We’re thrilled to introduce Jonathan Cozens, the author of Clarity Driven, published by Daisa Publishing. With years of experience in business leadership, Jonathan brings a fresh perspective on decision-making, data, and strategy in today’s complex landscape.
In Clarity Driven, he explores the essential principles of clarity and evidence-based decisions, encouraging business leaders to embrace dynamic, adaptive approaches. Through his work, Jonathan offers invaluable insights for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone looking to drive success in a constantly evolving world.
Join us as we dive into Jonathan's journey, the inspiration behind Clarity Driven, and his advice for aspiring business innovators.
What inspired you to write Clarity Driven? Was there a specific moment or experience that made you realize this book was needed?
The inspiration was the seemingly ubiquitous phrase ‘work on your business not in your business’. In my experience it resonates very strongly, but having realised that everybody has their own interpretation, I wondered whether there might be a simple definition to sum them up. The available evidence consistently pointed towards this common factor simply being decision making, so I was curious to understand more about how decisions typically get made in small to medium businesses. The resulting discoveries and unexpected insights led me to write this book.
In Clarity Driven, you emphasize making effective decisions despite uncertainty. Could you share an example from your career where a key decision was made under uncertain circumstances, and how that shaped your approach to business leadership?
On the basis you learn far more from your failures than your successes, my best examples come from launching my IT services venture in 2016. Much of what I believed to be absolutely guaranteed 100% true turned out to be wrong, and while this led to some challenging times in business, it was an excellent source of real-world evidence when sense checking the material in this book. A prime example was believing that selling technology services would be fairly easy, since I expected the importance of IT systems in business to be universally understood and therefore ongoing support would be in high demand.
You mention that traditional business plans often fall short. How should new entrepreneurs balance the need for a structured plan with the flexibility to adapt to changes in real-time?
The critical point is that a structured plan is not the same as a static one. A structured business plan is the sum of a hierarchy of decisions, based on a corresponding set of well tested assumptions. If those assumptions are continually checked using real-world, real-time data, then the structure retains flexibility in the light of new opportunities or unexpected challenges. Borrowing the comparison of a GPS to a paper map, a GPS will get you to your destination in the shortest time regardless of changes to your journey whereas a paper map can only show you a single path.
You speak extensively about the importance of data in business. In your view, what are the most critical types of data that a small business should focus on to ensure it is moving in the right direction?
The most critical types of data are those that relate most directly to your long-term planning. The further out your predictions go, the greater the degree of uncertainty so you need accurate, up to date data to initially verify and subsequently track your assumptions. Keep in mind, individual data types are no less important than the relationships between them. Critical insight can be gained from examining the causal relationships between data types, how changes in one affects others and so on.
Your book discusses leveraging AI technology to improve efficiency. How do you see AI evolving in the next few years, and how should business leaders prepare to integrate AI into their operations?
Assuming for a moment that AI tools become ever more capable over time, then the range of tasks they can complete will also continue to grow. So, the key question for business leaders is not ‘what can this technology do?’, but ‘what human functions should I delegate to AI’, knowing they have no sense of context, responsibility or professionalism. For example, if it could be shown that statistically, an AI could carry out your role as leader of the business to a higher standard than a person, would you delegate that most precious of responsibilities?
What was the most challenging aspect of being a leader when building a business from the ground up, and how did you overcome those challenges?
Although the business strategy was built from the ground up, I started with an existing company with a team already in place. The biggest challenge but also our greatest success was communicating to the team that the business was now heading in a completely new direction, and making sure that they were engaged and committed to a path they had not travelled before.
What’s one piece of advice you would offer to someone launching their first business today, based on the lessons you share in Clarity Driven?
Be absolutely clear on the difference between assumptions you want to be true, and those you have tested and shown to be true. Launching a business is very often based on some counter intuitive idea or opportunity, which carries a huge emotional load. While your vision or intuition may have been right about something unexpected, does that necessarily mean you are right about everything?
If readers could take away just one concept or lesson from Clarity Driven, what would you want it to be, and why?
Your data or business information is your greatest asset. It’s both your decision-making fuel and your best arbiter of truth in a world of opinion and indifferent reasoning. Look after your data, and take every step to protect it from loss through negligence or attack.
How do you envision the role of future business leaders evolving in an increasingly complex and digital world, and what core skills should they focus on developing?
The role and the value of the business leader, as opposed to the business manager, is to drive change and be a catalyst for success in novel and unexpected directions. Skills development should emphasise strategy, innovation, creative thinking, and multi-disciplinary experience.
What does the phrase Clarity Driven mean to you personally, and why did you choose this as the title for the book?
Clarity Driven is my characterisation of how evidence-based decision-making leads to better future outcomes than subjective methods.
How can readers, business leaders, and aspiring entrepreneurs connect with you to learn more, ask questions, or seek advice on implementing the strategies discussed in Clarity Driven?
For speaking events, podcasts, and media enquiries please email media@jonathancozens.com
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PUBLICATION: 25th NOVEMBER 2024!
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