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.
Eliminate Drag (2 of 3): Uplevel a Core Process
In part two of my three-part series on how to eliminate the drag on your business, we'll talk about core processes. A core process is central to delivering the value proposition to the customer and running the organization. An example might be the product development...
Eliminate the Drag That’s Holding Your Business Back (1 of 3)
If your organization is running lean, you're probably all too familiar with the mantra "do more with less." Your competitive advantage will come from smart management of scarce resources. This means eliminating the drag and waste on the organization that is...
What If We Stopped Trying to “Find” Our Purpose?
I’ve always admired those who seemed to know their purpose in life from an early age. Imagine the focus and the clarity that comes from knowing your “why” out of the gate! And then there are people like me. People like me “find” our...
How the Strategic Planning Process Fails Employees (and What You Can Do Differently)
Over 75% of employees surveyed don't think their leadership has a clear vision for the future. Think they just don't get it? Think again. What's the problem? In most instances, Vision lacks purpose, and Strategic Objectives aren't meaningful to employees. Bottom line,...
How to Stop Hedging Your Bets and Go All In
The idea of focus is always important, but now it is imperative. Somewhere between surviving a crisis and thriving again exists the recovery stage. Focus will be the key to optimizing performance in recovery. With fewer resources and harsh market conditions, it's...
A Key to Managing Projects
Identifying your best opportunities, leveraging your existing capabilities, and going all-in on your Focus Few initiatives is how organizations create the most significant impact. When resources are limited and market conditions are challenging, selecting the right...