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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
- 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)
- Grasping Essentials When You’re NOT the Expert
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
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- Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tag Archives: commitment
Use Small Wins to Attract Allies To Your Strategic Initiative (and Overcome Shabby Thinking)
Organizations often use strategic initiatives as a tool for improving operations. The success rate for these process-improvement initiatives is about 1 in 3. I find it best to think of tool and process deployment as a social process of adopting an innovation. The bottoms-up approach of small wins is a useful alternative to autocratic approaches. A small win, defined by Karl Weick, is a “series of concrete, complete outcomes of moderate importance that build a pattern that attracts allies and deters opponents.” An example is provided, with the leadership lessons of defining benefits, being authentic, generating trust, and encouraging experimentation.
The word “opponent” is a bit of an overstatement for most internal change efforts.The opponent is often not a person, it is a ill-defined ideology. Recommendations: Base your conclusions on good evidence, not gut feelings. Don’t let half-truths go unchallenged; over time they become accepted truth. Continue reading
Posted in Strategy, Ambiguity, and Strong-Minded Thinking, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Transforming the Organization, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged buy in, commitment, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, New product development, Strategic management, strategy execution, transformation
5 Comments
The Job of the Program Manager is to…..
Strategic initiatives are programs led by very capable individuals. In a nutshell, the job of the program manager is to look outward and upward, conveying messages to stakeholders about the stakeholder receiving benefits. The program offers these benefits in exchange for the stakeholder’s commitment to the program. The article explores some of the nuances of this position, and provides helpful links to other content relevant to the competencies of program managers. Continue reading
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 Build Consensus in the Strategic Initiatives Team
Consensus is a vital skill for strategic initiatives. Consensus means that there is 100% agreement to support the IMPLEMENTATION of the decision. Greg Githens explains the two necessary factors for achieving consensus (define the team and have a visible signal) and describes a personal experience in helping an IT group reach agreement on requirements. Continue reading
Three Templates: Strategic Initiative Benefit Propositions (Part 2)
How to write benefits propositions by stating “Because of ___” and “you will___.” Greg Githens calls the three templates direct mail, brag, and experiences. He provides an interesting graphic that displays the tradeoffs of benefits where the claims (brag) style is more objective and economic and the experience style develops more profound commitment to the strategic initiative. Continue reading
Posted in Incremental Benefits Delivery, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged benefits proposition, buy in, claims, commitment, Decision making, economic benefits, emotive benefits, experience, program management, strategic initiatives, Strategic management, templates, value proposition
7 Comments
Pillars of Strategic Initiative Success
Greg Githens explains that good strategy, strong commitment, and strategic planning and thinking are the strategic pillars for success with strategic initiatives. Continue reading
Posted in Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged anticipating obstacles, Business, commitment, Consulting, correct strategy, Decision making, Forbes, good strategy, Management, program management, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategic pillars, strategic planks, Strategic planning, strategic thinking, Strategy, strategy execution
3 Comments
Five Things SI Leaders Need to Know about Innovation
Leaders use the word innovation frequently, but often it’s a buzzword. Innovation is not the same thing as invention or as creativity. Innovations do not sell themselves. It is a gross exaggeration to declare that people “resist change.” Innovation involves choices and decisions. Leaders help others cross the chasm. Greg Githens explains the TACOS criteria for speeding the adoption of an innovation. http://wp.me/pZCkk-fH Continue reading
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Transforming the Organization
Tagged ambiguity, Business case, commitment, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Decision making, Greg Githens, innovation, open innovation, Organizational culture, Strategic initiative, transformation, vision
8 Comments
“Make it Happen” — More Tips for Developing Buy In for your Strategic Initiative
“I know that I should be a person that makes it happen for this strategic initiative,” confided Steve, “but, when I consider the risks and obstacles, the best I can do it help the strategic initiative along.” Greg Githens defines true commitment and explains how it is different from enrollment or compliance. He provides leadership tips for building commitment. Continue reading
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged 3M, ambiguity, bank, benefits, buy in, commitment, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, core team, emotive benefits, empowerment, Greg Githens, heroic journey, initiatives, program management, serve and sacrifice, Strategic initiative, vision
2 Comments
How to Secure Buy In for Your Strategic Initiative
Greg Githens explains that commitment – or “buy in” – means people accept and support a specific concept or course of action. He explains how to advocate benefits to stakeholders. Benefits are of two types: emotive (soft) and economic. The secret sauce is to establish the emotive benefits first, which serves to motivate stakeholders and buys time for acquiring economic benefits. Continue reading
Posted in Program & Portfolio Management, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged change management, commitment, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, economic benefits, emotive benefits, Greg Githens, how to secure buy in, Jack Welch, Organizational culture, program management, Sales, secret sauce, Six Sigma, soft benefits, Strategic initiative, StratEx, vision
Comments Off on How to Secure Buy In for Your Strategic Initiative
Can You See Your Vision Statement?
An important task for the leader of a strategic initiative is to bring clarity to the vision statement. Provides criteria for a vision and 5 methods for improving a vision statement. Step 2 of a 4-part approach on interpreting strategy documents. Continue reading
Posted in Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged alignment, commitment, program management, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, strategy document, strategy execution, vision
11 Comments
Leading Strategic Initiatives 