strategy sightings – Reimagine. Strategy.

June 23, 2025June 23, 2025

Strategy Sightings, Episode Four

Many of you will know that I am on a mission to avoid oblivious facilitation (or coaching, or leading or…). I have not found a word that means precisely the opposite of “oblivious” — I’d always rather be for something than against it — but for now, I’m anti-obliviousness.

I therefore can’t ignore that I am writing this post during an incredibly uncertain and destabilizing time in global affairs, and it seems oblivious of me not to acknowledge it. So, for this final installment of “Strategy Sightings” (for now), with some reluctance, I’m diving right in.

June 16, 2025June 16, 2025

Strategy Sightings, Episode Three

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.

June 9, 2025June 9, 2025

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.

June 2, 2025June 9, 2025

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.