in Leadership, Strategy
Last week I discussed the importance of leading through questions. Since that post got some good traction, I decided to put together these six questions that I found scattered throughout the book “The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs“. If you haven’t read it, read it!
In my opinion, every business leader and strategist must own these six questions below:…
in Innovation, Strategy
Going against the grain can be a prerequisite for innovation. And in a time when internet companies show no commitment to customer service, there are a few who are making an attempt to do so.
Yesterday, I discovered Pulse. The app that lets us read our news in a very “eye candy” way. I started using it for a few minutes and decided that it was enough for me to switch:…
in Leadership, Strategy
Picture credit: Martin Oberhäuser
At its essence, strategy is a guide to behavior. And, when communicating your strategic intent, the most important goal is conveying your unique aspects and advantages with specific and engaging words.
This is hard. But, if you’re not being challenged at coming up with an effective strategy statement, you’re not trying hard enough. Because It is a real challenge to translate strategy into execution, this is something we must continually work at, that is, communicating strategy. Research has found that only %14 of employees understand their company’s strategy and direction.…
in Strategy
“You must accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” – Serenity Prayer
Like you, in my neck of the woods, I’ve observed that business leaders have a complete disregard for the forces of change in the world and much less in their industry. They understand their business very well, but not what is changing or will change their business.
And if they think they have an idea of what is changing, they adopt a “wait and see” approach and look at their competitors for direction.
Basically, their business acumen is non-existent. They base their strategy (if any) on luck and hope. And you know very well that luck and hope is not a strategy. They obviously think that because they’ve “been doing this for a long time” and it has worked for them thus far, that they somehow control their fate.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Three fundamental lessons about change are of paramount importance (from the book The Strategist):…
in Leadership, Strategy
To be honest, I LOVE to strategize. But, planning by itself is boring. In the last few weeks, I’ve been asked to look at a few business ideas and projects. The central question being: Does the plan look like it is in order?
Me: Nope.
Them: What’s missing?
Me: Why are you doing this? What’s your purpose? Why is this cool? Are you waking up everyday to follow a script?
Them: Dunno.…
in Innovation, Questions, Strategy
Most of the Innovation Consultants I know, advice businesses on doing trend-spotting as part of the innovation process. I also insist on doing the same because like creative thinking, I believe trendspotting isn’t a one time activity.
It is not a “communicate and forget it” activity. It is an ongoing activity.…
“It’s not enough that we win; all others must lose.” – Larry Ellison
Heard this one yesterday. I’m all in for competition, but business isn’t about war (at some point I used to think like Genghis Khan too). It isn’t about beating competitors just for the heck of it. I find this focus on competing to beat competitors ridiculous.
The focus SHOULD be on the customer winning. …
