Identifying and defining problems Essay

Leaders be at the forefront of every organisation. They ar looked upon by their subordinates in initiating the plans and goals of the organization. In essence, leading are the guiding light of every organization whenever the latter is experiencing financial and economic woes, turmoil within the organization or disruption in the organizations work processes. A leader has the power to ascend an organization out from the ashes of ruins and into the world of success. But with big(p) power comes great responsibility, therefrom a leader should have, within him, the element of science in identifying and defining problems.Whenever an organization, say a company or a corporation, loses its jar against in competing in the market wherein it is situated, there is a conduct for it to initiate and deviate. Therefore, it is the leaders duty to instill discipline among the employees, so as to push the satisfying organization into motion. Although its difficult to put unitedly a group w ith enough power to guide the front or to convince key individuals to spend the time necessary to create and conk a reassign trance, (Kotter, p.36) a leader should have a sense of empathy with the organizations employees, so as to let him be aware of what the whole organization is feeling about the whole effort of innovating and changing the organization.For problems to be identified and peg downd there is a need for the cooperation of both the managerial leaders and the rank and point employees. In pioneer a change within an organization, the great unwashed often underestimate the exorbitance of the task the work requires great cooperation, initiative, and bequeathingness to make sacrifices from many people. (Kotter, p. 35) Empathy comes into play here.When the people within the organization know that there leader is to be trusted, they would non hesitate to cooperate in the leaders efforts. Innovation and change will come eventually. The absence of a major visible crisi s, let out overall effect standards or a lack of sufficient performance feedback contribute to complacency which, in turn, contributes to laxity in doing the work processes beneath quality standards. Leaders should be adept at noticing or recognizing these sources of complacency so as to remove any hindrance to an organizations effort to innovate and change.Add to this, as requirement for a leader, the skill of dear listening for through this, misinformation within the organization would be greatly decreased. It is said that opportunity is problem turned in typeface out hence organizational problems often open many windows for innovation and change. The first musical note in managerial problem solving is problem and opportunity identification. Tushman and OReilly (2002, p. 40) said that just as physicians first focus on their patients presenting symptoms, managers moldiness identify their organizations critical problems.This done, they washstand then analyze the ca gives of these problems and, in turn, take action to address themwhile avoiding unexpected side effects. Similarly, once opportunities are identified, managers can analyze those aspects of the real organization that will get in the way of achieving the units aspirations. With the authors idea in mind, a leader should know the actual assessment of the organization so that he can properly implement the right strategy to a particular unit in an organization.In doing this, a leader or manager (and his or her team) needs to be clear about the strategy, objectives and vision of the unit. Such clarity is the bedrock of managing innovation and change. Only when strategy, objectives, and vision are defined can managers move on to an honest appraisal of the current performance of their organization. (Tushman & OReilly, p. 41) After the mission and goals have been set and are clear in the minds of the unit members within the organization, efforts should be made in determining how the proposed strate gies will fare considering the current performance of the organization.This will add a situation wherein the management can gauge whether the mission and goals of the organization are realistic or not. As Tushman and OReilly have stated, organizational performance gaps are the differences between desired and real performance. These performance gaps can be termed as opportunity gaps. When we arrive at knowing these gaps, we would rattling be able to clearly formulate a clear and clear strategy to use in a particular situation. But strategies wont materialize on their own it needs painstaking efforts to be able to arrive at these strategies.What can a leader do about this? A good leader knows that he cannot steer the whole organization, especially if it is a big one, towards its goals on his own. He needs the armed service of all his subordinates. It is needed for the leader to encourage the management and the rank and file employees to join him in formulating and implementing the se strategies for innovation and change to be realized. It is a fact that creative thinkers tap into their imaginations by combining and recombining ideas or concepts to make sweet connections.Creative thinking is really about discovering new connections through the use of the imagination, diverse stimuli, and creative-connections power tools. (Dundon, p. 42) In addition to these approaches for identifying and defining problems and opportunities for innovation and change in an organization, Dundon stated (2002, p. 64) that a preferred method for idea extension is having an Innovation Group which, because of its comprehensiveness and rigorous design, goes beyond the more leafy vegetable brainstorming method.This allows discussing and formulating ideas at a higher level within the group. in one case these approaches have been taken, what a leader should do now is to carefully evaluate how the organization reacts to these implemented strategies so as for him to make necessary co rrections when the need arises.ABSTRACT There are many approaches to identify and define problems that confront a particular organization. These problems would not be addressed and be made visible without the guidance or skill of a good leader.Hence, it is needed that a leader is knowledgeable of the processes of an organization, empathic and, best of all, a great innovator himself who believes in positive results that innovation and change develop to an organization. Sources 1) Dundon, Elaine (2002).The Seeds of Innovation. New York, American Management Association 2) Kotter, John P. (1996). Leading Change. Massachusetts, Harvard byplay give lessons Press 3) Tushman, Michael L. , & OReilly, Charles A. (2002). Winning Through Innovation. Massachusetts, Harvard Business School Press.