Today’s “strategy sighting” is based on a photo. It’s not the best of photos, but it represents the best of times. It was taken on my dock at my cottage last summer, during a strategy development session with colleagues from three countries, all involved in Thought Leaders Business School. We took time to dive deep into our individual practices, out loud, and benefited from the wisdom of others to set them on an even better course.
Continue reading “Strategy Sightings, Episode Three”Strategy Sightings, Episode Two
Strategic planning isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about preparing for it — with enough courage and clarity to move forward even when the path ahead isn’t fully visible. (It never is!)
In this second episode of “strategy sightings,” I’d like to highlight the work of two client organizations I admire — Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF) and Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). They didn’t wait for perfect clarity to pursue a strategic direction. Instead, they acted on signals, took bold stances, and shaped the terrain as they moved through it.
Continue reading “Strategy Sightings, Episode Two”Strategy Sightings, Episode One
I want strategy development to serve a much more useful purpose than crossing something off a leader’s to-do list.
So, I’ve set about looking for strategy “in the wild” — watching for how it’s being implemented in practical, helpful ways in real life.
At the risk of sounding partisan, I want to use Mark Carney, the newly elected Canadian Prime Minister, as my first example.
Continue reading “Strategy Sightings, Episode One”Extend the Graph
One of the books I think about often is Factfulness by Hans Rosling. One of the lessons in that book is not to assume you understand a trend by looking only at a portion of a graph.
When we only have a few data points, we often assume that the relationship between them is going to continue. So if things are trending downward, we assume that downward trend will persist into the future.
Notice that assumption, then call it into question. Why?
Continue reading “Extend the Graph”Your Shell is Too Small
Did you know that king crab are an invasive species? (At least in Norway). But that’s not the point of today’s post. The point of today’s post is to notice what it feels like when your shell is getting too small.
King crabs get a new shell once a year, and fishers can’t catch them during the time that one shell cracks and a new one hardens. Despite being an invasive species, they are known to be too vulnerable during that transition time and need to be protected.
Continue reading “Your Shell is Too Small”