Strategy

My Strategy Insights articles that reflect my latest thinking about strategy and organisations are available on Substack. They are open to everyone to read and share without cost (my aim is […]

There are some important changes in strategic planning and how organisations are approaching this. The ‘traditional’ approach to strategic planning – a one-off intensive project to produce and document a […]

‘Making it happen’ is often the hardest part of strategic planning. The strategy has been formulated, after much analysis, assessment, debate and decision-making; the changes and actions required to implement […]

Two years ago in autumn 2019 I was helping a UK healthcare organisation with a ‘demand and capacity planning model’ to enable them to project what beds and staffing they […]

What does it take to be an effective strategic planner? The traditional view of strategic planning practitioners focuses on their abilities as strategic thinkers and analytical planners: how well-versed they […]

I came across this cartoon recently, and it seemed an apt metaphor for how strategy actually happens in organisations compared to the ‘traditional’ view of strategic planning:   It is […]

Let’s consider three typical ‘traditional’ approaches to strategic planning: the ‘strategic plan project‘, where the organisation undertakes an intensive exercise over 2-3 months to produce a document for Board approval, […]

In essence, the aim of strategic planning is to enable the organisation to make sense of its situation and decide how it wants to develop in the future – so […]

Much of what is written about strategy focuses on the tools and techniques used in the process of developing strategy – SWOT and the myriad of other matrices that fill […]

I had the privilege recently of working with a management team to help them strengthen their strategic thinking capabilities (they wanted to contribute more to their organisation’s strategy development, but […]

‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ (or ‘for lunch’, depending on which version of the often-repeated phrase one prefers). Usually attributed as a verbal quote by Peter Drucker (the evidence is […]

I came across this video recently (courtesy of a post on Linkedin) from Smith & Nephew, the global medical devices company, about their purpose. It’s powerful and motivational (as was […]

A few weeks ago I presented an online Masterclass for a University Management School about ‘Strategy in a time of uncertainty’, and some of the questions set me thinking about […]

Henry Mintzberg made this comment in his recent video blog (Hoping for the best is not an acceptable strategy). Although the blog was about the coronavirus pandemic rather than specifically […]

These are such strange and troubled times. The priority is saving lives, then saving livelihoods. Organisations have had to react to the sudden disruption of ‘business as usual’, working out […]

Dry, complicated, remote, academic – many people’s impressions about strategic planning are remarkably similar to the popular stereotypes about mathematics: that both are the domains of a few select experts […]

I’ve been reflecting recently on how my thinking about strategic planning started to evolve during the early years of my work with organisations to help them develop and implement their […]