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Sometimes Our Way Isn’t the Only Way
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: We can become so accustomed to a particular way of doing things that when difficulties arise, we focus on improving the process without questioning whether the process itself still makes sense. Sometimes the greatest opportunity for progress comes not from becoming more efficient at what we’re doing,…
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What If the Problem Isn’t Actually a Problem?
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Our experience, expertise and established standards can help us recognize weaknesses, but they can also lead us to treat every departure from what we consider good practice as a problem requiring intervention. Before committing to improvement, we need to establish whether the identified weakness is materially affecting…
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The Problem You Solve May Not Be the Opportunity You Create
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: The story behind the first Matchbox miniature vehicle got me thinking about how a solution to one specific problem can reveal possibilities that extend far beyond the circumstances that prompted it. When we focus entirely on making a problem go away, we may miss what the experience…
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Better Results Don’t Always Mean We’re Getting Better
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Improved results do not necessarily mean that we have improved our ability to produce them. As Trinidad and Tobago anticipates an economic recovery, it is worth considering whether we are strengthening the capabilities needed to sustain progress or simply waiting for conditions to become more favorable. Trinidad…
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If truth is true, there are no buts
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: What follows but cannot change something we know to be true, although it can reveal why we are reluctant to accept what that truth requires of us. The challenge is recognizing when we are genuinely reconsidering what we know and when we are simply creating enough room…
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What’s in the Box, is what we Build
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: What is in our box (our brain) influences what we build externally, from the way we interpret what is happening to the decisions, actions, systems and results that follow. When those results are not moving us toward our vision, tracing them backwards can help us examine the…
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Having a plan does not magically unlock action
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Having a clear plan can tell us where we are going without necessarily making it easier for us to take immediate action. When execution stalls, the question may not only be whether people are committed to the plan, but whether the work itself has been structured in…
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Are We Driven More by Instinct or Insight?
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Instinct can help us recognize a pattern quickly, but recognition is not necessarily understanding. The danger begins when the speed with which we recognize a problem becomes evidence that we understand it. Much of what we do begins before we have fully thought about it. We sense…
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Don’t Make Fear the Organizing Principle of Your Life
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Fear does not always look like fear; sometimes it looks remarkably like preparation, responsibility, control or good judgment. The question may not only be what decision we are making, but how much fear is influencing the choice. Fear does not always show up in a way we…
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Keep Working On Your Thing Until Persuasion Becomes Unnecessary
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Not everything valuable begins with knowing where it is going. Sometimes the work is to notice what keeps presenting itself, follow it without forcing an outcome, and know when you have taken it as far as you can. Rick Rubin is one of the most influential music…
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