Strategic Thinking & Strategic Action
Fostering strategic thinking and strategic action by organizational leaders since 2007.
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Action-oriented bias
- Nov 17, 2017 Trump trap: Action-oriented bias Nov 17, 2017
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Approach-avoidance
- Sep 21, 2016 Approach or avoid? Sep 21, 2016
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Bell curve bias
- Mar 28, 2020 We are biased by the bell curve Mar 28, 2020
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Choice
- Oct 5, 2016 Managing choice Oct 5, 2016
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Coaching
- Jan 7, 2025 Pick the best: Don’t let the bad drive out the good Jan 7, 2025
- Jan 22, 2024 Coaching and change Jan 22, 2024
- Apr 1, 2021 Let’s not be complacent about our ignorance! Apr 1, 2021
- Mar 10, 2021 So much can go wrong. Here’s how to make it go right. Mar 10, 2021
- Mar 10, 2021 Why settle? Go for the gold! Mar 10, 2021
- Mar 10, 2021 It's time for spring training. Are you ready to play on the A Team? Mar 10, 2021
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Consensus
- Dec 6, 2016 No consensus for consensus Dec 6, 2016
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Decision biases cases
- Oct 19, 2020 Short-sighted thinking: The case of the “hot new smartphone” Oct 19, 2020
- Sep 10, 2020 Changing our thinking to feel better. Yes, we do that! Sep 10, 2020
- Oct 24, 2019 Remember, history is written by the survivors Oct 24, 2019
- Oct 22, 2019 Beliefs about a group matter Oct 22, 2019
- Oct 15, 2019 Not knowing we don’t know Oct 15, 2019
- Sep 19, 2017 Case 12: Not missing the opportunity to lose billions Sep 19, 2017
- Aug 29, 2017 Case 11: Getting bitten by not seeing it Aug 29, 2017
- Aug 29, 2017 Case 10: When what worked didn’t work Aug 29, 2017
- Aug 28, 2017 Case 9: The climbers who perished by succeeding Aug 28, 2017
- Aug 28, 2017 Case 8: No accounting for incompetence Aug 28, 2017
- Aug 16, 2017 Case 7: Blind or incompetent? Perhaps both… Aug 16, 2017
- Aug 16, 2017 Case 6: Seeing what he wanted to see Aug 16, 2017
- Aug 13, 2017 Case 5: Getting burned by past successes Aug 13, 2017
- Aug 2, 2017 Case 4: I’m the boss, so I am right! Aug 2, 2017
- Aug 2, 2017 Case 3: The experts were wrong Aug 2, 2017
- Aug 2, 2017 Case 2: The battle that didn’t go as expected Aug 2, 2017
- Dec 12, 2016 Failure without facilitation: The French Canal Disaster Dec 12, 2016
- Oct 26, 2015 Decision traps, flaws and fallacies: Learn from my unexpected big decision Oct 26, 2015
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Decision making
- Nov 6, 2024 Rise of the poker pros: 10 lessons for great success Nov 6, 2024
- Jan 5, 2024 What’s your magic number? Jan 5, 2024
- Oct 9, 2023 AI revisited: Will it ever make perfect decisions? Oct 9, 2023
- Sep 4, 2019 “The instant of decision is madness” Sep 4, 2019
- Apr 23, 2018 Despite our growing ignorance, we must decide Apr 23, 2018
- Apr 12, 2018 Can “Big Data” deliver “the right decision”? Apr 12, 2018
- Jan 18, 2018 The worst accident: “We’re going!” Jan 18, 2018
- Mar 8, 2015 10 surprising mental traps: Why we make bad decisions Mar 8, 2015
- Mar 10, 2014 Often wrong but never in doubt Mar 10, 2014
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Decision making biases
- Mar 10, 2021 So much can go wrong. Here’s how to make it go right. Mar 10, 2021
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Evidence
- Dec 16, 2016 Misuse of evidence can zap your strategy Dec 16, 2016
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Evolution
- Aug 6, 2016 Smart phones on the savannah Aug 6, 2016
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Gratitude
- Oct 25, 2017 Thank you for our connection Oct 25, 2017
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Group decisions
- Nov 15, 2016 #2 error: Not using the group advantage Nov 15, 2016
- Oct 22, 2015 Open up your thinking: Make better decisions in a group process Oct 22, 2015
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Leadership
- Nov 14, 2016 #1 error: The leader problem Nov 14, 2016
- Feb 1, 2016 Leaders who mislead: A tale of two movies Feb 1, 2016
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Pre-mortem
- Sep 12, 2016 Thinking “as if” Sep 12, 2016
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Risk
- Jun 9, 2020 The Black Swan and us Jun 9, 2020
- Jan 10, 2017 The risk of ignoring risk Jan 10, 2017
- Oct 14, 2016 Risk and regret Oct 14, 2016
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Strategic planning
- Jan 4, 2025 California High Speed Rail to nowhere: Lessons for implementing our plans Jan 4, 2025
