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May 16, 2007
Conceptual Thinking
Recently I had a chat with a reader of the blog (thank you P.!) who commented the blog was useful, but sometimes a bit too conceptual of nature. Blogs are just read in a casual way, and not studied.
I agree, and I will try to better my life there ;-).
However, I would also like to point out how important conceptual thinking is. A good concept helps understanding reality in two different ways:
- A good concept helps you perform a gap/fit analysis on reality. If you are evaluating a certain situation, the concept helps you figure out which bits are still missing and which bits are redundant.
- A good concept helps you broaden perspective. If you understand the concept behind something, you can define other applicabilities as well.
Ok, examples. Lets take for instance a set of metrics within an organization. A concept for creating the right metrics is the balanced scorecard (there are many frameworks, I am just picking this one because it is so well-known). So if you need to evaluate the metrics you have, mapping them to the balanced scorecard framework tells you if you are missing metrics in vital areas, such as growth/learning, or if you perhaps have too much metrics in another area, such as process.
And if you understand how to apply balanced scorecard principles on internal management metrics, you can understand how the same principle applies in other areas. For instance, you can use the same framework in managing supplier relationships (supplier scorecard), or creating a brand promise to customers using the balanced scorecard. Or... or... or... a good concept, boiled down to the essence, can be used in many different ways.
Hope this was not too conceptual...
frank
Posted by Frank Buytenkijk at May 16, 2007 1:46 AM
