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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: innovation
Four Ways that People Learn
One of the consistently popular “key learnings” in my seminars has been the four ways that people learn, also known as the Kolb Learning Cycle. People learn from experience People learn from reflection People learn from conceptualizing People learn from … Continue reading
Interpreting Vague Strategy: The Compact Approach
Strategic initiatives are often launched with a vague directive. Ask these three questions: What are the mistakes I must not make? What are the mistakes that others must not make? What resources do I have to deal with the unexpected. Greg Githens calls this the Compact Approach to Strategy. Continue reading
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
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
How to Energize Strategic Initiatives with Outcomes
Performance outcomes are time-based trends that serve to crystallize the strategic vision. This “how to execute strategy article” explains that the strategic initiative team builds a cause-effect model. Applying its model, the team develops the strategies that lead to the desired improvement in performance outcomes. Helpful tips are provided. Continue reading
Posted in Interpreting Strategy Documents, Strategy Coaching and Facilitation, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives, Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged ambiguity, change management, collaboration, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Decision making, Greg Githens, innovation, Management, management tools, program management, questions, revpar, stkeholder expectations, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategy execution, success metric, teams, transformation, vision
12 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
Google’s Strategic Initiatives Team
Describes 5 leader competencies, and how applied to Google’s Strategic Initiatives Team. Comment notes that Microsoft has developed similar strategic initiative team. Continue reading
Posted in Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, Examples of Strategic Initiatives
Tagged ambiguity, Business, case study, Google, google strategic initiative team, growth, Initiative, innovation, leader competencies, microsoft strategic initiative, organizational structure, strategy execution
4 Comments
The V.I.P.E.R. Success Principles
Identifies 5 success factors for Dodge Viper new product launch, cleverly arranged in the VIPER acronym. Continue reading
Leading Strategic Initiatives 