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Are You Calculating Enough To Be Commercial?
We’ve already mentioned Michael Harvey’s article, which talks about the need to be commercial. And we are often told that our organisations want us to be more commercial. But what does ‘being commercial’ actually mean?
It doesn’t just mean thinking about money, although that is obviously important. What it means is being able to cut through all of the detail so that we can see what really matters - practically and operationally, as well as financially.
A dying art
The very first issue of 5-Minute Insights
talked about the ‘Dragon’s Den’ approach to putting a commercial value onto research results. But having now run a course on Commercial Thinking for the last three years, it’s apparent that there is one skill that insight people really need to develop - mental arithmetic. Tied in with that, there is a need to develop the ability to identify any major potential opportunities and threats.
Sad to say, standards of mental arithmetic are not would they should be. Those of us who were born in the 50s and 60s went through school before calculators were widely used. As a result, most of us find it relatively easy to make calculations in our heads. We have an ability with numbers that is embedded in our minds. But many younger people really struggle – although with only a little practice they, too, can gain that same ability.
A feel for numbers
We’ve already spoken about the rational part of the brain. This is the part that can make calculations. But what characterises the ‘Dragons’ and so-called ‘commercial’ people is that whilst they may sit and make some calculations, they essentially have a ‘feel’ for numbers. The mental arithmetic they practised in school has established patterns in the subconscious that give them that ‘feel’.
It’s important for people who don’t have an innate feel for numbers to practice their mental arithmetic, and to work on financial cases that will help to develop that feel. Because ultimately, this is just a matter of practice.
In
issue 11 of 5MI
, the Tip of the Month was about doing the brainteasers in newspapers. What we’re now learning from neuroscience means that this is no longer just a quick and easy way to sharpen up our maths. It is, in fact, a way of embedding commercial thinking in our sub-conscious.
Bringing it all together
By now you will have noticed that there has been a theme running through this month’s newsletter, relating to the ways in which we think about different things. We’ve looked at Harvey’s feature on being commercial; Lehrer’s approach to decision-making; the effect of writing actions down so that you’re more likely to do them; and the need to develop our mental arithmetic capabilities.
To learn more about the power and importance of different thought processes within insight, why not join in our next Commercial Thinking course, on 21
st October? Or get in touch with us to discuss a tailored course for your team in-house. To find out more, please
click here. After all, a little thought goes a long way….
