The lack of a logical approach
In 1971 Hans Åkerblom had just left the University of Uppsala to work in the business world. He had studied Business Administration and Sociology and he was interested in management and leadership. His first insight into leadership at Beckers, a paint company in Stockholm, was that leaders tried to solve all problems through re-organization. This focus leads to a very Inside-out way of thinking in the company and in the different departments. The key questions asked by management seemed to be: “What about my position and my power?” “What about my salary and my company car?” Hans started to reflect upon why this had become the default solution to problems or opportunities among leaders and what could be done to change it. This led to a process for leaders to use for reflection and action which was first introduced on May 21, 1973.

A logical approach for successful management – Lots^®
Hans realized that leaders in organizations needed to think more Outside-in, not least when they are confronted with challenges and changes.

The process was trademarked Lots^®. Lots is the Swedish word for a harbor pilot and it has its roots in the English word loadsman. A loadsman took the ship into the harbor, unloaded and reloaded it and took it out to open waters again. The captain was always responsible for the ship, even if he had a loadsman on board. The Germans liked the concept and called it Lotzmann and later shortened it to Lotze and when the concept finally reached Sweden it was called Lots.

There are very specific characteristics in the process of Lots^®.

• It is a process with a holistic view that can be used in any development of our business or operations. It may be applied for everything from an overall business plan for an international organization to the planning of a sales meeting, a new department in a hospital or the planning of our next management or board meeting.
• The process becomes a common language to everyone within an organization like English very often becomes a common language in international relationships. When we have a common language we can focus on the content of our Issue.
• The process inspires us to balance Outside-in and Inside-out thinking and to react to deviations in our world. The process has a systemic approach. Changes in one part of the process will effect actions in another. Customers and other Stakeholders should be in focus when we reflect and make decisions. Lots^® wants to promote a sustainable development of our business or our operations.
• The process inspires us to reflect and take in information from the Outside world as well as from our Inside world. That is why Lots^® is built on Open process questions which inspire us to reflect.

Click here to read more about Lots^®

In order to be trustworthy
Hans realized that to fully understand the situation of a leader he must accept a leadership role himself. This would give him the opportunity to test and prove the value of Lots^®. Hans accepted an offer to take on a management position for a new company. He started with four people and 3 years later there were 1,000 people working with him. This venture revolutionized eye surgery in the world. They made it possible for people with cataracts to live a normal life after surgery. This success created great interest in the leadership methods used and more and more people became interested in Lots^®.

Conscious people for conscious organizations
Hans realized in 1986 that the quality of the planning with Lots^® was directly related to or dependent on the consciousness level of the people involved. Hans decided to create a consciousness development process that could help leaders and co-workers to end up with higher quality plans and actions. Nine years later, in 1997 Hans introduced Mindo^® for development of leaders and teams. He emphasized the dynamic synergies between business development, leader development and team development.

The Outer and the Inner journey within ourselves as human beings and as leaders complements the Outside-in and Inside-out thinking in our organizations
Many leaders have become members of development groups based on Mindo^®. They say that Mindo^® has helped them to find new and positive ways to develop in life and in their role as leaders and team members. There are today international firms that have built both Mindo^® and Lots^® into their business and management development. These organizations see the dynamic synergies between Lots^® and Mindo^®.
Click here to read more about Mindo^®

Continuous development
Lots^® and Mindo^® are continuously being developed. As we raise our consciousness and gain new insights we are able to develop both processes and their interactions. The development work is being done with an international perspective and all leaders and people that has been certified by us over the years (more than 3,000 have been certified) contribute to our development.

The years to come
We are all working towards our Goal by 2015 where we want to see more and more leaders and co-workers experiencing more Meaning, Joy and Financial Success in what they do.

We have a growing Community with thousands of members in more than 50 countries. Join the Community free of charge if you are not yet a member. Just click on Join our Community for free and give your name and e-mail address. One of the benefits of being part of this Community is Hans’ reflection letters which you will receive on a regular basis.

A great team
We are members of a great team today and we keep growing. We are proud of what we do and we just love to see more leaders utilizing our services and to see new people being certified and becoming members of our international team. We are also very proud of having several hundred customers all over the world, ranging from the IFC of the World Bank in Washington D.C. to Astra Tech Inc., RezidorSAS, Regent, Save the Children Fund, Telenor, Grameen Phone of Bangladesh, Unibet of the United Kingdom, SEB in Northern Europe and the Swedish Food Agency.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you find what we talk about as being of interest to you. Contact hans@lots.mindo.com or any person that you will find on this web site.

Marie-Louise coordinates our communication and you will get in touch with her by e-mailing; marie-louise@lots.mindo.com.