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”Big and Small Wins Matter
When I feel like I am living right at the centre of a paradox or a pull in multiple directions, I’m usually in the right place.
For example, I noticed myself giving this apparently contradictory advice to clients recently:
“Keep your eye on the prize and be clear what game you’re playing. It’s easy to get distracted by relatively unimportant activities and outcomes at the expense of the most important things that deserve our attention…”
Continue reading “Big and Small Wins Matter”Sharpening your Razor
It’s Book Club week (join us here if you’re curious—no reading required, and this week’s theme is True Riches) and in preparation I was reading The 5 Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.
One of his core ideas is this: “Everything comes from what you put first.” He recommends developing a “life razor”, explaining a razor as a principle that allows you to quickly remove unlikely explanations or avoid unnecessary steps to simplify decision making. (He provides a few examples, such as Hanlon’s razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”)
Continue reading “Sharpening your Razor”