Too Close to the Sun
One of the oddest ways that companies fail is by becoming victims of their own strengths. In other words, the very thing that generates competitive advantage morphs into a problem. […]
You Are Here
You may know strategically exactly how and where you’re taking your organization. But that doesn’t mean everyone on your team knows how to get there. Everyone who works in an […]
Being an Extraordinary Leader
Leaders come in many varieties. Anyone over the age of 25 has already learned that through experience. The awful bosses stay with us in the form of cautionary tales. But […]
Sometimes It’s Not the Execution
In case of bad results, we blame the execution. My client had what we would certainly call a stretch goal. Actually, more like a Big Very Hairy Super-Audacious Goal, to […]
If Culture Eats Strategy, What Eats Culture?
Everyone knows the line: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s usually attributed to Peter Drucker, although for the life of me I can’t find any evidence he said it. But […]
The Autonomy Ladder
While there may be oddball, hyper-controlling bosses out there, most of us don’t want to lead an organization full of people who can’t make decision, solve problems, or initiate action. […]
The Scale-Up Squeeze-Out
There often comes a time in every high-growth start-up when new executive leadership is hired –and sometimes, they replace or displace the stalwart early team members. I’ve heard this phase […]
Less is More in Strategy
Prefer to watch rather than read? Here’s a short 6-minute video. Gardening Sometime early in the pandemic I decided I wanted to have a flower garden. I began planting things. […]
Is It a Fact?
Let’s say you are on your way home from work. It’s a Thursday. You get a text from your boss. It says: “Please see me tomorrow morning.” Before you have […]
Measurement Madness
There is a well-known saying that “what gets measured gets managed”. Depending on your source, it was first said by either physicist Lord kelvin, or Peter Drucker. It’s generally true. […]