As a parent, I sometimes return home to find the house in disarray. Things are out of place, some rooms are a mess and the guilty parties are nowhere to be found. Clearly, something has been happening. Eventually I round up the two suspects and ask them the fundamental question.

“How did things get the way they are?”

Usually they exchange glances that contain a wealth of information about possible answers to that question. They seem to calculate the pluses and minuses of each possible answer. Denial (a favorite response) ignores the obvious evidence and lack of alternative causes. Blame means admitting involvement though, of course, the intent is to deflect responsibility to the other party. Excuses attempt to substitute an inferior explanation for the correct one. Silence is stonewalling and an implicit appeal to mercy. Occasionally (just enough to restore my faith and hope), there is an admission of responsibility. Why is that so hard, I am left to wonder?

It is not so different in business.

We enjoy results that might be good (but not good enough) or we suffer through obviously unacceptable outcomes. Then the same question comes to us -“How did things get the way they are?” Confronting that question correctly often determines what comes next. If, on one hand, we attempt all of the responsibility evasions mastered by children in homes around the world, we risk worsening results. On the other hand, when we responsibly answer the question, we lay the foundation for a second important question.

Before I get to the second question, it is useful to remember three fundamental abilities required for management as described by Jerry Weinberg in his Quality Software Management, Volume 1. These abilities allow a manager to meaningfully decipher and respond to difficult situations including “messes” encountered at work.

The three fundamental abilities for quality management include:

1. the ability to understand complex situations (thus allowing you to plan a project and then observe so as to keep the project going according to plan – or adapt the plan).
2. the ability to observe what is happening and to understand the significance of your observations.
3. the ability to act congruently in difficult interpersonal situations, even though you may be confused, or angry, or so afraid you want to run away and hide.

Much of the work of competitive intelligence professionals deals with the first question. They help pose questions, create models, collect and interpret information and then propose options and recommendations for management. Appropriately, management is saddled with deciding what to do. That leads to the second question.

“How can we make things better?”

Few in business would admit to wanting anything other than a better future. A better future might mean more sales, high market share, more successful products and, of course, greater personal rewards. Everyone I know aspires to some version of this better future. What makes answering this question so challenging for many people?

Interestingly (to me), it often is impossible to answer the second question well without a superior answer to the first question. That is, without a firm understanding of the competitive environment, the impact of past strategies and actions and a clear acceptance of responsibility, how can leaders move confidently forward? They cannot. Instead, they might be tempted to repeat past approaches (imagining that they will somehow get better results), avoid acting altogether or silently hope for others to change to make life easier. These things rarely happen and are the refuge of the confused.

A better recipe might be the following.

1. Answer the first question well.
2. Decide (or clarify) your business vision.
3. Create a strategy rooted in reality and cognizant of the competitive environment.
4. Practice measuring strategy and making midcourse adjustments.
5. Always assume responsibility.

Over time, things happen. No one has uninterrupted success in life or in business. What matters is our responses to difficulties. Those responses show our character, resilience and problem-solving abilities. Before we can make things better, we have to face directly the factors, circumstances and actions that got us to where we are.

Answer the first question well to unlock your potential and to enable actions to change your future results.