Some organizations are all jammed up. We have helped them break free with gut-level learning experiences. Don't make the mistake of thinking this has to be a slow, agonizing process. People can change their perspectives in a heartbeat.
Here's an example:
A consumer products company was looking for growth and wanted to enter a new B2B market. It had several products under development, but had no sales people on the street. As a result, the management team felt out of touch with the market. To remedy this problem, they asked Progress Board to work with them to develop some competitive intelligence.
Instead of compiling a binder of facts and figures about the other companies in the industry, Progress Board created a "war game" for them. We divided the management group into teams. Some of them played themselves and others put on the hats of their competition. Then we put real customers in the room and asked each team to "sell" their products. When the teams finished their pitches, we asked the customers what they would buy and why.
What was the impact? The management team internalized information about the competition that they would barely have read otherwise. More importantly, they had a no-holds-barred dialogue with customers about what it would take to win their business from the entrenched suppliers. Finally, they were surprised to learn that some of their new products would sell readily and others would never move. They tuned their product development agenda as a result.
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