Week 18 Tip: 3 Days, 3 Weeks, 3 Months

Slide18.JPGIn the face of a complex systemic problem requiring a systemic solution, it can feel like a daunting mountain to climb.  If we are not careful, we tend to focus on the peak and the big fix solution which that represents, working backwards from that future with no clear path of how on earth we will ever achieve it.  It feels like too big a mountain to climb, especially when it is just one peak in the mountain range of other systemic problems requiring systemic solutions.  Read the rest of this entry »

Getting Going in the Dark

While "beginning with the end in mind" is still a good idea, developing the advantage of organizational agility these days also demands a willingness to get going in the dark, letting the sun rise on the path.

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HFMA-San Diego (April 23rd 2009), Strategic Planning & Execution for Uncertain Times

The presentation file from my recent speaker session at HFMA San Diego.  Click here to download the handout.

UCSD Rady School of Management (April 21st 2009) Global Business Strategy Class

I used the Execution Excellence model as the accumulation of my insight into the challenge executives face in the driving seat of organizational agility these days, and the skills they need to be mastering detail complexity and dynamic complexity. 

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If Cash-is-King, then the Crown (head-gear) is Organizational Agility!

The head-gear worn by the king is the crown.  Cash is King, still - it always had been and it always will be.  Some things never change - in bad times, in good times and in great times, surviving and thriving is about not running out of cash!  The crowning head-gear has changed though - what did the crown used to be in your industry?  Maybe size; maybe reach; maybe deep pockets?  Now it’s agility - organizational agility - for cash to be king, that’s what we have to wear as our crowning head-gear, which frames our mindset, our mental-model, the way we are wired.

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Week 17 Tip: Hold a Workshop to Educate Your Team

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Would your executives agree?

"Organizational Agility is a core differentiator in today’s rapidly changing business environment" - that’s the number 1 conclusion from a recent (March 2009) report from the Economist Intelligence Unit.  Nearly 90% of the executives surveyed (349 business executives from 8 countries, including the US, 19 industries and with revenues ranging from under $500M to over $5Bn) believe that Organizational Agility is critical for business success.  Read the rest of this entry »

Week 16 Tip: Hitting Singles

Slide16.JPGThese weekly tips are to encourage you to "hit singles" - each week, to single out one thing which, in addition to everything else you already have going on, you are going to hit hard to begin brewing up a breakthrough (the home run which will eventually come).  52 weeks of singles will add up to a lot of breakthroughs! Read the rest of this entry »

Organizational Agility - Lost in Translation?

 The message is coming across loud and clear:  

  • "Organizational Agility is a core differentiator in today’s rapidly changing business environment" - that’s the number one conclusion from a recent (March 2009) report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, entitled, “Organizational Agility:  how business can survive and thrive in turbulent times”.  Nearly 90% of the executives surveyed (349 business executives from 8 countries including the US, from 19 industries and with revenues ranging from under $500M to over $5Bn) believe that Organizational Agility is critical for business success.  Read the rest of this entry »

Week 15 Tip: Are you Tickling or Tackling Issues?

Slide15.JPGAre you truly "tackling" issues or just "tickling" them every once in a while and wondering why not much has changed?  Systemic problems require systemic solutions - we have to be tackling the whole and the parts of the system in an organized, simultaneous manner, to orchestrate a breakthrough and allow system performance to pop to the next level.  Anything less and we are just tickling the issue and are fooling ourselves that there is going to be any kind of breakthrough.  We are just "tickling" the problem, not "tackling" it.  Read the rest of this entry »

Month Four Process-Step: The 3Rs - Re-aligning, Re-enrolling & Re-engaging

Slide4.JPGMonth Four of our Fiscal Year (April for many of us) is a time to practice the 3Rs of Re-aligning, Re-enrolling & Re-engaging our team, broadly and deeply across our organization.

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