LOTS®, the Swedish thinking and development process for business issues and planning, has yielded sustainable business results for over 33 years across 50 countries in Scandinavia, America, Europe and now the Gulf. Debbie Nicol, an Australian, and certified international facilitator of LOTS®, has had success with LOTS® across Europe and now looks to mirror that success in the Gulf region, as a contributor to the future success of the Gulf region. 

Why is the process called LOTS®?

LOTS® is the Swedish word for a harbour pilot.  It may also be interpreted as a small tug boat, taking the role to guide bigger ships safely into harbour, averting any danger spots, showing new paths to take, and allowing the large boat to dock itself successfully.

Similarly, a LOTS® facilitator open pathways for businesses to reach their destination, whilst cautioning against pitfalls along the way.  Once minds have been opened to alternatives, and balance has entered the thinking process, the line is cast free, encouraging and allowing full accountability for the plan to yield results.

What can LOTS® add to business issues in the Gulf, which other processes do not?

LOTS® is a structured thinking and development process, paving the way for sustainable difference. 

Nicol’s 8 years in Dubai and the Gulf has seen a growing awareness of international standards, responsible business principles and global business practices.  These are all focussed upon sustainability.

With a focus on sustainability comes a focus on ‘meaning’, and explores the notion that financial success is an enabler of ‘meaning’.  When the reasons for the plan are clear, when the purpose supports the vision, only then can the goals and activities align, and bring understanding of the contribution to self, and others’ potential.

What are some typical business issues LOTS® may apply to?

Being a process which is applicable across all industries, the business issues may vary according to content, to demographics, to size of corporation etc.  Some examples to which LOTS® has been applied include (in a merger situation) ‘How to build our new culture with the best of both’, (for many industries) ‘the annual business plan’, (for hospitality) ‘how to increase the average room revenue’, (for a tourism authority) ‘how to attract new markets’.

Reflection is encouraged throughout LOTS®.

Correct.  Reflection eradicates reactivity, being replaced by proactive and business-promoting decisions. 

With the process being based on reflection, and an openness to balanced thinking, only then can we see the deviations around and within us, and take action for adaptation.

Reflection also encourages us to identify what practices from the past we should take with us to the future, and those practices which should remain in the past.

With which level of an organisation do you facilitate LOTS®?

The greatest success is when LOTS® becomes a ‘common language’ across the whole organisation.  The relationship and experience with  LOTS® will predominantly commence on board or steering committee level.

A Qatar-based leader indicated that the structured thinking took his team beyond ‘ourselves’, to our customers, our purpose and the meaning of our actions.  A Dubai-based leader of a growing international organisation was quoted as saying that the process brought blue-sky thinking into concrete terms.

What other advantages are evident after the process is completed?

Firstly, LOTS® is a continual process, just as life and business is. Once one cycle completes, the inbuilt reporting structure ensures adaptation and continuity.  This too applies to LOTS® itself!  Many companies which have had previous experience with LOTS® comment on the process’s evolution, and relevance to today’s business priorities.

Secondly, the facilitation often yields leadership reflections, previously unexplored, bringing greater confidence in the agreed plan.  In many cases, the leadership too may see that the process is building awareness, presence and consciousness in its people. This may lead to the notion that conscious organisations cannot exist without conscious leadership.  Many leaders will choose to then privately explore the ‘sister process’ of LOTS®, called MINDO®, exploring ‘my individual development’.