They are devilishly difficult to install and disturbingly stubborn to alter. Like a boat caught in an adverse current, all of the external pressure and change that COVID has brought to bear might be causing them to work against you right now. What I’m referring to are frameworks. Frameworks can be formal and explicit or […]
It’s going to happen in 2021. There will be two paths for firms: diminishing returns or vibrancy. The rising tide will only lift well prepared boats. The danger is that we’re going to be tempted to spend most of our time trying to get “back to normal” – and we’re going to find out that […]
Many insights only become clear on reflection. Reflection needs space to happen, which can only be provided via time (looking into history), distance (looking at Mount Rushmore from miles away), or altitude (the photo above). As a private pilot, I receive the privilege of scanning the countryside as I move across the country, constantly on […]
In many ways, the phone call stunned me. But I suppose I should have seen it coming – after all, it’s 2020. I was talking to a client and she was relaying to me a profound outcome of their annual succession planning review. Like many firms, they had a “pipeline” that identified those with potential, […]
It’s going to be a long day. I’m sitting in a room with my HR support lead. We have a list in front of us. It’s been vetted, approved by legal, and kept confidential by HR. By the end of the day, more than two dozen people will be looking for new work. The hardest […]
One of the hardest things to do in this post-COVID environment is to make high-quality investment decisions. Much of our legacy informal relationship work is simply not there – our quarterly review sessions, customer visits, and regular product and services trade shows. Whether you are a division of a large enterprise or highly-targeted SaaS in […]
It’s been a journey these last couple of weeks. I’ve been working with teams in large businesses to help them execute – in other words, lock in – on the right project, the right team, and the right plan. Of course, it’s challenging to do this work remotely, but honestly, it’s more than that. Decisions and momentum […]
I work with larger private and public companies that have often acquired businesses, technologies, and talent through mergers or (more frequently) acquisitions. One specific challenge and opportunity that can release value at scale is the cross-pollination of unique value inside the acquired firm to its parent. There are two large systems in play in any […]
It’s really clear that we are in a very unique time in our collective human journeys as we navigate between two zones – never the same and not yet. We are somewhat like a sailboat that has moved away from one shore and cannot yet see the destination emerging. These unsummoned moments challenge us to […]
It’s that season again. And if you work with (or for) larger firms with lots of resources, your inbox is probably filled with reminders: this is the month we get serious about annual plans. In past years, these exercises have been based on some high-level, economic forecasting that is then decomposed into specific planning facts, […]
