By Carter McNamara on January 16, 2016
The Consultants Development Institute is offering a complete, online series to teach how to facilitate strategic planning for any type of organization. The series Facilitating Strategic Planning includes a pro bono Audit Track with unlimited enrollment. In that Audit Track, you get free access to all of the courses, tools, assignments and discussion forums with […]
By Carter McNamara on July 25, 2014
It still seems common that many facilitators start strategic planning by having planners attend first to the wording on the mission statement, and soon after to start brainstorming strategic goals. While that approach often can be done in a half-day or full-day of fun and creative “planning,” it has many drawbacks. Here’s a list of […]
By Michael Wilkinson on May 20, 2014
During strategic planning, as your team arrives at the stage of defining the broad activities – the strategies – your team will undertake to move your vision into reality, we recommend a specific format for writing those strategies.
By Michael Wilkinson on April 17, 2013
Developing strategy takes time and resources. It requires the time and commitment of some of the most highly paid and highly experienced people in your organization. So if your team is not willing to invest the necessary time, I recommend that you don’t do it. Poor planning is often worse than not planning at all.
So why do you need a strategy? Why take time for planning? There are many reasons. But Leadership Strategies’ Drivers Model focuses on five in particular.
By Michael Wilkinson on March 19, 2013
The Drivers Model is Leadership Strategies’ methodology for strategic planning and the ultimate tool for masterful planning. The Drivers Model process covers seven key principles for masterfully planning any activity. The seven principles are summarized below. Let’s break down each one.
By Michael Wilkinson on February 19, 2013
The Drivers Model is the tool I have been using for over two decades to provide a robust yet simple method for taking an organization through strategic planning, project planning, program planning and numerous other planning activities. The Drivers Model is fully scalable and applies to Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies, as well as an entire enterprise, a business unit, a field office, an individual department, or a work team.
Let’s start with the four key strategy questions the Drivers Model answers.
By Michael Wilkinson on January 30, 2013
Two critical components of the Drivers Model are the mission and the vision. When it comes to strategy, do you know the difference between the two? (And, yes, there is a difference!)
By Michael Wilkinson on October 11, 2011
When developing strategy, managers are often called upon to interview executives and other managers on a variety of issues facing an organization. Questions often arise concerning the organization’s vision, or its critical success factors, or key strategies, objectives or goals. “What is a strategy? How does it differ from a goal or an objective? How […]
By Carter McNamara on February 12, 2011
(Guest post from Michael Zipursky.) Lack of focus. That’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a consultant. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, whether you’re a marketing, management, or public relations consultant (or any other type of consultant for that matter). The client of today has almost infinite possibilities to choose […]
By Mark Rhodes on January 23, 2011
The historian Alfred Chandler of Harvard Business School wrote a seminal book published in 1977 on the history of strategic decision making at the highest levels of Corporate America , including DuPont, General Motors, Standard Oil and Sears Roebuck. The book was called The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. In this work […]
Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organizational development, consultant training and Action Learning services, and is developer of the Free Management Library. [Read more ...]