The POUT tool
(see other keywords and resources)
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The Tool's Purpose
- SWOT analysis is a well known (and helpful) managerial 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 may 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 creative, opportunity-finding phases of operation.
- 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
POUT in 2 phases
| POUT in phase 1 | Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. |
| P Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | O Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | U Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | T |
| PREDICAMENT | OPPORTUNITIES | UNNOTICED | TRIGGERS |
| map your situation | what does it reveal? | who can see clearest? | What makes u feel better? |
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| POUT in phase 2 | Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. | Plugin Image Server does not support image manipulation. |
| P | O | U | T |
| POTENTIAL | OUTCOME | UNNAMEABLE | TRANSFORMATIVE |
| map your future | what is your dream? | can u picture / sing it? | how many changes? |
- 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
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POUT mapped as a quadrant with 2 (X-Y) axes
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- 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:
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P=Envisioning
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O=Pushing-Doing
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U=New Knowing
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T=Languaging
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Provenance
- SWOT was created by Albert Humphrey when working at the Stanford Research Institute.
- A joke by Hannah Jones inspired the acronym 'POUT'