In their 1982 business book, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman outline what they call “eight basics of management excellence”. Considered as a business classic, millions of people throughout the globe have applied the principles as suggested in this book with varied degrees of success. Many years after the original book was published, Tom Peters was asked if he could name any one principle from the eight which he considers to be most critical to success in today’s business. Without hesitation, he chose “A Bias for Action” as the most important critical. In his words, “It’s not only the most important. It’s arguably more important by an order of magnitude today than it was in 1977 when we started the research.”
It’s important not to confuse a bias for action with being impulsive, since impulsive decisions are often not supported by data and are more “shot in the dark” hunches.
| Definition: The ability to demonstrate preference for action over inaction. |
People with a bias for action take calculated risks with the data and information available and sometimes fail fast to find the best solutions as soon as possible.
People with a strong sense for action bias demonstrate the following behaviour:
- They build a culture of taking initiatives.
- They are not afraid to make the call when faced with a challenging situation.
- They are prepared to take risks and support those who fail to be risk-tolerant.
- Most of the times they will not hesitate to reach out and ask for help when stuck.
- Willing to roll up their sleeves and get the work done, even when it may not be their job.
- Hold themselves accountable and motivate others to follow suit and get things done.
In this module, we are going to cover
- What action bias is not (clarifying some myths)
- Three types of personalities with respect to action bias
- A proven model: Adair’s Action-oriented Leadership Framework Model
- Strategies to develop action bias
Note: There is an assessment which you are supposed to take once you complete this module.
So, let us get started.