- Dec 17, 2024 Why New Year’s resolutions fail: The problem of implementation Dec 17, 2024
- Nov 10, 2024 Are you ready to bat? Nov 10, 2024
- Oct 9, 2024 Drift and big change challenge our success Oct 9, 2024
- Aug 19, 2024 Get real when you plan! Aug 19, 2024
- Apr 10, 2024 Bridge the strategy gap Apr 10, 2024
- Feb 23, 2024 Don't waste your time planning, unless... Feb 23, 2024
- Dec 18, 2023 The secret sauce of successful plan implementation Dec 18, 2023
- Nov 20, 2023 How to build commitment to change, revisited Nov 20, 2023
- Oct 3, 2023 Success Starts With a Big Vision Oct 3, 2023
- Aug 24, 2021 Sometimes you get what you need Aug 24, 2021
- Feb 25, 2021 Do you measure up? Feb 25, 2021
- Jul 28, 2020 Forget business as usual Jul 28, 2020
- Oct 9, 2014 What’s driving your organization? Oct 9, 2014
- Feb 20, 2014 This is not an infomercial Feb 20, 2014
- Feb 11, 2014 The Big Fail Feb 11, 2014
- Mar 12, 2013 Parsimony and planning Mar 12, 2013
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Strategic thinking
- Feb 11, 2025 What to do when disaster ensues Feb 11, 2025
- Feb 27, 2024 Desirable difficulties Feb 27, 2024
- Jan 13, 2024 Business model question: Produce or provide? Jan 13, 2024
- Jan 5, 2024 What’s your magic number? Jan 5, 2024
- Jul 5, 2023 Think wide to succeed: How will you compete? Jul 5, 2023
- Mar 25, 2014 Flight 370 and strategic thinking Mar 25, 2014
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Strategy
- Mar 17, 2025 Are you getting your share? Mar 17, 2025
- Feb 24, 2025 Know who you are up against! Feb 24, 2025
- Jan 18, 2025 Be better than the competition Jan 18, 2025
- Jul 23, 2024 Your pricing says it all… But what does it say? Jul 23, 2024
- Jun 23, 2024 We are people, not transactions Jun 23, 2024
- May 22, 2024 Is excellence - or failure - ahead? Answer five questions to know May 22, 2024
- Apr 8, 2024 What do your customers expect? Apr 8, 2024
- Nov 13, 2023 Demand a great brand! Nov 13, 2023
- Oct 31, 2017 Why not plan to be great, like Elon Musk? Oct 31, 2017
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Success
- Jul 24, 2019 22 principles I have learned from being an athlete Jul 24, 2019
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Sunk cost fallacy
- Mar 21, 2015 Sunk cost fallacy: Throwing good money after bad Mar 21, 2015
What to do when disaster ensues
If we ever needed a reminder that this is a VUCA world - a strategists’ term meaning “volatile, unpredictable, chaotic, and ambiguous” - the current state of affairs in the USA’s capital city is it. Agencies, jobs, careers, funding, and polices are all being disrupted
Yet, despite the scale of the “volatile, unpredictable, chaotic, and ambiguous” change affecting the federal government and those associated with and depending on it, unexpected big change and its affects is hardly a new phenomenon.
Just as I did during the COVID-19 Pandemic, I feel compelled to offer up what I know as a strategist, researcher on decision making. planner, and business coach about how to function in and even succeed in a VUCA world, be it induced by COVID, Trump administration actions, LA wildfires, New Orleans shootings, DC plane crash, war, business failure, or otherwise.
Are you ready to bat?
Just as a batter needs to constantly monitor and process all these variables to make good decisions at the plate, as an organizational leader or business professional you should be keenly aware of what’s going on around you when you step up to bat. For businesses, this process is environmental scanning - which these days involves doing a deep dive on the internet and using AI to identify trends and forecasts that offer ideas on how you might proceed in the future.
Environmental scanning is critical, because the environment in which we all are operating is dynamic. Every day brings change – new opportunities and new challenges.
Desirable difficulties
Too often I see organizations and leaders take the easy road, the worn path, the usual course, going with the flow. The organizations and leaders I work with should not expect me to endorse that approach to business (or life). There is a direct line between difficulty and achievement, whether for athletes or business people. The easy road is almost never that direct line (ignoring the element of luck).
How to build commitment to change, revisited
Implementing a strategic plan by executing action steps is a large-scale organizational change process. However logical and essential the change seems to those driving it, others will resist change and be a barrier to successful implementation. Gaining and maintaining commitment to the plan and its implementation is a critical step.