It happens to every group of people working to achieve a common goal: there are periods of great progress and alignment and cycles where things are just not working. Making a move when things are not working seems straightforward. But as we’ll discover below, it’s harder than it appears to fix the deeper issue that […]
It’s that moment. It’s among the hardest things that growth leaders need to do. After discovering and validating a new product or service (which seems like the hard part), they need to bring the people on board that can help scale and integrate the offering. This is the point when many strong and well-built new […]
It’s that moment. It’s when you are given that target for next year, and suddenly you feel a tenseness in your upper back. It’s the “stretch goal,” and if you were doing athletics it might be fun, but in the context of your P&L leadership, this is a goal that if you miss it, the […]
Have you ever fallen victim to the MBA Kool Aid? As a young strategist, it led me to believe that with the right preparation, a great pre-read and a superb facilitation job, I could lay the foundation for a solid innovation strategy with one good offsite session. After the session was complete, we’d then spend […]
Conversation with passionate founder: “I’ve built a device that is an amazing addition to the business traveler with features of x,x and x. Can you help me get a conversation with the big 3 cell phone firms?” As part of my work, I get a chance to work with early stage firms and their passionate […]
So, feeling my oats, and being a hotshot 30-something in a Fortune 100 firm, I was running around with my hair on fire, with three major product programs, and doing my best to make sure they all “made it.” I had just come back from a meeting when I received a message from someone I […]
No kidding – This is the information I wish someone would have shared with me early in my leadership career. It would have saved me a massive amount of time, effort and resources both personally and professionally. If you’re leading a growth program that has significant new-to-your-company elements, I know the exact path you are […]
Just last week I had a chance to meet a senior leader from a manufacturing firm for an introductory discussion. As we began talking, I could tell she was coming from a day of hard tactical work, and we’d need to elevate our viewpoint to get to the insight she was looking for. The topic […]
A firm launches a new in-vehicle data service based on supplying relevant information to the passenger’s preferences. Traffic signal coordination is driven by an intelligent algorithm that takes into account time of day, ambient atmospheric pollution and congestion. A smart home system allows your content to follow you out of your house and into your […]
I had a version of this call three times in the last six months: “Where did I go wrong? We planned thoroughly, tested and refined our concepts and built an All Star team. Things went smoothly for about eight weeks…and then all hades broke loose. There were things we just didn’t anticipate. Now we have […]
