-
Stop Fighting the Wrong Fire
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Organizations frequently direct corrective action toward the departments where problems become visible, without establishing whether the conditions responsible for those problems originate elsewhere. Understanding how decisions, processes and activities across an organization interact can reveal why problems persist and where interventions are most likely to make a…
-
Feeding the Cobra: Why Our Fixes Backfire
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Organizations sometimes introduce solutions that unintentionally encourage the very behaviors or conditions they are trying to eliminate, leaving problems unresolved or even making them worse. Understanding how interventions influence behavior, incentives and organizational practices is essential to avoiding unintended consequences and recognizing when the solution itself has…
-
The Fix Forward Session: Tackling Recurring Roadblocks
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: Organizations can conduct increasingly effective meetings while continuing to discuss the same unresolved problems, introducing corrective actions without adequately understanding why previous efforts have failed. The Fix Forward Session™ changes the conversation from repeatedly managing recurring issues to understanding what keeps them in place before determining what…
-
Knowing Enough to be Wrong
Today’s Strategic Alignment Journal post in two sentences: We can know enough about a situation to develop a convincing explanation and still be unaware of what that explanation has failed to account for. The confidence created by partial understanding can be more dangerous than knowing very little at all. You can know enough about a…
-
Stop Issuing RFPs Based on Assumed Needs
I was asked to review a Terms of Reference a couple months ago for a twelve-month Commercial Marketing Advisor. It was a thoughtful document. The objectives were clear, the scope of work was comprehensive, and the desired outcomes were well defined. As I read through it, however, I found myself thinking less about the proposed…
assumptions, business decisions, business leadership, business strategy, commercial sustainability, consulting, decision quality, Decision-Making, diagnostic thinking, executive leadership, governance, Leadership & Practice, leadership insights, management, organizational diagnosis, organizational effectiveness, organizational learning, pre-decision diagnosis, problem solving, procurement, requests for proposal, RFP, root cause analysis, strategic reflection, Strategic thinking
Get Clarity before the Fix
