Greg Githens is Vice President Strategic Initiatives and Innovation. He helps executives turn vision into results and is available for short- and long-term leadership.-
Read these recent articles
- Strategic Leadership is “Replacing Old Stories with New Stories”
- Accountability is the Willingness to Have Your Performance Measured
- Three Tips for Leading Strategic Alliances
- Don’t Ask About Deadlines and Due Dates
- Launching a Strategic Initiative? Here are Three Good Practices
- B.A.R.E.D. – Five Domains for Program Management Performance
- Strategy Execution Priority #1: Effectively Communicate Strategic Decision(s)
- Strategic Initiatives Case Study: Best Buy’s “Renew Blue” Turnaround
- The Business Value Proposition
- Strategic Thinking: Seven Questions for Your New Year’s Resolution
- Use Small Wins to Attract Allies To Your Strategic Initiative (and Overcome Shabby Thinking)
- Strategic Initiatives | What Are the Metrics That Matter?
- S.T.I.C.C. – A Useful Communication Tool for Critical Situations
- The “20%-of-Your-Time” Rule-of-Thumb
- That’s the Fact, Jack: Data Drive Strategic Initiatives
- A Simple Idea that Every Good Strategist Knows
- Apple versus Samsung: Three Lessons for Strategic Initiative Leaders
- Four Things Strategic Initiative Leaders Need to Know About Requirements
- The “Call to Action:” A Useful Leadership Tool
- Strategic Initiative Steering Teams: A Sharp or Dull Blade?
- Identify Performance Gaps and Get Out of the Rut of Solutioneering
- The Job of the Program Manager is to…..
- Use the Prospective Hindsight Technique to Improve Your Vision Statements and Story Telling
- The Purpose of a Strategic Initiative is Closing a Performance Gap
- How to Develop Completion Criteria and Success Metrics
- Ask Informed Questions
- How to Identify Strategic Assumptions
- Strategic Initiative Case Study: Intel’s Product Development Turnaround
- Strategic Initiatives | Are You Ready to Implement?
- Incremental Benefits Delivery: The Key to Sustaining Commitment to Strategy
- The Strategic Initiative Leader: The #1 Success Factor!
- Strategic Initiatives | Executive Sponsor Roles, Power, & Politics
- Know The “Follow-The-Money” Story. How was Your Strategic Initiative Funded?
- Path Finding and Way Finding
- A Powerful Idea for Your Strategic Initiative: Program = Brand = Trust
- Case Study: Strategic Initiative Kickoff in a Global Joint Venture
- Five Rules for Managing Complex Strategic Initiatives
Talk to the Expert
Need a strategic planning facilitator, implementation coach, neutral mediator, workshop, seminar, or hands-on program manager? Greg Githens provides coaching, workshops, hands-on, and more. Contact him at GregoryDGithens@cs.com or 419.424.1164Categories
- Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders
- Examples of Strategic Initiatives
- How to Improve Your Story Telling Chops
- Incremental Benefits Delivery
- Interpreting Strategy Documents
- Program & Portfolio Management
- Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives
- Strategy Coaching and Facilitation
- Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking
- Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
- Transforming the Organization
- Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tag Archives: strategy formulation
Strategy-as-Story: The ABCDE Model
This tip for strategy and story telling (third in a series) describes the ABCDE model (assess, baseline, components, delivery, evaluation). It explains that strategic initiatives are chartered in the C to D steps. It also provides four useful questions that help gain strategic perspective: Where are we at? Where do we want to be? How will we get there? How will we evaluate ourselves? It also provides an example story that illustrates the principles. Continue reading
Posted in How to Improve Your Story Telling Chops, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged ABCDE model of strategy, balanced score card, benefits, leading strategic initiatives, story telling, strategic initiatives, Strategic management, Strategic planning, strategy execution, strategy formulation, vision
1 Comment
Eight Distinctions between Portfolio Management & Program Management
This article clarifies the differences between program management, portfolio management, and program management along 8 dimensions: purpose, temporal nature, aggregation, strategic alignment, success criteria, risk, decisions, & competencies. Greg Githens explains four implications for leaders of strategic initiatives: meaning of strategic alignment, number of strategic initiatives in the portfolio, strategic initiatives as programs, and immature standards. The leader applies strategic thinking to do that. Continue reading
Posted in Program & Portfolio Management, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged ambiguity, Business, differences project program portfolio, governance, Greg Githens, Leadership, Management, portfolio management, program management, Project, Project management, Project portfolio management, risk diversification, strategic alignment, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategic thinking, strategy execution, strategy formulation
