What driving fast cars can teach you about strategy …

Too many executives are focused on the near field obstacles ahead of the end game.  They collapse the time frames in their strategic thinking based on ‘felt’ competitive pressures.  Gary Hamel observed nearly 30 years ago, “most strategic plans tell us more about today’s problems than tomorrow’s opportunities”.

But Jeff Bezos (CEO Amazon) argues that a short time horizon confines organisations to a crowded competitive space.  How do you extend the attention span of the organisation?  Thinking about the longer-term future does not guarantee success, but the converse pretty much guarantees failure in today’s competitive landscape.

DDB ... a strategist's view

 

Read More

Excellence ... Lessons from Sting

Want to learn what it takes to really achieve excellence in your chosen field?  Watch the first few minutes of the following video clip in which Sting is honored in the annual Kennedy Center honours.  “With all the gifts he’s been given … he’s still sort of ‘scowlie’ … still unsatisfied, he’s restless, unsettled, gazing off to the side"

There are lessons in here for all of us, but be warned: the pursuit of ‘excellence’ in our organisations should come with a product warning

Read More