No Dog in the Hunt: Why Bottlenecks Work

Have you ever been distracted by the plank in your eye? What about the fly stuck your ointment?

I have. And so has every business owner I know! We all need tools that both highlight our blind spots and assist us work around them.

To take action, we all benefit from the catalyzing effects of clarity and simplicity.

I had a BFO last Wednesday. Facilitating the TiE Rockies Entrepreneurial Roundtable (click for upcoming offerings), I discovered firsthand why a Crankset Group tool--the Bottleneck Exercise--works so effectively to highlight a business owner’s blind spot and allow us to truly take the next step.

Our bottleneck exercise reflects some principles from James Surowiecki’s book, Wisdom of Crowds. He explains four factors that contribute to the surprising power of the “wisdom of crowds”:

  • Diversity (vs. homogeneity) of opinion: Groups that have greater diversity—not just the ‘crème de la crème’ but also “the least of these”—produce clearer wisdom. Crankset Group 3to5 Clubs utilize the bottleneck protocol with up to 24 members from different industries and different stages of business maturity so that there can be a great diversity of background, perspective, and insight. (more…)

No Dog in the Hunt: Why Bottlenecks Work is available on American Business Advisors Management Consulting Firm In Denver

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