We’ve never had a time quite like this – explosive demands for goods and services, really mobile talent and the wholesale reorganization of work itself. At the same time, many leaders are feeling like they are on a treadmill – through no fault of their own – and noticing that the harder they run, the […]
It was a great offsite session. The core business was profitable, but growth prospects had dimmed. In corporate life, if you don’t hit your year-over-year growth numbers, the team’s momentum and compensation package is significantly reduced. With that in mind, we had worked hard on which of the four growth plays we had researched would […]
The lockdown has been particularly hard on strategists. They have been receiving much of their information secondhand: reading articles, catching Zoom calls with the sales team and attending virtual events. All while trying hard to listen for the unspoken story behind logical data. But it turns out that secondhand clues are no substitute for first-person […]
It was two decades ago, but I remember the day like it was yesterday. I had been on airplanes for 17 hours. The reason? We had one rightfully testy customer who was threatening to remove us from the supply chain. The room was full of functional specialists and client “liaisons.” Everyone had the classic nonverbals […]
I was speaking with a strategy VP in an international firm who was getting ready to deliver a presentation for the executive team that showed a surprising under performance of projects to the business case benchmarks they had set. Just for the record, this is a high-quality team with sound leadership, strong values and a […]
Rolling up our sleeves only goes so far. There has been an inflection point in the discussion where leaders realize that they simply cannot do it all. Virtual work has pushed us into a corner in two ways: first collaborative work is less efficient. Secondly, more time in the home office has led to more […]
As I speak to executives, there are two stories I’m hearing over and over: The demand for my products and services is soaring and I can’t keep up OR demand has shifted and I can’t reset my portfolio fast enough. These two create intense pressure and disrupt us as we are reaching to get back […]
I’ve had a number of recent calls with strategic and operational leaders from larger firms with matrixed organizations. They are primarily in manufacturing industries ranging from food to water treatment. Each has had their own journey meeting their customers and clients’ rapidly changing demands during the pandemic. They are similar in one regard: COVID has […]
It’s one of the most frequent questions I get in my work – and it usually comes from a leader after a workshop or in a discrete reply to a blog post. The question is, “I have an underperforming function that’s core to my new mission. How do I accomplish a change for the better?” […]
Golf is a very challenging sport. The physics of hitting a golf ball hundreds of yards amplifies every twitch you put into the driver: a small tick in the motion equals a big miss off the tee. Picture this scenario: you have been working with a skilled swing coach, and he’s fixed your hook. You’ve […]
