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 …
Who Really Matters in Your Company, Organization
Who REALLY matters, what REALLY matters in your company or organization? Do customers come first? Or employees? Are values the centerpiece? Or open communication, or support for entrepreneurialism, or collaborative leadership. Now, be honest. The answer may be none of the above. Unless your company or organization is an exception, it’s the CEO who comes first, followed by his lieutenants. …
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 …
Four Concepts for Running Your Organization
Where do you stand on the four concepts below for running your organization? More important, where do you want your organization to stand in the future? The concepts go to the heart of how organizations get things done… how they articulate purpose, mission, what they must do to reach goals, what goes in their annual plan, what competencies they need …
Why Change Projects in Organizations Fail
Urgency about the need to get things done… some faces of microlending in Honduras… The Grove Consultant International’s strategic visioning workshop in Dallas on Sept. 9-11, 2009 at Southern Methodist University. All are items in this letter. Stop a minute to ponder why change projects in organizations fail. And the long-term consequences of those failed efforts. Lots of stats and …
Toss More Tomatoes In The Tomato Soup?
Toss more tomatoes into the tomato soup? In this economy? Are you crazy? Most say they can’t afford to. Cutting expenses, downsizing workforces, putting the “soft stuff” on hold… that’s what they must do to hang on…despite the hurt those cuts will cause their organizations, cultures, processes, remaining people. They ask, what else can we do? Some say they can’t …
Strategizing In Honduras
I’m back from Honduras where I led a strategic visioning project with the leaders of Santa Cruz Arriba, a small, rural community on the outskirts of the capital city of Tegucigalpa. Sometimes, clarity is found way outside daily norms. Take yourself out of your company or organization, out of your daily routine, your normal living situation. Thrust yourself into a …
Bettering The Odds For Successful Change
Results for change projects are dismal. Only 20-plus percent of change projects succeed. The rest fail. Why? It’s important for clients to know. It’s important for change practitioners to know. Especially since so many more people are showing up inside and out of companies and other organizations seeking to help with change. There is truth to the notion that change …