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 […]
Water is the new key to security I just had the privilege of attending and leading a panel at the 10th annual Global Water Leaders Summit held in Milwaukee on May 23 & 24th. This year’s big idea, “A Secure Future Needs Water,” brought together thought leaders at the heart of water security strategy. This […]
As usual the real learning was in the application. I was in Denver a couple of weeks ago with a group of colleagues for some strategic development and planning. As part of our work, one of the team members set up some offsite time at a popular “escape room.” In case you haven’t heard, these […]
If it wasn’t real, it could have been off a movie set. I walked and walked…past the administrative and waiting area and inside the office. I had never seen anything quite like this: enormous inlaid desk, conference table, glass cases full of expensive travel artifacts and carpet so thick you had to be careful not […]
I recall it clearly: the pressure to get that first “deal”…as well as the relentless pressure to fill “the funnel” even though we were in a very early stage incubator within a large firm where our revenue wouldn’t have paid for the yard care. That memory came flooding back last week at a professional society […]
If you are on the board, a member of the C-Suite or a P&L accountable leader in a larger firm, there is a common blind spot when launching innovation initiatives. I was reminded of this during a phone call with a colleague whom I did several large-scale breakout programs with while in an op’s role […]
I can’t tell you the number of times I’m asked to facilitate a session to accelerate a project and this happens: all the introductions are complete, and while it’s very clear that all the “backstage” players are present (R&D, Development, Corporate Development), the essential front of house team members who connect that value to the […]
I was speaking for a group of senior executives last week and a great question came up: “What is the most destructive thing you see when working with new innovation teams in existing firms?” As my mind flashed through dozens of projects and larger programs, there was one thing that came up over and over […]
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 […]
I was having a recent conversation with a mid-market firm’s President when this came out: “When we need out-of-the-box thinking, we need to get our CIO out of the room.” I needed to push back on this leader…not because his comment didn’t have some merit when it came to how the team was working together, […]
