Simon Says: Why some leaders stay operational instead of being strategic
This post is a reflection on a conversation I had recently with a local government client. Although the genesis of this post might have been the challenges faced by one
Simon Reads: The Future of Power
This edition of Simon Reads is inspired by this week’s episode of The Future With Friends, where we explored the future of power – who holds it, how it shifts, and what it
Simon says: Why a collective purpose is more useful than a vision statement
One of the most common mistakes when it comes to identifying collective purpose is that we confuse it with an organisation’s vision. Whereas an organisation’s vision is an ‘idealistic view
Simon Says: The foundation of any strategy is shared understanding
Last week, I shared my strategic planning model called The Strategic Planning Pyramid (the name is accurate, if not a little obvious). It has been developed through two decades of
Simon Says: When There Are Too Many ‘I’s in a Team
In last week’s post, I dove into the idea of the ‘Olympic Year’ and how we can use metaphor to gain deeper insights and uncover new opportunities. One of the
’Tis the season for reflection
For most of human history, we have understood that different seasons require us to have a different focus. Trees don’t bear fruit year-round, crops need to be planted in spring,
Is it time to rethink December?
The December Drift It’s easy to blame Christmas for a lack of focus in December. People are winding down, office parties are ramping up, and talk of holidays takes priority
Doing strategy isn’t the same as being strategic
This post was inspired by an exchange I had recently with a client of mine, Rob Cornish. Rob shared with me a post he’d recently written, and in it he
Your strategy is already broken (and that’s OK)
Strategic and organisational planning is a time-consuming process. For larger organisations, there may be a team that undertakes strategic planning on a near-continuous basis. But even smaller clients may spend
Who currently gets to do strategy (and who else should you invite)?
Who’s in charge of strategy at your organisation? And who get’s invited to participate? For most organisations the list of people who get invited to strategic conversations is a fairly
