Category Archives: Strategy

Visualizing Your Way To Changing How You Think & Work

in Innovation, Strategy

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany of Group Partners on How Visualization Provides Strategic Ways To Solve Business Challenges. This is a guest post by John Caswell.

In 2001 few people understood our work nor why visualization was so important in the business of transformation, change and strategy.

A lot of smart people didn’t even think it was an idea worth listening to.
But we were stubborn because we were passionate about visualization’s power to create meaning…

We’ve learned a lot since then – and we’re still stubborn – but people are wiser and more clued into the power of it.

As you read the stories below please don’t think we’re against words, we’re only against them being used to deceive and mislead. Please don’t think we have it in for numbers, only their soporific effect on those who don’t use them to do anything.

And don’t misunderstand either our use of the word visual. In our book it means using all the visual weaponry at our disposal – everything symbolic, diagrammatic, immersive and viewable that increases the transfer of meaning and purpose between us humans. Used in ways that engage and enlighten us.…

If you don’t like how things are done, tell a different story

in Innovation, Leadership, Strategy

If you don't like where you are going change your direction

A typical marketing and sales person recently asked me why I don’t place ads on my blog to generate additional revenue. Being that this blog gets between 6K – 9K visits/month, I’m in a very good position to do so (I have gotten requests from companies to place ads). But, I don’t want to place ads.

I simply don’t like advertising. And, generating revenue from ads is not a narrative I want to be a part of.

When he heard my response, he thought I was crazy. In his own words: that is not smart.…

Q&A: Group Partners on How Visualization Provides Strategic Ways To Solve Business Challenges

in Innovation, Interviews, Strategy

Why We Think Visually from John Caswell on Vimeo.

To be great at strategy and innovation, you must be able to work through an interconnected system. And, as the pace of change exceeds our ability to grasp what is happening around us, a better approach is needed for developing strategy and innovation. A visual approach to systems thinking.

To help deal with that challenge, Group Partners, has developed a unique approach to visualize and better solve problems with strategy and innovation. Here is a quick interview with visual thinking gurus, John Caswell and Hazel Tiffany of Group Partners.…

Innovation starts with needs but it doesn’t end there

in Innovation, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy

Businesses, either new or “me-too’s”, set out to fulfill a need in the marketplace. Whoever fills this need in a better way, usually is rewarded with profits for a long time. But, profits does not a sustainable company make. Though this particular story I’m about to tell you doesn’t talk about billions of dollars in revenue being evaporated, it does touch on the illusion of customer loyalty.

About 5 years ago, I started advising and then joined a celebrity baby clothing startup called Tuni&G which has a new line of newborn baby clothes for a boy.…

Why is competitive advantage temporary?

in Innovation, Question-To-Innovate, Questions, Strategy

competitive advantage is temporary

An often asked question. Yet, there are those who think that competitive advantages are everlasting.

Competitive advantage, it seems to me, has become an instrument of finance. As in, how can our company accumulate hoards of cash to become sustainable?

The defining metric for said advantage is profits. That is a mindset, I believe, of playing not to lose.

Accumulating a war chest of money doesn’t mean you will outlast the next wave of change, you have things upside down, for an investment in innovation is an investment in your future.…

Strategy doesn’t inspire people. Conviction does.

in entrepreneurship, Greatness, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy

simon sinek on leadership

Before strategy, have an opinion.

Everyone wants a strategy, but not many have an opinion. I’ve talked about this before, purpose matters. And although I don’t like repeating the same message over and over again, I’ve got a feeling this is never going to end.

A real opinion, to me, is a stretch thought about what everyone thinks is important. For example, Steve Jobs believed design was just as important as technology. Hence, Apple builds products from an artistic point of view. And, it just so happens that they created products that became “must-haves”.…