Tag Archives: strategic thinking

Three Tips for Leading Strategic Alliances

Posted on April 18, 2013 by

Strategic alliances are a growing subset of strategic initiatives. A Strategic Alliance is a relationship between two or more parties where they collaborate to capture an opportunity or extend their reach into complementary areas. Author and consultant Greg Githens has participated in many strategic alliances, both as a leader and as a consultant and offers three tips that will increase the probability of success. Tip #1 – Meet in Person, Frequently. Tip #2 – Find and Articulate Strategic Insights. Tip #3 – Explicitly discuss risks, risk tolerances and risk response strategies. Continue reading →

Posted in Program & Portfolio Management, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strategic Thinking: Seven Questions for Your New Year’s Resolution

Posted on December 31, 2012 by

Greg Githens provides timely and useful questions: “Am I applying strategic thinking to my career, and to my organization?” What’s Your Personal Brand? Are you thinking strategically? Are you anticipating opportunity? Have you taken the time to reflect on your lessons learned for the year? Do you have stretch goals? Do you carry a mentality of abundance or a mentality of scarcity? Are you paying forward? Continue reading →

Posted in Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Four Things Strategic Initiative Leaders Need to Know About Requirements

Posted on August 16, 2012 by

Requirements capture and management is critical to the success of a strategic initiative. Leaders need to know: 1. It is some of the hardest work, 2. Requirements are a concept that is distinct from solution design, 3. Capturing requirements requires structure, 4. Integrate requirements into program governance. Continue reading →

Posted in Program & Portfolio Management, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Use the Prospective Hindsight Technique to Improve Your Vision Statements and Story Telling

Posted on June 15, 2012 by

The practical technique of prospective hindsight – on both the disaster scenario and the delight scenario – will help your strategic initiative team identify risks and think more strategically about turning the vision the vision into results. The difference between a prospective story and retrospective story is also discussed. Continue reading →

Posted in How to Improve Your Story Telling Chops, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Useful Practices & Management Tools | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

How to Develop Completion Criteria and Success Metrics

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Two important strategic initiative questions are “What does done look like?” and “How will you know if you were successful?” Greg Githens provides a helpful “how to” article for answering those questions, using a project that was part of a growth playbook strategic initiative. Continue reading →

Posted in Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Useful Practices & Management Tools | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Strategic Initiative Leader: The #1 Success Factor!

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

Greg Githens relates his advice to a CEO determined to succeed at a strategic initiative: recruit a capable program manager. He explains that the capable person provides leverage: for example, shaping and influencing the vision and strategy, managing interfaces with other groups, attracting/negotiating resources, etc. He explains the competencies and characteristics of a strategic initiative program manager; they have strengths in strategic thinking, matched by use of leadership skills, determination, and a commitment to a vision. Continue reading →

Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Path Finding and Way Finding

Posted on February 14, 2012 by

Path finding for a strategic initiative is composed of the activities of pattern searching, sense making, and nudging. It is a straightforward method for addressing strategic complexity. Greg Githens first provides the analogy of path finding through a forest, and then briefly illustrates with examples from Google, Wal-Mart, and Domino’s Pizza. Please provide comments. Continue reading →

Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Five Rules for Managing Complex Strategic Initiatives

Posted on January 18, 2012 by

Complex strategic initiatives operate in un-ordered environments. Greg offers 5 rules: manage initial (starting) conditions, broaden the involvement of stake holders, dissent strengthens the strategy, increase learning with rapid experimentation, and monitor for emergence. Continue reading →

Posted in Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

A Master List of Questions for Strategic Initiatives

Posted on December 6, 2011 by

More than 80 good questions for leaders of strategic initiatives, provided by Greg Githens, who notes that “leaders lead by asking questions.” These questions are categorized: strategic path finding; betterment of risk, issues, and decisions; and elaborating requirements, solution design, and value propositions. Continue reading →

Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Useful Practices & Management Tools | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How to Be Strong Minded (3 Capabilities and 5 Tips for Strategic Thinking)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

Strong minds produce strong ideas. Strong minds do not fail. Strong minded thinkers have three competencies: 1) they are good a probing and sensing, 2) they imagine the logical future consequences of decisions and actions, and 3) they look for opportunities to apply ingenuity. The article provides practical questions that will help the reader develop these competencies. The article also provides five tips for robustness: avoid mistakes, develop emotional resiliency, reflect, and generate alternative solutions. Continue reading →

Posted in Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments