The lens we look through changes what we see. It's easy to think a simple and familiar underlying process is at work or fundamental truth is at the root and that we are seeing part of it or its results.While something is certainly underneath what we see, I think we are foolish to reduce it to something simple, familiar and fundamental. After all, when we think about it we know that what we see is really the result of a phenomenally complex system or, better stated, the interaction of phenomenally complex systems. Indeed, we can see the effects or results of these systems - a flower, a stock market drop, an entrepreneurial opportunity - but it is impossible to fully grasp or describe the system and how it works. Only when we isolate parts or pieces can we see dimly lit clues about how it works - mapping DNA to explain the human body, a stock price prediction model that poorly fits reality, volumes of market data that indicate changing consumer preference.

Look at the cloud. That's certainly a place I would look if I were trying to envision a future for an organization and understand changing market and business dynamics. The buzz about SaaS (Software as a Service) and cloud computing has been increasing, with Steven Jobs' recent announcement of Apple's iCloud service just the latest entre' on the growing menu, The potential for cloud computing and SaaS to bring paradigm shifting opportunity and disruption was brought home at a Proformative seminar for CFO-types that I just attended. My mission as a general manager, strategist and marketer infiltrating this seminar was to gain a better understanding of how medium-sized and growing organizations can gain traction by employing newer financial tools.

Over the past few weeks I have encountered the topic of innovation at seemingly every juncture: At a symposium on facilitating group innovation. In a business school strategy group discussion of writings on the process of innovation and how to foster it in organizations. Through the work of a non-profit that provides STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education to kids to encourage invention. From an insightful trade association executive who spoke about the need for associations to launch innovation processes to assure their sustainability. From this immersion in innovation thinking, a big take away is that innovation starts with a person. It starts from a person being creative, open, curious and willing to entertain change.

In the social media tsunami, many of us are running hard to stay ahead of the wave. The overall volume of conversation is rising rapidly, as are the demands and opportunities to participate.Like any new paradigm, this one calls on us to learn new ways of thinking and behavior. For instance, how do we best mine the brevity of the 140-character Twitter post? What bit can we toss in as our blog entry that will not just be something that says "me too"? How do we find the time to check in on LinkedIn and Facebook and monitor Twitter while carrying on our analog lives and not offending those we need to interact with face-to-face? How can we best use all these platforms to carry our strategic business messages and not just banal observations? How do we seamlessly weave them into our work lives to increase our scope and power as professionals?

When should you launch a strategic planning process?  Here's when.

How suited are today's management systems to the challenges at hand? That was the question raised in a discussion among a group of University of Chicago trained strategists.

Next time you are looking at an organization that is not performing well, ask yourself, what's the cause? Of course, the cause could be one of many: Lack of funds and investment, insufficient or unsuited staff, ineffective technology, misguided marketing, "me-to" branding, high cost structure, misunderstanding of customer needs, and so on. At the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Management Conference last Friday, Professor James Schrager described a handy three-option construct he uses to parse the success or failure of organizations.

Wikipedia: "Knowledge is a collection of facts, information, and/or skills acquired through experience or education or (more generally) the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject."After sitting through my second "How to use social media for business" presentation in a week (both well done, but that's not my point), it hit me: We are trying to grab a wave.

Should strategic thinking focus on the seen and known or the unseen and unknown? That might sound like a ridiculous question.  How can you focus on something that is not there, something that you don't know about?

Much of life is anticipation.  From my vantage point I can see many things being anticipated.  Where I am, this is the spring that isn't: We are fervently awaiting warmth.  Likewise, we await some kind of positive resolution in Libya after the hurried imposition of a no-fly zone.  The Japanese people are desparately awaiting the staunching of radioactivity from their crippled nuclear reactors.  Investors are awaiting first quarter earnings reports and more signs of economic growth. Note that the examples I give of anticipation are all macro:  the weather, a war, a catastrophe, the economy.  These are things that we have little or no control over. We cannot shape them.  We can only experience them.

Do people asking for funding have a plan? Why is that even a question?

Anyone interested in strategic planning and leadership needs to keep current with trends, experience, the "cutting edge" and "what's next."   You can imagine that as a former financial/business journalist and publisher I am voracious in my consumption of business information.  I consume - off and on - The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the business sections of my local newspapers, CNBC, Bloomberg, Market Place, all sorts of web sites, trade publications and more.

A elegant strategy is one that fits. That falls into place. That works with style and ease.

On the road to wherever you might be going, isn't it often the case you get distracted or pulled in a new direction and turn off, stop, veer away, wind up not where you were headed? Sometimes this is serendipity, the new direction or destination much more interesting and positive.  But so often the change of course or pace results in a lack of progress or achievement.  In this wired, social media, ad-driven, sensory age we have so many things pulling at us, infiltrating our consciousness, diverting and distracting us.  Something of these intrusions are actual opportunities, but for the very greatest part they are not.