Videos: Talking Strategy and Strategic Planning!

A Strategy Chat

This post is truly unique. I am sharing a very intimate conversation with a friend—a conversation about strategy. I hope that everyone has someone in their life with whom their conversations are as winding, engaging and enlightening as mine always are with Francis. This one is wide-ranging, unscripted, unconstrained. We touch on the past, the future and the work that we each do now, and once did together. I wish my life included more people who were as scintillating and challenging. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to Francis Wade, my friend and interlocutor.

Some Background

Francis Wade (my former consulting partner and dear friend) and I took the time to explore our shared approach to strategic planning in a video forum he is hosting. Because the conversation is so far-reaching and goes into such depth, it may be worth viewing or listening to when you have some time. And lo and behold, the holiday breaks are upon us! What better time to offer you this gift for your brain and your organization?

A bit of context: Francis and I were partners in his firm, Framework Consulting, for 7 years, ending in about 2004 when I went out on my own. Over that time we evolved a great deal, having started out primarily focused on organizational culture and change management, and ending up with a proprietary and comprehensive approach to strategy that both of us still employ today.  That approach was described in some detail in my 2008 book, Powered by Principle: Using Core Values to Build World-Class Organizations. Both of our approaches have changed somewhat — although we have evolved largely in tandem as we continue to be thought partners and to work together when engagements allow us to combine forces.

Francis’ intention had always been to return to his home in Jamaica, and to focus on making a difference in Caribbean organizations. In 2005 he moved home to Kingston and continued the work we had crafted together.  He is truly a pioneer in strategic thought and a major thought-leader in productivity management, with a special focus on the Caribbean and its unique culture. Along with so many accomplishments, he writes a regular management column for the Jamaica Gleaner, the country’s national newspaper.

As you know, my own focus has been on post-revenue startups with whom I help to accelerate their growth and build their organizations through adroit leadership and breakthrough strategy.

It is our shared and divergent experiences that make this worth hearing. We touch on so many topics that it is simpler to list them than to try to explain them. Here is what I can catalogue:

Some Key Points

• Organizational Change
• Personal Transformation
• Leadership
• The Merlin Process
• Strategic Goal-Setting
• Back-Tracking
• Scenario Planning
• SWAT Analyses
• Strategy Mapping
• Balanced Scorecards
• Norton and Kaplan
• Core Values

I have never had a conversation with Francis in which I failed to come away with an insight or additional depth of knowledge and understanding. He is brilliant and deeply thoughtful, and so, when we spend time together, we both discover and invent along the way.  I hope the conversation is as interesting to you as we found it to have with each other. The video is broken into two parts because of the bandwidth limits imposed by Zoom!

Happy Holidays!

Part one (click image below)

Part two: (click image below):