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"Somehow in business, there's not the sort of ethos where people structure things to maximise how much they learn about their business. These companies have no idea, and they know they don't, yet they don't take the steps to get some idea. That's the message that I have. Companies can learn something and base their operating choices on that,"
said Levitt.
What he proposes is having companies change one element of how they do business - such as altering prices or modifying their advertising mix - and then monitor the impact.
"The beauty of this kind of experiment is that just by doing their daily business, the company gets information, and that's a lot cheaper than hiring a consulting firm," Levitt said.
He noted that just as humans need feedback and information about how well they are doing a task in order to improve, so too do companies.
"But almost categorically, business activity is organised to obstruct learning, and partly that's because people don't want to show or reveal to their bosses that they are incompetent."
He also identified two other keys to success, whether for companies or individuals. The first is thinking beyond the conventional wisdom; the second is understanding, and then modifying, the incentives that people face in order to solve a given problem or challenge.
The first day of DIFCweek is sponsored by Credit Suisse.
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Medilyn Manibo, Assistant News Editor
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