Strategic thinking for leadership teams.
25 years helping leadership teams build and execute strategy. Monthly writing on execution, capability, and the discipline that closes the gap between the strategic plan and what actually happens in the field.
11 Lessons from 15 Years in Business: What I Wish I'd Known Sooner
What 15 years of building a business actually teaches you — including the parts no framework prepares you for.
Systems Over Goals: How Management Systems Are the Backbone of Strategy Execution
Why the 12 management systems underneath your strategy matter more than the goals sitting on top of them.
When Waiting Becomes the Riskiest Move: A New Framework for Leading Through Uncertainty
The practical framework for creating momentum when the future isn't clear enough to plan around.
The Strategic Compound Interest That Multiplies Your Business Results
How daily strategic discipline compounds into results that look impossible from the outside.
The Four Critical Moments When Capability Assessment Matters Most
Over the past two weeks, I’ve shared why capability assessment drives strategic execution success and the two-layer framework I use with clients to evaluate organizational and business model capabilities. This week’s question: When should you actually...
The Crucial Step to Stronger Strategies: Building the Right Capabilities
Last week I shared why October capability assessment matters before finalizing strategic plans. This week, I’m walking you through the specific framework I use with clients — the two types of capabilities we assess and what each one actually means for...
September Strategy, October Reality Check: Do You Have the Capabilities to Execute?
Your September strategy planning created impressive goals. Now comes the question that determines whether they actually work: Do we have what it takes to make this real — the people, systems, and strengths to actually execute what we’ve planned? Strategic...
The Strategic Compound Interest That Multiplies Your Business Results
Great strategic ideas die in the daily grind because leaders wait for perfect blocks of uninterrupted time that rarely come, while competitors who embrace just 30 minutes of daily strategic discipline invest 120 hours annually building systematic advantages. The solution isn't finding more time – it's creating strategic muscle memory through consistent daily practice that trains your brain to operate strategically even amid operational chaos.
Why Great Ideas Die in the Daily Grind (And How to Fix It)
Great strategic ideas die in the daily grind because leaders wait for perfect blocks of uninterrupted time that rarely come, while competitors who embrace just 30 minutes of daily strategic discipline invest 120 hours annually building systematic advantages. The solution isn't finding more time – it's creating strategic muscle memory through consistent daily practice that trains your brain to operate strategically even amid operational chaos.
The $10 Million Question That Can Expose Your Biggest Strategic Blind Spots
Leadership teams spend hours debating strategic priorities, but often struggle to align on what truly matters most. I recently facilitated a simple strategic exercise with a client’s leadership team that cut through the noise and revealed both surprising...