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Sometimes lessons in business strategy and execution come from unanticipated sources. CEOs may learn a lot from industries other than their own. Lessons in strategy are often fatal for companies, especially when key indicators are ignored or missed. Although you may … Continued

      I don’t know about everyone else but it seems like every time I open my computer to get my techno-fix, there are numerous acronyms defining the next big multiple letter system to save the day.  This is … Continued

Years ago, I was offered the definition of the word FEAR by a friend and it resonated in my personal life.  As time went on, that definition of FEAR also became something I saw as a strategic commentary. Take a … Continued

  Many businesses look at their results after a failed strategy.  In my mind that is like using an autopsy to tell what was wrong with someone after they have died; rather than a comprehensive physical and diagnostic testing.  Keeping … Continued

  The balanced scorecard – first conceived in 1992 by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in a paper written for the Harvard Business Review  – introduced the concept of measuring organizational performance by focusing on financial and human issues, on … Continued

  It begins in the corporate board room, or at a meeting of the executive team. The CEO announces, “Time to get going on our new strategic plan!” A strategic planning consultant gets hired, takes up a fair amount of … Continued

  We’ve noted this before, but some sobering statistics from the Harvard Business Review bear repeating:   85% of management teams spend less than one hour a month on strategy issues. 90% of well-formulated strategies fail due to poor execution.

Any business leader who’s ever participated in the strategic planning process has experienced “white binder syndrome.” This disorder is characterized by (a) a lengthy strategy consulting process, followed by (b) recommendations by consultants for long-range strategic goals, concluding with (c) … Continued

Every business, whether it manufactures tires or provides tax-consulting services, has to maintain control of three essential resources – people, processes and finances. Business leaders should have a vision of how these resources will help shape the company’s future; in … Continued

This is the way traditional strategy consulting works:   You hire an individual consultant (or a team of consultants) to help improve your organization’s top-line (or bottom-line), or perhaps to focus on a strategic initiative that will hopefully help the … Continued