As I continue to discuss planning, a common item that comes out of strategic planning is a vision statement.  These statements are usually repeated frequently in posters and speeches.  I recall in Senge’s Fifth Discipline, one of the key disciplines of a learning organ

This item in my series on planning is about leadership.   I think that often circumstances dictate the kind of leadership needed to make progress.  An organization that has the flexibility to select the best leader for the current issue is really healthy.  Often ho

This blog is another entry on the theme of planning.  One important aspect of planning is how the team of people doing the planning work together.  The fashion for some time has been to take the planning group or the executive team out on an exercise the help them learn how

In this note I continue my ideas on planning.  I am always looking for new mental models to help me understand issues a business faces.  In a book by Moore called "Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution" he makes an inte

This is a continuation of my series on planning.  One of the salient characteristic or habits of visionary companies identified in the book, "Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies"  was the setting of a bold mission.  I would like to discuss

This is another blog in my series on planning.  Michael Porter’s books on Competitive Strategy are a business classics and really have some good models in helping to analyze your situation in your business environment.  As Senge says, the ability to have good mental mo

One approach to planning that I like is an issues oriented approach which includes the ideas of readiness and rapid results.  Let us imagine we have been asked by a management group to lead them in a planning process.  The first step is to interview each of the participants

I have been thinking recently about the various approaches I have taken to planning project throughout my consulting career.  Over several blogs, I will describe some of the approaches I have used and know about.  Each new project presents its own unique set of conditions an

Most organizations struggle with the centralization versus decentralization regularly and make changes frequently.  Often the IT organization is a central part of the discussion, if you pardon the pun. In several consulting assignments we have worked through this issue with organ