Plan to Succeed
It’s in times like these that the value of a plan becomes clear. For those without a plan, recent events have created a cyclone of activity, some of which may be valuable and most of it reactionary and without a baseline on which to evaluate direction. For those with a plan, activity is proactive and measured against the plan. Are…
Crushing the Competition with Disruptive Strategy
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean. When a tsunami finally reaches land, it is capable of complete and utter destruction. Can the same be said for your strategy? Is it powerful enough to knock out the competition or is it a…
Build Your Business Framework
How often have you seen someone stuck in the tactical weeds of the business? Mired in minutia, they busy themselves with a beehive of activity, none of which is important to the business. It’s one thing if this is a junior-level employee who simply needs time and training for development. It’s a catastrophe if it’s a senior-level executive. What can…
Santa Claus is Coming to Town…and He Has a Strategy
He’s making a list He’s checking it twice He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice Santa Claus is coming to town He sees you when you’re sleeping And he knows when you’re awake He knows if you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness sake —Lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” Well, it’s about…
Developing a Common Approach to Strategic Thinking
New research with 400 talent management leaders found the following results: Less than half (44.3%) of organizations have a common definition of strategy Less than half (46%) of organizations have a common language for strategy Strategic thinking is the most important competency for senior leaders (63.7%) Only 1 out of 4 organizations teach their managers strategy skills Here are three…
Strategy Demands Differentiation
One of the reasons so many organizations are struggling is because their offerings are not differentiated from the competition. The act of strategic thinking and strategic planning can help your team explore how to create differentiated value for customers to pave the way for profitable growth and competitive advantage.
The Strategy Off-Site Meeting
It’s ironic that business strategy is designed to clarify a group’s direction, but the meetings to discuss it can often be muddied, disjointed, and result in greater confusion. One study showed that 80 percent of senior executives’ meeting time is spent on issues that account for less than 20 percent of the company’s long-term value. Another survey showed that 88…
Deconstructing Frankenstrategy
As the cool, white fog covers the ground on Halloween, beware the creatures lurking in the shadows of your company’s hallways. Nestled amongst the darkened offices is a single light, perhaps a candlelight, continuing to burn deep into the night. And there in that laboratory of an office, rising from the PowerPoint slides of Hell comes a creature pieced together…
Plan-tober
1. The plan is updated with new insights throughout the year to remain relevant. 2. The plan clearly identifies a limited number of priorities so we have extreme focus and are not spreading our resources too thin. 3. The plan drives my daily activities. 4. The plan is a concise summary of the factors that will make or break the…
Strategic Thinking Can Squash Status Quo-Lock
Is your team living Albert Einstein’s description of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Popular adages such as “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” “Don’t rock the boat,” and “Let sleeping dogs lie,” all feed into the natural tendency to prefer the status quo. Time and again, research has proven that when individuals have the option of doing something…
