Here’s the deal: Research is clear that more than 70% of strategic implementation projects don’t get to their benchmarks In this report, PMI found that 38% of project shortfalls could be attributed to disconnects between sponsors and leaders The conrondum? When you meet 1:1 with sponsors and leaders for coffee, they’ll tell you all is […]
You’ve given me great feedback this year in the form of likes, comments, texts and emails. When I reviewed the feedback on all 52 articles I’ve written, a crisp, larger picture emerged. The TLDR is (as we expected), that it took a massive amount of energy to complete our missions this year. In fact, it […]
Let’s roll back the timeline a bit. Before COVID, the implementation of strategy hovered at less than a 30% success rate (per McKinsey). With my own recent research of more than 40 senior leaders since the COVID disruption, I’ve confirmed that COVID has driven high-performance firms towards even less efficiency in implementation (see my summary […]
It’s one of those moments we all remember from childhood: planting the beans in our third-grade science class. Yes, it’s about science, but it’s also about another deeper lesson: it takes time for the underground work to pay off in visible outcomes. Large ships turn slowly, and even when you do the right thing, are […]
I live in the portion of the country where winter carnivals are a thing, and one of the always interesting things to catch is the creation of the ice sculptures. A sculptor, skilled with power tools, chisels and hand saws goes to work and amazing forms emerge. As a “most senior executive,” can you do […]
A consistent theme I’m hearing from my coaching clients is how much harder it is to “get things done” outside of the transactional with virtual communications. It is a unique time, where without warning or preparation, many of us have been pushed into a 100% virtual space with a sink or swim learning environment. My […]
One airshow act that always pleases is when an aircraft lands on top of a moving car. What makes it immensely interesting every time I see the act, is knowing that every landing, even on a fixed runway, is unique due to wind, ambient temperature and traction. Add to that a moving vehicle and the […]
You’ve just landed your new role with your freshly-minted diploma and been given your first big assignment. As you prepare to get started, you recall that case study where a group went into the “war room,” held deep and lengthy brainstorming sessions and then had “the moment.” From there, it was merely a distribution problem. […]
In my consulting work, there’s almost always a point in the client discovery phase where I find a spreadsheet that holds all the programs that are in queue. In most cases, they are color-coded green if staffed and underway. Yellow is reserved for those that are promising, but “below” the line for staffing. Then there […]
One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned about getting new to-market growth projects done over my 30+ year career, is one that started out sounding good but ended up being dead wrong. When I was a young P&L manager tasked with leading new-to-market product and service teams, I was pulled aside by a sage […]
