Next Time

For those who have worked with the Results Chain™ technique found in Macroscope, the most powerful justification for an investment is how it will contribute toward important business outcomes. Here’s how I’d want to use it to approach this question next time. This is a first draft of a model I could use to stimulate deeper understanding and facilitate decisions.

There are some further lines of reasoning, but this gives the main picture.

The Need

I was recently asked to help with a business case for a course. It was a “soft skills” course that would contribute to team building, collaboration, creativity and productivity. The client knew instinctively that the course was important to the development and performance of her people, but she had to convince her boss that they should spend the money now instead of next year.

Back Story

I was recently teaching a Macroscope Foundation course, and sharing my zeal with the principle that the business participants should take a driving role on many aspects, when one person finally spoke up with, “I have never, ever seen it work that way.” In his experience, it had always been IT (and IT consultants) pushing everything.

I gave two quick answers: