an ongoing basis in a closely timed

feedback process and initiate instant measures

Simulate and interpret the risks of the

business using scenarios and put the

right things on the road

The aim is to summarize and simulate disturbances

in scenarios. Generating comprehensive as well as

specific views of the emerging risks of the affected

product groups, markets and countries is the basis

for initiating the right countermeasures in a

targeted and rapid manner.

Bundling risks across the board and

assessing them holistically

In the end it is our assumptions that

determine our actions. Therefore the

assumptions behind our actions

must be clear and transparent. In

volatile times, assumptions can

change quickly due to disruptions.

And this changes the opportunities

and, in particular, the risks for our

specific business.

Short-term feedback to challenge

and adjust assumptions is critical to

success.

Not only to react quickly, but also to

correct the original business plan

and draw the appropriateconclusions.



Strengths and weaknesses or deficits are systematically identified with regard to the skills

critical to success and urgent challenges on site. The promoting and hindering factors for

an effective implementation in the crisis thus become visible. The right starting points are

quickly identified and blocking " knots" for agile implementation are specifically resolved.

Match the Necessary Success-Critical Capabilities With the Current

Challenges – in Relation to the Crisis Zone.Identify and resolve the knots that block the ability to act on the ground.

The ability to successfully master difficult phases depends on many factors. What we do

know, however, is that some areas are more affected by the crisis than others. We are also

aware of the maturity levels of different crisis zones in dealing with uncertainty and

volatility. Agility Enablement is about identifying the challenges specific to crisis zones and

confronting the skills critical to success in these zones in a self-critical manner. This

enables us to find the knots that we need to solve quickly, but also levers that we can

actively use. Due to the heterogeneity of the situation, this analysis must necessarily relate

to each individual crisis zone.Removing the Barriers for right Action on Site

AGILITY ENABLEMENT

Increase Agility & Adaptability

CHANGE MONITORING



Using a few but essential hypotheses, the process of change is assessed with high

frequency. This provides clarity on the speed and ability of change in the areas affected by

the crisis. This is the basis for targeted measures to support the change areas.

And at the same time a good tool to find out whether the countermeasures are working

or failing. This is how we arrive at the right interventions.

Feel the Pulse of the Crisis Front via Change Monitoring and Actively

Promote Change.Identify the need for action to provide individual support to each crisis zone

In turbulent times, we must support those areas that are particularly hard hit by the crisis

and are subject to high levels of uncertainty in planning. The level of maturity in dealing

with uncertainty and managing complex situations are important. The process of change

must be actively designed for each specific area. Defined change agents help on site to

push this forward and ensure direct communication both internally and in the direction of

the crisis management team. Change monitoring is not about control, on the contrary. It

is about understanding and implementing the right measures to support the ability and

willingness to change on site.



Ultimately, it is about giving the people in our company the opportunity to cast their vote,

to express through text what is on their minds. And we do this flexibly, on demand and

loudly. These messages should be taken as seriously as the expected feedback on changes

in sales. The people who feel the uncertainties at first hand must have the opportunity to

address your ideas, concerns and questions efficiently. And every input deserves to be taken

seriously.

ISSUE-CLUSTERINGEnable Crisis-Adapted Communication

Giving the Entire Company "a Voice" by Allowing Ideas, Problems and

Open Questions to Be Reported Easily and at Any Time.Identify common patterns and outliers through intelligent evaluations.

Collecting problems, ideas and open questions from different stakeholder groups and

condensing them in a smart way is not only the order of the day and the right thing to do,

but also useful for everyone involved if we handle the information correctly. It is the basis

for targeted communication to the affected stakeholder groups during the crisis.

Evolutionizer has used state-of-the-art

machine learning methods to bring

together the large mass of qualitative

core statements from our market

segments into comprehensible clusters

of trends, challenges, enablers and

barriers. The identification of overarching

patterns and outliers has been excellently

supported. This was a methodically

valuable and efficient help for us in

shaping our Group strategy and in

deriving requirements for the functional

areas.

Achim Müller, Corporate Strategy,

Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG


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For the first time, machine learning/transfer learning methods make

overarching patterns and outliers to qualitative feedback (ideas,

problems, questions, etc.) instantly visible.

The handling and evaluation of qualitative information becomes easier

and faster. Crisis communication with regard to current problems and

questions becomes more efficient, as the overarching and also the

specific topics become obvious via text clustering.

Methods of transfer learning open doors for a highly efficient handling of

a wealth of qualitative text. This creates a completely new strategic

dialogue and leads to better decisions.

Collective Intelligence – the Best Possible Basis for Informed Decisions

Via the 5 sources, the

organisation's knowledge about

the challenges in turbulent phases

is collected, condensed and

evaluated decentrally and

asynchronously in nearly real time.

Information gathering is delegated

and the analysis is substantially

supported by structural system

support and automatic

aggregation.

The result is the complete use of

the organization's skills and

knowledge for maximum agility on

the broadest possible information

basis.

On this basis, the right decisions

must be made and the resulting

actions sorted back into the right

places.


We must now begin to actively

leverage knowledge in the

organization. It is the only way to

increase internal agility and

mobilize those self-organizing

forces that are crucial for success

in uncertain times.

In times of crisis, we need not

only the firefighters, but especially

the gardeners. They ensure that

we also continue to advance

those issues that are of long-term

strategic importance for the

company.

There is still time for fire-fighting

operations - but it has to be final.

It is now time to start planting the

seeds for increased strategic

readiness and agility inmanagement and control.

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This crisis will not only accompany us in 2020.

Uncertainties and volatilities will become an

integral part of our business. The biggest

mistake is to do nothing now and be

paralysed by the fear of doing the wrong

thing. To assume that we will be able to switch

back to "normal operations" in the coming

years is a fallacy. Strategic management,

leadership and organisational control will

(have to) function differently in the post-

Corona era than they did before the crisis.

„

Increase Networking Density and

Strategic Readiness

Ensure that the flow of information from the

front line is simple and fast, that information is

bundled and decisions are made quickly. This is

important in order to quickly distribute specific

actions after the decision has been made and

diffuse them throughout the organization.

We have to trust in the self-organizing forces of

the company. This requires transparency and

networking.Without software support this is not possible.


No Alternative to Software Support

Software support is not an option for mastering

a crisis, but a requirement to enable agility and

the ability to act effectively in the first place.

Software is the key to getting the costs of crisis

management under control and avoiding

painful risks in the short term. At the same time,

it prepares the ground for a new type of

management and control that is urgently

needed in our organizations.

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Activate the Collective Intelligence of the Company With Solyp 4.0

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We need tools that ensure the right

networking of people and relevant tasks,

support ongoing dialogue and promote

cross-divisional cooperation – especially

when we don't have the time.

Without the right simple and effective

tools, costs get out of hand and chaos

and frustration are inevitable.

With the right technology and a few but

essential tools, the requirements for

constant ability to act, permanent

readiness and the successful mastering of

crisis situations are created. With the goal

of emerging from it stronger in the end.


Your Contact Partner

Ronald HerseVice President Content Development

[email protected]

Telefon: +41 71 517 5000

Mobil: +43 650 467 6669

EVOLUTIONIZER GmbH

Cecilienallee 7

40474 Düsseldorf

Fürther Straße 212 A1

90429 Nuremberg

Visit our product website: solyp.com

mailto:[email protected]

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