10 Comments
A Guide to the Three Types of Strategy and Business Model Scope
Strategic initiatives arise to support three types of strategies. Corporate strategies have to do with market selection. Business strategies have to do with competing within a business model. Functional strategies have to do with effective specialization. Each interact with the business model’s value proposition. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged Business, Business model, Business Model Canvas, business value, case study, Domino's Pizza, Greg Githens, Initiative, Management, Microsoft, Nokia, program management, resource availability, strategic alignment, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Strategy, strategy execution, strategy formulation, Swiss Life, transformation
13 Comments
Two Tools for Describing Strategic Context (Strategic Thinking Part 3)
Greg Githens explains the PESTLE acronym for evaluating strategic context, and the “walk the fenceline” technique. Strategic thinkers have an “outside in” perspective that allows them understand how external context affects strategy. Continue reading
Posted in Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking
Tagged ambiguity, Business, CSX, director of strategic initiatives, Greg Githens, innovation, Management, Pepsico, PESTLE, program management, strategic context, strategic environment, Strategic initiative, strategic thinking, strategy execution, strategy formulation, sustainability, vision
11 Comments
Strategic Initiatives Drive Growth and Innovation in the Travel Industry
Competitive industries – for example the travel industry – use strategic initiatives to create competitive advantage. Greg Githens explains that there are 5 important tasks for leaders of strategic initiatives to create growth through innovation: understanding the brand promise, understanding the voice of the customer, effectively leveraging business intelligence, establishing appropriate success metrics, and driving effective and fast decisions. One example is how Vancouver’s port made it easier for US citizens to clear customs for cruise ships. A second example is how Hilton is innovating in its design of hotel business lounges. A third example for Marriott hotel’s bedding initiative. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Transforming the Organization
Tagged airline, brand promise, Business, business intelligence, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, cruise line, cruise port, Decision making, fast decisions, Greg Githens, growth, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, hotel operations, innovation, Management, Marriott, ncl, norwegian, Problem Solving, Strategic management, strategy execution, strategy formulation, success metric, Tourism, transformation, Travel, vision, voice of the customer
2 Comments
Validation: How to Get Strategy Right
Strategy validation is a process of assuring that there is a “correct strategy.” First, review to find a distinct statement of problem or opportunity that is coupled to a proposed solution. The program manager – just like the CEO – validates strategy with the important stakeholders. Avoid over and under commitment to the strategic initiative. The #1 reason that Boards fire CEOs is because they don’t adequately communicate the reasons for the strategic initiatives. Continue reading
Posted in Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged CEO fired, change management, Discovery Channel, Greg Githens, Hasbro, IBM Infosphere, Problem Solving, program management, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, strategy execution, strategy formulation, The Hub, transformation, Translation, United Bank Limited, validation, vision
4 Comments
Strategy is a Boundary-Spanning Activity
Greg Githens explains how leaders develop the strategic initiative execution plan by integrating concepts. Vertical connections are done through metrics and horizontal connections are a search for strategic synergy. He explains a pitfall of many strategies, which is to focus on the solution rather than the problem or opportunity. An example is provided for Human Resources strategy. This post describes Step 3 of 4 for interpreting strategy documents. Continue reading
Posted in Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged ambiguity, balanced score card, Balanced scorecard, horizontal integration, Initiative, open innovation, program management, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Strategy, strategy execution, strategy formulation, vertical integration, vision
6 Comments
What are the Strategic Pillars that Support the Vision?
Strategic pillars and planks hold up the strategic vision. Describes examples of strategic initiatives at Google, Boy Scouts of America, Schibsted, GE, pet supplies retailer, and an approach for content marketing strategies. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged content marketing, document analysis, Goal, Greg Githens, program management, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategic planks, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, strategy execution, strategy formulation, vision
5 Comments
