Whether you are formulating strategy in a small group or activating strategy throughout your organization, selecting effective metaphors can accelerate sense-making and shared understanding. It’s worth investing your creative energy to choose the most apt metaphor(s), and to know when that metaphor has run its course. I use the term “metaphor” broadly to include everythingContinue reading “Choose — and Change — Your Metaphors Intentionally”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Why Would Culture Eat Strategy for Breakfast?
I have an exciting engagement right now with a client that is very intentionally integrating cultural development into its enterprise strategy and corporate narrative. This collaboration has led me to revisit the famous line attributed to Peter Drucker, that Culture eats Strategy for breakfast. I appreciate the wisdom in this statement: an organization’s culture isContinue reading “Why Would Culture Eat Strategy for Breakfast?”
Strategy Informs. Narrative Engages. Leaders Need Both.
Having a well-defined, coherent strategy is essential in a growing business to establish priorities and direct behavior across an increasing number of employees. Indeed, strategy is necessary, but by itself, it is insufficient from a leadership perspective. Why? Because even the most brilliant business strategy is transactional rather than relational. It is fact-based, data-driven,Continue reading “Strategy Informs. Narrative Engages. Leaders Need Both.”
The 2-Way Street of “Being More Strategic”
A few weeks ago I blogged about what it means to “be more strategic.” Over the years I’ve known several ambitious colleagues who have received this feedback in performance reviews, and also not a few leaders who have given it. My observation is that there is usually very little substance beyond the initial directive, asContinue reading “The 2-Way Street of “Being More Strategic””
Mind the Gap: What Connects Your 2023 Operating Plan to Your Mission?
Welcome to January 2023! Most of us operating on calendar year schedules have a new set of annual performance objectives and a budget with approved resources to deploy. Let’s get busy! But what sort of organizational view do we have beyond the current year? And why does such a view matter? Most companies have someContinue reading “Mind the Gap: What Connects Your 2023 Operating Plan to Your Mission?”
The Leadership Problem with a Finance-Driven Annual Planning Process
Tis the season for getting 2023 business plans and corresponding budgets nailed down. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth as YOY comparisons and Excel macros are updated. Sometimes, more sophisticated planning and budgeting tools are available, but the process is largely the same. And almost always driven by the Finance team. NothingContinue reading “The Leadership Problem with a Finance-Driven Annual Planning Process”
What’s So Great About a Corporate Narrative?
Developing and executing a Corporate Narrative is one of the highest-leverage activities that an executive team can undertake. It creates context, clarity, and momentum for a business that accelerates progress toward its mission. It galvanizes and unifies leadership in a singular voice that drives performance, direction, and culture – setting the stage for prioritization, resource allocation, and change.
Change-Continuity Ratio
My last post on Strategy and Change sparked some interesting commentary on the topic of “how much change and how fast?” and got me thinking about optimizing the balance of Change and Continuity in an organization. Expressing it as a ratio is a logical follow-on. With that idea rattling around in my mind, I readContinue reading “Change-Continuity Ratio”
Forrester Research: “Creativity Leaders” grow 2.6x faster than “Creativity Laggards”
Earlier this week Forrester Research hosted an online event, “The Tech Org’s Secret Weapon: Creativity.” It was a pandemic lunch hour well spent, and you can listen to the recording here. Here’s the most significant finding from among their analysts: companies that successfully turn Creativity into an operating principle – which they define as anContinue reading “Forrester Research: “Creativity Leaders” grow 2.6x faster than “Creativity Laggards””
Creativity for Strategy’s Sake
Fundamentally, we are imagining a future state for the organization and a way to achieve that state; then creating shared vision and organizational will to move forward.
Strategy, Creativity, and Leadership 