Why Should the Boss Listen to You?: The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor

8.2. The Strategic Value of Pattern-Related Thinking

If you understand patterns, then you systematically discipline yourself to observe events and scenarios with an eye for analyzing event structure, timelines, and variables. Two powerful benefits accrue to you. First, you simply know more than other people because most people think in fragments, in segments, often in a state of denial. This approach can create even more devastating problems. Second, you can become a forecaster. This is the powerful part. Although there is some truth to the observation that scenarios or patterns have their unique characteristics, what is even more powerfully true is that they also share enormously important, often crucial similarities. This being the case, you ...