Many Strategies Fail Because They’re Not Actually Strategies

Many strategy execution processes fail because the firm does not have something worth executing.

The strategy consultants come in, do their work, and document the new strategy in a PowerPoint presentation and a weighty report. Town hall meetings are organized, employees are told to change their behavior, balanced scorecards are reformulated, and budgets are set aside to support initiatives that fit the new strategy. And then nothing happens.

One major reason for the lack of action is that “new strategies” are often not strategies at all. A real strategy involves a clear set of choices that define what the firm is going to do and what it’s not going to do. Many strategies fail to get implemented, despite the ample efforts of hard-working people, because they do not represent a set of clear choices.

Many so-called strategies are in fact goals. “We want to be the number one or number two in all the markets in which we operate” is one of those. It does not tell you what you are going to do; all it does is tell you what you hope the outcome will be. But you’ll still need a strategy to achieve it.

https://hbr.org/2017/11/many-strategies-fail-because-theyre-not-actually-strategies

IQ tests can’t measure it, but ‘cognitive flexibility’ is key to learning and creativity

IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology. In fact, many people have an endless fascination with the IQ scores of famous people. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have primarily relied on qualities such as creativity, imagination, curiosity and empathy.

Many of these traits are embedded in what scientists call “cognitive flexibility” – a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behaviour to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. It is essentially about learning to learn and being able to be flexible about the way you learn. This includes changing strategies for optimal decision-making. In our ongoing research, we are trying to work out how people can best boost their cognitive flexibility.

Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it. If you normally take the same route to work, but there are now roadworks on your usual route, what do you do? Some people remain rigid and stick to the original plan, despite the delay. More flexible people adapt to the unexpected event and problem-solve to find a solution.

https://theconversation.com/iq-tests-cant-measure-it-but-cognitive-flexibility-is-key-to-learning-and-creativity-163284

A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making

A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making

In January 1993, a gunman murdered seven people in a fast-food restaurant in Palatine, a suburb of Chicago. In his dual roles as an administrative executive and spokesperson for the police department, Deputy Chief Walter Gasior suddenly had to cope with several different situations at once. He had to deal with the grieving families and a frightened community, help direct the operations of an extremely busy police department, and take questions from the media, which inundated the town with reporters and film crews. “There would literally be four people coming at me with logistics and media issues all at once,” he recalls. “And in the midst of all this, we still had a department that had to keep running on a routine basis.”

Read more:  https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making

Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent

Deliberate and emnergent strategies mnay be conceived as two ends of a continuumn along which real- world str ategies lie. This paper seeks to develop this notion, and So?le bafsic issuies related to strcategic choice, by elaborating along this continuaitn various types of strategies uncovered in research. These includcle strategies labelled planned, entrepreneutrial, ideological, umZ1brella, process, uinconnected, consensuts anld im -posed….

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Het effect van het ongezegde in de bestuurskamer

The Lonely Century

Loneliness is a big problem for individuals, organizations and societies, exacerbated but not created by the Covid-crisis. After Covid people should come together physically again; employers and governments should enable and encourage such meetings. That is the central message of the new book of Noreena Hertz, an international thought leader and academic.

https://www.europeanleadershipplatform.com/news-item/the-lonely-century/

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Why Brilliant Minds Embrace the Rule of Awkward Silence

Why Brilliant Minds Embrace the Rule of Awkward Silence

The rule of awkward silence is a powerful tool of emotional intelligence. Here’s how to make it work for you.

https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/why-brilliant-minds-embrace-rule-of-awkward-silence.html

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Naar een maatschappelijke zorgplicht voor bestuurders en commissarissen

Prof. mr. J.W. Winter, prof. mr. J.M. de Jongh, prof. mr. J.B.S. Hijink,
prof. mr. L. Timmerman & prof. mr. G. van Solinge1

 

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