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Greg Githens is the author of How to Think Strategically (2019). He is a recognized thought leader in designing and delivering strategic initiatives.-
Read these recent articles
- Unlocking Strategic Thinking for Business Success – A Summit for Leaders and High Performers (Free)
- The Skills Stack for Resilience
- Five tips for speaking truth to power
- Better Conversations Generate Better Strategy
- Insights Are the Secret Sauce of Strategy
- How a Strategic Decision Differs From a Tactical Decision
- Unlearning, learning, and a culture of strategic thinking
- How Mapping Can Improve Your Strategic Thinking
- How to Measure Business Acumen
- Strategy Execution as a Learning Process
- Why I favor a mental stance of disorder
- Critical Asking
- Transcending the Status Quo
- Connecting Strategy to Execution
- Complexity: Four Principles for Program Managers
- Use the PAVER Framework to Assure Strategic Commitments
- Strategic Experiments & Agile Responses
- Avoiding Four Pitfalls of Rapid Growth
- Operational Excellence or Strategic Excellence?
- Design Thinking: Five Landmarks for Strategic Initiatives
- Seven Must-Do’s for Better Strategy Execution
- Strategy as Problem Solving: An Example from a Large Technology Organization.
- Five Mental Anchors that Impede Your Strategic Initiative
- Five Must-Know Patterns of Disruption
- Beginners Guide: Competent Strategic Initiatives
- Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, & Ambiguity (VUCA)
- Four Recommendations for Effective Program Governance
- Six Strategic Thinking Skills: Developing the Proactiveness Habit
- What’s the #Strategy? Let Me Tell You a #Story
- Benefits of Being a Visible Expert
- Strategy is Not Long-Range Planning, Vision, Mission, or Values
- Five Ways to Involve Smart New Voices in the Strategy & Agile Innovation Conversation
- Is it Possible to Have a Perfect Strategy?
- Facilitating the Business Model Canvas: A Few Lessons Learned (Part 1)
- Designing Strategic Initiatives for Results: The Two Kinds of Coherence
- Perspective is More Powerful than Vision
- The Real Reason Strategy Implementation is Difficult (and the Solution to It)
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
- Ambiguity and Strong-Minded Thinking
- 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
- Strategy Coaching and Facilitation
- Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking
- Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
- Transforming the Organization
- Uncategorized
- Useful Practices & Management Tools
Category Archives: Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking
How to Improve Strategic-Operational Collaboration
You can build support for strategy by understanding and using the strategy-operations polarity map.First, you acknowledge the values of the operational perspective (e.g., it gets results) and the downsides of strategy (it consumes time). Then, you can introduce some of the benefits of strategy work. This article will help the strategic initiative leader assure that the initiative does not flounder. Continue reading
Posted in Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking, Transforming the Organization
Tagged Business operations, change management, commitment, culture, Leadership, polarity map, polarization, strategic initiatives, Strategic management, Strategic planning, Strategy, strategy execution, transformation
6 Comments
How to Be Strong Minded (3 Capabilities and 5 Tips for Strategic Thinking)
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
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
12 Comments
Strategic Thinking (Part 2): Framing Decisions with the Four Types of Ambiguity
Good strategic thinkers are strong minded; they cope effectively with ambiguous information. This article explains how to recognize the four types of goal ambiguity (methods, metrics, priorities, and outcomes). The strategic initiative leader needs to frame decisions to cope with this ambiguity. Continue reading
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking
Tagged agile, ambiguity, Business, buy in, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Consulting, Decision making, Greg Githens, Initiativeto strong mind, Management, questions, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, Strategic planning, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, strategic thinking, strong minded
10 Comments
Strategic Thinking (Part 1): A Fight with Ambiguity
Strategic thinking is necessary for execution, as well as strategy formulation. Ambiguity (multiple meanings) is at the heart of strategy, so the Strategic Initiative leader’s top priority is to recognize ambiguity, clarify metrics, and develop sensible action plans. Greg Githens explains how they find the balance of patience and action. Their skillful conversation fosters understanding and gain commitment. Continue reading
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking
Tagged ambiguity, Business, buy in, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Decision making, fast decisions, Greg Githens, Management, Nokia, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, Strategic planning, strategic thinking, strategy execution, strong mind, transformation, vision
26 Comments
Leading Strategic Initiatives 