Tool no. 31 - A More Positive SWOT Analysis
This may enable users to discover ideas that may otherwise be overshadowed by fear or antipathy
See also new knowing
The Tool's Purpose
- SWOT analysis is a much-used (and helpful) tool but it can precipitate a negative mindset.
- It is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
- If people perceive something as a danger or threat (rather than a useful challenge) their blood vessels etc. contract.
- This physiological change is likely to impede their ability to think in a constructive and affirmative way.
- We wanted to create a tool that offers a more creative and opportunistic frame of reference
- If successful, users would find themselves occupying a more serendipitous space of conjecture
- This does not mean that 'Threats' or 'Weaknesses' do not exist.
- Our tool is not a panacea for every situation - more for the creative aspects
- Others have found it practically helpful and enjoyable to use
The Tool's Process
- An alternative to SWOT is POUT
- Each letter has an alternative meaning
Predicament’s benefits or Potential
Outcome-based visions or Opportunities
Unnoticed or Unnameables
Transformatives or Triggers
P | O | U | T |
Please define your PREDICAMENT | Pick out the hidden OPPORTUNITIES | Specify aspects that are UNNOTICED | Specify small action/s that might TRIGGER IMPROVEMENT |
P | O | U | T |
Re-think it as a POTENTIAL | Specify your ideal OUTCOME | Specify action/s that are UNNAMEABLE | Specify adjustments that are TRANSFORMATIVE |
- There are also alternative ways to arrange these four letters,
- Its use is straightforward and needs little expert introduction
- Context/conditions for use
An Example
- POUT can be mapped within a quadrant, using 2 (X-Y) axes
- The values of the X axis can be made to correspond to Left=evaluative and Right=creative
- The values of the right axis can be made to denote Bottom=ambiguous values and Top=explicit values
- This equates it with our system of 'working styles, i.e. where:
P=Envisioning
O=Pushing-Doing
U=New Knowing
T=Languaging
The Tool's Context
- The business world has tended to work within a post-Spenserian frame of reference
- This has encouraged a metaphorical repertoire that emphasises 'competition', 'power' and 'winning'
- But more recent evolutionary theory (e.g. Margulis, *) has shown that this is a costly approach
- The quest for synergies that optimise the use of resources is much-needed in the 21st century
Provenance
- This tool is inpired by the SWOT tool that is extant in the business community.
- SWOT was created by Albert Humphrey when working at the Stanford Research Institute.
- The SWOT acronym means - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
- John had the idea of replacing the 2 negatives (Weaknesses and Threats) with positives.
- Hannah's joke inspired the acronym 'POUT'
- See the Blindspotting Analysis Tool by James Greyson
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