There used to be a time when athletes were told “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game”. This was a time when athletics was viewed as a way of preparing you for life, to develop a moral compass, to take the high road, to be a good citizen, and [...]

Read More... from Adidas – Holding out for a hero

When launching a new product, overcoming skepticism, both internally and externally, is mission critical. The key to success is ensuring that your product empowers people to achieve their goals.   However, as important as this is, many make the mistake of believing the only goals that customers have are financial.  While long-term benefits are typically measured [...]

Read More... from Finding That Lovin’ Feeling

As organizations grow, their complexity increases and the internal competition for scarce resources intensifies. Without a clear vision and strategy confusion ensues, eventually leading to a complete loss of team motivation.   While many see the development of a vision and the accompanying strategy as a top-down directive, its importance extends far beyond the C suite.   [...]

Read More... from It’s a Vision Thing

In the 1990’s Finnish based Nokia surpassed Motorola in mobile phone sales, gaining control of approximately 40% of the world mobile phone market.  Nokia’s hand sized mobile phones hit a sweet spot in the market and became so ubiquitous that people didn’t ask what kind of phone you had but rather which model of Nokia [...]

Read More... from Big Goals, No Strategy

Strategy, boils down to one essential truth: making choices about where to play and where not to play.  Simple, right?   Yet “simple is tough to execute!  For example, it might seem easier to take a “please everyone” approach to strategy, yet rarely does this translate into success.  In reality, pleasing everyone muddles the enterprise’s focus [...]

Read More... from The Power of Strategic Focus: How Making Tough Choices Saved Bombardier

The French call it the “raison d’être”; others call it your “purpose” or your “why”.  Herbert Joly, the CEO of Best Buy, penned an article in HBR describing how he needed to find the company’s “Why” before he could turn around the then failing business. When Joly first became CEO of Best Buy, the large [...]

Read More... from Purpose before Strategy