Posts tagged as:

competitive strategy

There are now 16 days between today and your clean slate–you know, the new year when you are sure you will be able to turn a page, charge the motor and get going on a great set of objectives, plans and projects to make 2012 the best year ever.  So how will you do that? What [...]

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Performance: An Art or a Science?

by Margaret Reynolds on December 7, 2011

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP,STRATEGIC PLANNING

Lately, I have become attracted to the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, published in 2003, and written about the science of baseball.  Much to traditionalists’ dismay, it makes a convincing argument that baseball can be broken down into meaningful statistics….. but the ones that count aren’t the ones [...]

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What do you really want?

by Margaret Reynolds on December 1, 2011

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP,STRATEGIC PLANNING

Would it surprise you if I told you that most businesses don’t know what they really want? Business leaders have no hesitation saying how big they want to be or how profitable. But when asked what their company will be doing in ten years, they don’t really know unless it is some extension of what they are [...]

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Creativity + Discipline = Profitable Growth

by Margaret Reynolds on November 10, 2011

in STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

The headlines are filled with the virtues of innovative leadership. In times of rapid change, the mantra may be “innovate or die”. We applaud the big idea, just like the “big play” in sports. Headlines are captured by dunks and home runs. While they captivate our attention and energize the game they don’t guarantee wins.  [...]

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Who doesn’t? As we take stock of how we can best help our friends and clients succeed in 2012, we thought about all of the most common pitfalls companies face. Our goal is to help as many companies as possible– by giving encouragement and by offering solutions for the biggest challenges you face in a [...]

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 In is well known that the execution, or rather the lack of it, is the number one reason plans fail. In fact, as many as 70% of plans fail due to poor execution, and plans that succeed realize only 63% of their proposed value. As I speak to CEOs around the country so many struggle [...]

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Some business leaders believe they don’t need a strategic growth plan. Others wouldn’t go a day without one. Who is right? The answer is, it depends. I can think of a few circumstances where a leader may choose not to do a plan. Most experts,  not just me, will tell you that leading without a [...]

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Recently I have come across two very intersting lists—the top 10 growth industries and the 10 fastest declining industries. Being in a growth industry is usually a good thing! You get tail winds. Being in a declining industry–well your challenge is to avoid being the buggy whip. Most of us are somewhere in the middle [...]

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Many of you know that while I help companies do strategic planning, I really don’t like to use the term, “strategic planning”. Seems odd, doesn’t it? The reason is that far too many people are in the strategic planning business and, in  my humble opinion, it is confused with meeting facilitation. Let me explain. It helps [...]

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What products and services have revolutionalized your life? In my lifetime, there have been many. Wonder how they came about?  It required asking the right questions and really listening for the answer.  In today’s pressured economic environment it is really tempting to ask, “How can we cut back?”, “How can we do this for less money/time?”.  [...]

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