Build your "non-deformable passenger cell"
Most people haven’t heard of Béla Barényi. I’m going to nerd out on his influential automotive safety innovation, why it matters for strategy development, and then why i’ve moved my newsletters to be substack-first.
Can you see beyond your frame? Can you escape it?
How do you go about solving a problem? We're taught to first define the problem fully. But we should spend more time on how we are describing the problem in the first place - because the metaphor shapes our thinking, unconsciously. Framing matters.
Strategic Planning is neither
You spend months crafting a 'Strategic Plan', and everyone works to it diligently. Yet in every Board meeting, questions pop up, like: But are we really focusing on the right things?, or How do we know our strategy is working?
What strategy consultants can learn from coaches
I am currently doing my Organisational Coaching certification, and the face-to-face cohort training last week offered great lessons for strategy consultancy and strategy generally.
Leading from the middle - when Exec aren't driving
A great question emerged in conversation with two clients recently: “is our Executive the right place to focus for developing our capability?”
Want to be better at Strategy? Play games
We're pretty keen to look to sports for doing better strategy. But instead of listening to people who play sports, be someone who plays games.
Should strategy be furtive?
What does a science fiction novel, the Tate, and a micro-community on TikTok all have in common?
Enabling collective intelligence with space - or a fat sharpie
Governance and strategy spring from collective intelligence. After running a Board workshop yesterday in a fabulous meeting room, today I am writing about using and occupying space to enhance collective intelligence.
Balance of safety and tension in strategy workshops
Coaching needs safety, but not too much. And it needs tension, but not too much. This last few weeks I have been consciously applying this in facilitating strategy conversation with three Boards.
Which chess strategy makes organisations thrive?
An academic at my uni, 30 years ago, was a former chess champion. He said there were two clusters of chess strategy.
Think 'grasshopper' for Transformational change
Organisational transformation is often described as moving from 'start' to 'end' through one complex, messy and challenging stage.
Strategic accelerants – get through the mud
In his last 5 Minute Strategic Mindset newsletter, Andrew Hollo suggests three ways in which speed needs to be manifest in any business, or organisation.