AI
AI
Employees often know very well where customer needs remain unmet, where processes are no longer effective, or where offerings are losing their relevance. But how do you turn this awareness of problems into new business ideas?
That’s why we developed the viadoo Pivoting Day. It creates a methodically guided space to openly address such observations—and translate them into concrete opportunities for the future. Leaders and employees work on this together:
1. Who or what is threatening our business?
Participants identify disruptive trends and new competitors on the fringes of their radar.
2. Where are we putting ourselves at risk?
They openly examine which decisions, routines, and measures could threaten the company’s existence in the medium term.
3. What can we do about it?
Based on this, they develop ideas, collect them, cluster them, and prioritize them. Established practices can be called into question, and new approaches can be outlined.
Employees contribute their knowledge of the company, customers, and the market. In this way, they serve as a valuable complement to—or even a substitute for—external consultants. In one instance, participants in a viadoo Pivoting Day developed more than 70 new ideas for the future of their organization.
In one case, the viadoo Pivoting Day helped a company that had previously been in serious financial trouble win new customers, secure the largest contract in its history, and restore investor confidence. The workshop served as the catalyst for a comprehensive reorganization that integrated strategic, operational, and financial initiatives.
People often recognize concrete risks more quickly than abstract future opportunities. The Pivoting Workshop leverages this psychological mechanism to systematically drive innovation by tapping into the workforce’s awareness of problems.
Negative events, information, and feedback receive more attention, are processed more thoroughly, and often remain more firmly in memory than positive ones. In the workplace, this means that unnecessary processes, customer complaints, failed projects, or leadership issues are often more vividly recalled than potential opportunities that lie in the future.
We leverage this scientific insight in the first part of the Pivoting Day. Additionally, our questioning technique helps us avoid direct confrontations within the team. Furthermore, participants identify problems anonymously, allowing them to discuss them openly.
According to “Prospect Theory” (Kahneman and Tversky), people weigh potential losses more heavily than comparable gains. A question framed in this way therefore usually generates more creative thinking than one focused on new opportunities.
The viadoo Pivoting Day creates a clear point of reference through such questioning and draws on concrete, experiential knowledge. Combined with our conflict-avoidance measures, this usually results in a substantial collection of identified risks and problems. This is important because it serves as our starting point for the next step in the workshop.
Organizational psychology distinguishes between two types of communication: “Prohibitive Voice” draws attention to risks, mistakes, or harmful practices, while “Promotive Voice” develops improvements and new ideas.
For employees to express themselves constructively, psychological safety, a sense of responsibility, self-efficacy, organizational commitment (loyalty), and openness on the part of managers are essential. We ensure these elements through preliminary briefings and the methodologies we employ. Added to this is the experience of our facilitators.
In a 30-minute conversation, we’ll work together to determine whether the viadoo Pivoting Day is a good fit for your current situation, which skills among your workforce could be developed, and who should participate.
We’ll highlight where internal structures, processes, and governance within your organization are no longer keeping pace with your actual or planned growth. In doing so, we’ll help reduce risks to cash flow, financing, and—in the medium term—even to the very survival of your company.
