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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
- Uncategorized
- Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tag Archives: Greg Githens
Director Business Transformation: Position Description & Relationship to Strategic Initiatives
Provides three examples of Director Business Transformation roles at Hertz, Sears, and SuperValu and suggests that there are similarities and distinctions with roles for VP, Director, or Manager of Strategic Initiatives. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Transforming the Organization
Tagged Best practice, Business, Business transformation, change management, Chief financial officer, director, Greg Githens, growth, Hertz, Information Technology, job, Management, Organizational Development, position, program management, Project management, Sears, Strategic initiative, strategic initiatives, Strategic management, Supervalu, transformation, transformation initiatives
6 Comments
Balanced Score Cards and Strategic Initiatives
The leader of a strategic initiative needs to have a good understanding of the purpose and application of the balanced score card. This article overviews the four perspectives and provides four valuable questions that inform the strategic intent. Continue reading
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
12 Comments
Use the Columbo Question to Get Strategic Information
In the inquiry mode of leadership, questions help to set strategic direction and discover requirements and intentions. Greg Githens explains that the last question in an interview is, “Is there any question that I should have asked that I haven’t asked.” Continue reading
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged Columbo, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Greg Githens, Interview, management tools, Peter Falk, questions, skillful questioning, strategic information, Strategic initiative, strategic thinking, The Last Question
2 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
18 Comments
A Practical Tool for Gaining Program Management Insights
Greg Githens describes the SIMple model (SIM = Strategy, Inquiry, Metrics) as a tool for framing key issues in a strategic initiative. He recommends starting with inquiry and metrics, and using that to evaluate and refine the program strategy. Continue reading
Posted in Program & Portfolio Management, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged Business, Chief learning officer, Decision making, Greg Githens, inquiry, Management, measurement, metrics, program management, questions, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategic thinking, Strategy
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Does Your Strategic Initiative Need a Fresh Perspective?
Greg explains how to overcome headwinds in a strategic initiative with 4 perspectives: storytelling, learning, integration, and decisions. He illustrates how each role is applied through a case study.
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged ambiguity, chief decision architect, chief integration officer, Chief learning officer, Chief storyteller, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Decision making, Greg Githens, intuition, Issue management, Learning, management tools, partitioning problems, program management, questions, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategic thinking, strategy execution, teams, transformation, vision
1 Comment
L.I.D.S – The Four Leadership Roles of the Strategic Program Manager
Stories, Learning, Integration, and Decisions are keys to good leadership of strategic initiatives. Greg Githens explains that the leader is the Chief of each. Individually and collectively these program manager roles provide a framework for strategy execution.
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Interpreting Strategy Documents, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged ambiguity, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, fast decisions, Greg Githens, innovation, program management, Strategic initiative, strategic thinking, strategy execution, teams
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
12 Comments
Growth as a Strategic Initiative
Companies are shifting into a growth mode and we will see more strategic initiatives that emphasize a blend of incremental, platform and radical transformation. The drivers of growth may be strategy innovation, product innovation, or process innovation. It may be organic or inorganic growth, with use of open innovation straddling the two. The leader will need to develop an understanding of what growth means, and apply the described techniques for structuring a strategic initiative to gain growth. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, Transforming the Organization
Tagged ambiguity, Business, business development, Chief executive officer, GE Growth Playbook, Greg Githens, growth, IBM, incremental innovation, innovation, Inorganic growth, New product development, new service developement, open innovation, platform innovation, Procter & Gamble, program management, radical innovation, Sales, Samuel J. Palmisano, Strategic initiative, Strategy, strategy innovation, transformation
7 Comments
Leading Strategic Initiatives 