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Don’t Get Too Comfortable with Risk
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Warren Buffett’s warning – ‘many investors are getting too comfortable with risk’ – is not simply that investors are taking more risk, but that a long run of rewards can make risky behaviour look like sound judgement. When success keeps validating the outcome, we can stop examining…
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A Confused Mind Always Says “NO”
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: A confused mind says “no” because confusion makes commitment difficult. If I cannot clearly understand what I am being asked to decide, why would I say yes? “A confused mind always says no” is an idea frequently used in sales and marketing. The premise is simple: when…
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“Fine” Can Be an Expensive Response
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: “Fine,” as a response to “How is business?”, is not evidence that the business is working well. Sometimes it simply means that nothing feels wrong enough to warrant a closer look, even as the cost of keeping things going continues to add up. “Fine” is an interesting…
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Worry is Cul-de-Sac Thinking
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Worry keeps the mind engaged, circling possibilities, consequences and uncertainties without necessarily moving us forward. The challenge is recognising when our thinking is helping us understand what requires our attention and when we have reached a mental dead end. Worry can masquerade as serious thinking. We can…
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When confidence outruns understanding
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Confident misunderstanding can cause an organization to define the wrong problem, accept the wrong reality and commit itself to the wrong direction. Once that happens, talent, strategy and execution begin amplifying the error. Confusion can be uncomfortable, but it carries an important admission: we know that we…
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Non sine periculo: A sound business motto
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Entrepreneurship is non sine periculo: risk comes with the territory. The discipline is to understand what you are risking, what could be gained or lost, and whether the risk is worth taking. Perhaps every person starting a business should be handed a crest with three Latin words…
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Are We Solving the Problem or Servicing It?
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Organizations can become increasingly effective at responding to a recurring problem without ever changing the conditions that keep producing it. Before investing in another intervention, ask whether it will reduce the problem itself or simply improve your ability to manage its consequences. Some problems become very expensive…
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Something Being “Hard” is not a Diagnosis
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Difficulty tells us that something requires attention, but it does not tell us what is causing it. Before deciding to persist or change direction, determine whether you are dealing with a constraint, a misalignment or simply a requirement of the path you have chosen. I recently read…
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People either survive in the jungle or exist in the zoo
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Businesses often ask for initiative, accountability and adaptability without examining whether their systems actually allow those behaviours to develop. Before deciding that people need to change, it may be worth asking what the organization has been teaching them to do. I heard this line in The Gentlemen:…
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