Tool no. 31 - A More Positive SWOT Analysis

This may enable users to discover ideas that may otherwise be overshadowed by fear or antipathy

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
• 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 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

The Tool's Process

• An alternative to SWOT is POUT
• Each letter has an alternative meaning

P

• 1) Predicament’s benefits
• 2) Potential

O

• 1) Outcome-based visions
• 2) Opportunities

U

• 1) Unnoticed
• 2) Unnameables

T

• 1) Transformatives
• 2) Triggers.
• 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

Provenance

• This tool is inpired by the SWOT tool that is extant in the business community.
• This acronym means - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
• () had the idea of replacing the 2 negatives (Weaknesses and Threats) with positives.
• Hannah's joke inspired the acronym 'POUT'

Links

• We may need to think about a glossary of categories
• We may find we don't need categories <?>
• The final keyword list may become really important
• What other m21 tools have a family resemblance, or similar purpose? (e.g. Tool no.1 : Peer-to-Peer Topologies)

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