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down logic lane
Posted on: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
On my way to running a workshop in oxford a few weeks back I found myself walking past Logic Lane. Now there is nothing special in that, I guess, but as one who studied Logic and Metaphysics for his Master, walking past Logic lane made me chuckle. In fact I could almost hear my tutor whispering in my ear ‘that’s not the first time you’ve walked right past logic lane now is it?’.
Bad humor aside walking past Logic Lane reminded me of how most businesses function according to some deeply held beliefs that are logically sound. Yet, logic is not the same as truth.
Logic says that we cannot sell music on line when you can get it for free easily. The truth is Apple made a business out of doing just that.
Logic says you cannot have a hotel that is at once big enough for conferences yet small enough to be personal. The truth is that Four Seasons became what it is on the back of that very strategy.
Businesses gain a lot in exploiting not the flawed logic of their competitors but the truth that lies unseen. Our analytical mindset and obsession with metrics however forces us down a road where we see competitive advantage lying in improved logic rather than the search for truth.
Avid readers will recognise the four seasons example from Roger Martin’s The Opposable Mind. I have written about that book before and highly recommend it. But you don’t need a book to start questioning the logic that underpins your business.
What happens if you play with the if-then and the a and b therefore c assumptions that underpin what you do. By playing with logic you can create future possibilities. By restricting possibilities logic restricts actions.
The funny thing is, if you ever happen to be in Oxford, check out Logic Lane and you will quickly discover that it is actually a dead end!
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