Honduras Threads team hunts for a market for its luxury textiles More than 500 small, yellow sticky notes. That’s where the clues to the treasure were buried during the five-day, design thinking challenge in June. One by one the sticky notes went up on the wall the team created, each one containing an observation or an insight. One by one, …
I Went For A Spin In A Driverless Car And Lived To Tell
I went for a spin in a driverless car the other day. My wife, the lovely Ms. Bancroft, feared I would never make it home alive. FEAR OF DRIVERLESS VEHICLES She has plenty of company in her fear of driverless vehicles. A majority of people in three recent surveys – 74 percent in one – said they wouldn’t ride …
The Jetsons Are Coming, Will You Be Ready?
“Any useful statement about the future should at first seem ridiculous.” — Dr. Jim Dator, Futures Study Professor, University of Hawaii Oh, those Jetsons! George and homemaker wife Jane, their two kids Judy and Elroy and their robot maid Rosie. It’s 2030 and they’re on their way to your city. Rosie with her blinking eyes was a bit cranky so …
Lost In A Snowstorm In The Alps
A small military unit was sent on a training mission to the Alps. They didn’t know the terrain well. No one had a map. Or so they thought. It began to snow. A blizzard. White out conditions. Big drifts everywhere. The men were lost. They were cold and hungry. Panic began to spread as they imagined what could become of …
Strategic Solution: It’s All About The Experience
What did it feel like when you went to the grocery store last? Could you easily find what you wanted? Did an employee step up to ask if you needed help? If you asked for help, did they take you to the item, or just point you to an aisle? What was your experience filling up the car with gas? …
Another Plain Old Subdivision Or Unique Community — Which Will It Be For The City Of Mesquite’s I-20 Corridor?
Walking the farmland along I-20 in Mesquite, I stopped to pick up a rock. About the size of my fist. About the size of one of the biggest uncut diamonds ever discovered. If this rock were a diamond, I wondered, how might it be cut to achieve its maximum worth? Would it be two diamonds or two dozen? Or by …
Is Your Strategic Plan A Gem Or A Dog?
With 2018 around the corner, it’s planning season for many organizations. Some will update existing strategic plans; others will start from scratch. What does a good plan look like? I’ve seen both dogs and gems. I’ve collected several as part of working with organizations to help write their plans. Interestingly, some of the dogs worked really well. And some of …
Strategic Visioning: Are Your Maps Right?
I’m wondering as you do your strategic planning for 2018 and beyond what data you’re using to drive your mapmaking.
Island California
Figuratively speaking, is your data producing a map like the 1701 version of North America made by Dutch cartographer Hermon Moll? Moll’s showed California as an island off the west coast.
World of Strategy: A Complex Place
Write the word “strategic.” Now put any of the following after it… planning, visioning, thinking, conversation. Throw these words in the mix: scenario, catalyst, implementation. What do you get? Something you believe in? Or something that falls short? The world of strategy is a complex place …with believers on all sides of the concept. Everyone seems to agree on one …
Save These Definitions: Vision, Mission, Strategy
Definitions of vision, mission, strategy… I find these useful in my work. Each organization uses these terms in slightly different ways, tailoring them to their needs. Some are often used interchangeably. There is no single right way, only a way that works. Yet the definitions below are ones that have worked well for me and for my colleagues. Stop a …