Blog

1 min read

The difference between strategy and plans

When I was a broke student and single mum, I remember creating countless household budgets to try and stay on top of things. I’d put the ideal budget...

2 min read

Focus - to have, to do, or to be.

I had a minor mutiny on my hands last week. I got so little “work” done in the last two weeks that my long-suffering Business Manager Diane revolted....

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How to be more strategic

I teach two-day workshops and eight-week courses on how to be more strategic. I've written you three books on the topic. But you're busy, and you...

3 min read

Strategists get whatever they want

Here's something strategists know that not everyone else does: you can have literally anything you want, at work, home or in your life. Nothing is...

4 min read

Why your strategy is failing and how to fix it

Many of us have the wrong idea about strategy. We think it's about workshops and documents and then struggle to understand why everyone's still doing...

7 min read

How to lead change when people don’t care

It's hard to lead change when people are too busy and distracted to care.

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You can’t work with what you can’t see

Put your hand up if you’re ever been a martyr. Walking around carrying an invisible load of resentment, wondering why every other unreasonable person...

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Preparation beats prediction

One of my favourite strategy workshops to run is about strategic risk - preparing for the worst. I recognise that sounds dire, but I promise it...

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Leverage as less

Leverage: is it about doing more - or doing better? Doing everything with nothing I love the idea of ephemeralization, the brainchild of clever...

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Get strategy off the shelf

What’s the name of your last Shelf Strategy? You know the one – where you did all those workshops and argued over semantics. The one where you wrote...

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Create a personal strategy

I just finished reading Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber, which is a thoroughly excellent book about the modern world of work. According to...

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Snow melts from the edges: futurist thinking

I am often astonished at how little some executive teams know about what’s happening inside and outside their buildings.

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Strategy: not your job?

When the task obstructs the goal Here's a little vignette from my life last week, juggling work, kids, and clients.

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Commit or quit

Do you ever sit in a conversation where everybody furiously agrees, leave feeling great about what you’ve decided – but then nothing happens? I see...

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How to get on top of your stupidly long list

It's the most... overwhelming... time of the yeeear. 🎶

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What strategic planning is about (and not about)

Last week, I sent you a 4-minute strategy breakdown from a recorded webinar - about what strategy is, and how it works. You flooded our inbox with...

4 minute low-down: what "strategy" is

Here's a four-minute strategy breakdown from a recorded webinar—what and how strategy works. If four minutes is too long, here's the sub-100-word...

4 min read

Set your own direction

The unhelpful pressure of a master plan Navigation needs a starting point Get perspective on your past Set your future compass Take the next right...

6 min read

How to make hard decisions more easily

Have you got a hard choice to make? Whether it's at work or home, having tricky choices ahead weighs on you, even when you aren't actively thinking...

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Pick your path: boundaries, decisions, focus

What problems are you battling with this week? If it's one of these three things, I have some stuff that might help.

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Master the world’s most valuable skill

Critical thinking is the world’s most valuable skill. Unfortunately, being overworked and overwhelmed keeps people from learning how to do it. They...

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The problem is never the problem

Picture this: you're frustrated with your partner. They've loaded the dishwasher wrong, again, and they've left the door wide open for you to knock...

4 min read

Business planning in a recession with bright spot thinking

Earlier this week, I was working with leaders from a large corporate to set some strategic priorities. Talk quickly turned to how to survive the...

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Create systems change

Have you ever started a job and had that new-starter clarity? You're baffled by all the things that don’t make sense and say annoying things in...