I recently read Jim Collins newest book, Turning the Flywheel, in which he drills down on the Flywheel concept introduced in Good to Great. For a quick refresher, the flywheel for an organization is a virtuous cycle of actions, each building on the previous, that, when executed consistently and with excellence, build self-sustaining momentum for…
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that six years ago, you had no idea what shiplap was. Neither did I. But thanks to Chip and Joanna Gaines and their hit HGTV show FixerUpper, shiplap is now part of the national consciousness. Everyone wants at least an accent wall’s worth of…
I received a referral for a new client a few months ago. The person who sent it was certain this business owner could benefit from working with me. Given the strength of the referral, I worked especially hard to make contact with the prospective client/business owner. I just did a quick count of the text…
When a new initiative is rolled out in an organization, it’s often with a great deal of hype and enthusiasm. Everyone buys in and adoption is good, but then work life starts to happen. And that’s the problem with work life – there’s so much of it. The initial enthusiasm for the new initiative gets…
Commander’s Intent first appeared in the US Army Field Manual 100-5, Operations in 1982. However, it wasn’t original with them. It was borrowed from the Germans who developed it as they fought Napoleon during the French Revolution. The Germans called it Aftragstaktik. So, what does this 225 year-old methodology have to do with your organization…
I have one of those jobs – Strategy Consultant. Even after following the advice of branding and messaging experts, what I do doesn’t seem to be crystal clear to the people I want to reach the most. Thankfully, I got some help recently from one of those very people. This potential client and I have…
For those of you who had a quick flashback to high school sports complete with cheerleaders, sorry about that. But, in the age of POS systems, big data, analytics and visualizations, it’s hard to believe we’re still asking this question. Most of our businesses, even small businesses, are awash in data – transactional data from…
There’s not a better job in the world than being a consultant. I have the opportunity to see the inner workings of multiple industries and competitive companies inside those industries. And, I get to work with great, smart people all the time. The one thing I can’t do, however, is make decisions for clients. I…
In my work as a business consultant and grad school adjunct professor, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve invoked Dan Pink’s three-point outline from his brilliant 2009 book, Drive. Employees want three things in their work life – Autonomy – the ability to control what they do, how they do it, when they…
Sorry to bring this up, but in just a couple of months it will be tax time. Very soon the Finance folks will be talking with us about deductions, assets, 1099s and more. One of the conversations will likely involve depreciation. Depreciation is the mechanism that allows us to account for the portion of an…