Don’t Stop Now! Adjust

Apr 16, 2024 | Strategic Planning

“We’re thinking we should just postpone this next quarter’s strategic plan update session. Everyone is really busy, and honestly, we’re tired. You know we’ve had these two huge, out-of-nowhere projects come up that have taken over our lives. The team has done great, but we’ve fallen behind on several strategic initiatives. I think it’d help everyone’s morale if we just gave ourselves a break. What do you think?” I know you’re all tired and understandably so. But I think you’d be making a...

Focus on Impact

May 23, 2023 | Strategic Planning

I always find it interesting that, regardless of industry, the challenges facing the executives I work with come in waves of similar issues. As I write this, several clients are coming to the end of their fiscal year. As a result, they’re reassessing budgets, strategic initiatives, productivity, profitability, and the departure of a key team member or two. Needless to say, times are - again - very busy and challenging for them. To help them navigate these challenges and debate their next...

From Great Ideas to Implementation

Mar 28, 2023 | Strategic Planning

After months of conducting industry research, several work sessions, debates, conversations, and meetings with industry leaders as well as with front-line team members, a client’s new strategic plan is complete. They’ve received board approval. They’ve just completed a leadership summit in which they shared their new plan with the rest of the management team and received wide support for the plan. With this much momentum and energy, why did the CEO ask, “What now? What should we do next?” From...

Culture Eats Strategy for…an Appetizer

Jan 24, 2023 | Strategic Planning

We’ve all heard Peter Drucker's saying, “Culture eats strategy for lunch [or breakfast].” I am, of course, not going to disagree with that statement. However, given the work world today, it’s not enough. Culture doesn’t just eat strategy for breakfast or lunch. Culture eats strategy as an appetizer. Then it eats strategy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, a snack, etc. A poor company culture will eat up and spit out your organization if its cultural framework, strategic priorities, and...

Don’t Create a Laundry List. Create a Strategic Plan

Dec 13, 2022 | Strategic Planning

It happens frequently. It happens with C-Suite executives as well as with mid-level managers. It happens when the excitement of DOING things to transform the organization takes hold. ‘It’ is when the strategic planning team focuses more on what they’re going to DO instead of what they want to ACHIEVE. It is when they stop thinking strategically. It causes teams to create laundry lists instead of strategic plans. …when the strategic planning team focuses more on what they’re going to DO instead...