“Yes, there was that moment, and I was really unsure of which side was up. You helped us trust the framework and it pulled us through …” The above comment was made recently by a client during an after project review. We had just completed a project that included some significant challenges both with external […]
Author Archive | Scott Propp
Drift is Never Good: The Accidental Consulting Firm
It’s one of the biggest sand traps for firms as they start to grow – particularly for those founders that have built the firm from the ground up and who are known as scrappy problem solvers. These founders and their teams become driven by finding the next new problem, and for some time, their intuition […]
Lessons from Marie Kondo: How Saying Goodbye Can Help Growth
It’s a familiar part of life’s journey that I’m currently experiencing up close and personally: I’m helping a close relative downsize their home as they prepare for the next stage of life. The good news, is that this person is really excited about the change – and the focus that their smaller and more specific […]
Is Your Blindspot Costing Your Team Results?
I found myself (in a former role) being one of the leaders in a business unit, that while strategically very important, was hemorrhaging cash. As the person responsible for product and operations, I immediately set to work getting a plan in place that would “turn things around.” We did all the right things to get […]
Plans That Create Options – Not Endings
I recall it like it was yesterday: walking through a massive, class 10 clean room we had built for the extraordinary demands of cellular componentry. I had the privilege of being there when it was commissioned, and in what seemed like 15 minutes, when it was no longer relevant. That time was measured in years […]
The Surprising Role of Curmudgeons in Developing Strong Growth Programs
It’s a turning point in our Complete Growth Leader “Jumpstart” workshops that usually happens after the group has been briefed on the four key styles of the Complete Growth Leader model, as well as the five stages of STRIDE that every growth project follows. The goal of the workshop is this: to take a […]
The Unspoken Issue of Growth Work in Established Firms
“So, what do you think this looks like in sales for this year?” It seems like such an innocent question, and in the moment it may be. Once answered, however, it can be the nail in the coffin of a perfectly good growth initiative. I call it the singularity paradox. The language of established business […]
Improve Your Business Strategy (and Golf Game) With this One Tip
It’s strategy season…that all-important time in the business year when the first portions of an annual plan are taking shape. Plans are also being established for those offsite sessions so new vision targets can be set. The process of setting a near-term target that is in your field of view greatly improves your chances of […]
Dealing with Uncertainty is Job #1
I’m constantly reminded that people don’t resist change as much as they resist uncertainty. When I first began to lead larger workshops, I quickly learned that I needed to give very clear directions for group activities. How did I know when they were unclear? Just when I expected the group to begin, they would all […]
Coaching Note to Mid-Senior Leaders: Be Bold
I have been doing some coaching work with cross-functional teams in mature organizations and one topic that comes up over and over again is this: when a team finds some process or data that indicates something is clearly not delivering the desired outcome, how do they speak the truth to Senior Leadership? Many of you […]