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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
Tag Archives: program management
Strategic Initiative Case Study: Destination Disney
Destination Disney was a strategic initiative that deployed a customer relationship management solution that transformed the customer experience at Disney World from product centric to guest centric. Greg Githens points out that an important leadership lessons is using the customer experience as a driver for the strategic initiative. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged business drivers, customer experience, Customer Relationship Management, delight, Disney, Goal, Greg Githens, program management, Strategic initiative, strategic project, strategy execution, transformation, vision, Walt Disney World
6 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
10 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
7 Comments
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
Interpreting Strategy Documents: More Insights and a Valuable Tip!
The article provides techniques and questions for clarifying the internal and the external strategic context during a strategy implementation readiness session. This helps you align formulation with implementation. Continue reading
Posted in Useful Practices & Management Tools
Tagged ambiguity, Business, collaboration, Consulting, Document, Management, Peter Drucker, program management, Silicon Valley, Strategic management, Strategic Planning Issues for Strategic Initiatives, strategy execution, strategy formulation, teams
4 Comments
A Concise Guide to the Differences between Programs and Projects
Provides two valuable tables of distinctions between programs and projects, and 3 PMI Knowledge Areas that are unique to program management. All strategic initiatives are programs, but not all programs are strategic initiatives. This is the most popular page on the Leadings Strategic Initiatives blog. Continue reading
Posted in Program & Portfolio Management, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, program management, Project, Project management, Project Management Institute, Project manager, Stakeholder management, Strategic initiative, Strategic management, strategic thinking, strategy execution
14 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
Strategic Initiative Case Study: IBM’s Speed Team
The IBM Speed Teams strategic initiative shows 7 leadership lessons for identifying and driving strategic business transformation. Continue reading
Posted in Examples of Strategic Initiatives, Success Principles for Strategic Initiatives
Tagged agile, change management, Competencies of Strategic Initiative Leaders, empowerment, fast decisions, open innovation, Organizational Development, program management, resources, speed, Strategic initiative, transformation, vision
1 Comment
Good Meetings are Essential for Good Strategy
Practical tips for strategy meetings. The most important purpose of a meeting is making decisions. Continue reading
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