Complexity of Thought and Planning Time Span

There are multiple dimensions of talent including personality traits, IQ, EQ, desire, knowledge and experience.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

All roles within the organization require a different mix.  Leaders must design their organizational structures to support their strategies, be able to evaluate people effectively then provide the training and coaching required to make them successful in their roles. 

Leadership Tools: Complexity of Thinking and Planning Capability Levels.

One of the critical dimensions is what Elliott Jaques called “Time Span of Discretion” which is essentially a combination of:  

  • Thought Complexity:  How many variables can a person comfortably work with?  At the simplest level are simple “this OR that” logic or statements such as 2 + 2 = 4.  At the higher end is complex “IF...THEN” thinking with multiple variables and unknowns.  
  • Comfortable Planning Time Horizon:  Over what period of time can a person comfortably create a plan when there are a lot of variables and unknowns?  In the field we might consider certain crafts people in terms of how many hours they can work on their own without direction - this is the lower end of time span.

How would you evaluate yourself and your team?  Contact us for simple scoring sheet.

Is your organizational structure aligned correctly to execute your strategy? 

To effectively develop people? 

 

Books & Videos

 

People Resources




Cranes and a Construction Business
There is a lot of intentionality around all aspects of every crane lift, including systems for double-checking and approvals. There is far less intentionality around the business equivalents for contractors and that dramatically impacts performance.
Personal Development (Batman vs Superman)
Contractors must develop management talent at an unprecedented rate and those that master this process will dominate the next 15 years. How do you think about talent development? How do you think about your own development?
Reasons to Run
Successfully leading in the long-term requires going beyond managing to outcomes. You must dive deeply into the underlying activities, habits, behaviors, and ultimately, to the motivations that lead to those outcomes.