It’s almost a meme among HR professionals – wanting a “seat at the table” while often being relegated to routine problem solving and dealing with the messier sides of humanity. But whoa, when its done… Read more »
Case Studies and Applications
The Future is Already Here Department: Hololens 2 Edition
Strategic inflection points create a 10X shift in your business – 10X more efficient, 10X more convenient, 10X easier – you get the idea. But they take a while – let’s look at one in… Read more »
Snow Melts from the Edges – Some Lessons from Buffer
Big changes seldom announce themselves conveniently at the conference table at headquarters. They bubble up, instead, at the ‘edges’ of the organization, where things are most exposed. This short story from Buffer illustrates. In Seeing… Read more »
Landing at the end of the road: Verizon’s decision to disengage from its media strategy
The very human tendency to continue to pursue a failing project, strategy or investment just increases the suffering when the inevitable happens. What are some indicators its time to pull the plug? Verizon’s recent decision… Read more »
A New Social Contract? Part 1: Defining the Issues
Back in March of 2020, I applied the techniques from “Seeing Around Corners” to what kind of economic and social future we might anticipate post-pandemic. One of the scenarios I outlined was a return to… Read more »
Unanticipated Consequences of a Potential Baby Bust
Although the early warning signs that an inflection point is on the way are often detectable years, even decades, in advance, trying to time most inflection points is incredibly frustrating. Not so with demographics. In… Read more »
What a startup can learn about customer needs from a medieval practice
In a recent article over at Fortune, I explore what Transferwise, a fast-growing new startup has rediscovered: an enduring customer need that is currently featuring in the migrant crisis, Hawala. The practice of Hawala originated centuries… Read more »
So much for “Keep the Change”
In 2005, Bank of America did something very unusual – they introduced an innovation in financial services that customers actually liked! Called Keep the Change, the program targeted young women who were terrified of running… Read more »
Discovery Driven Planning & Teaching in Non-Degree Executive Education Programs
I’m just here at the Strategic Management Society’s annual conference in Cologne. It’s a meeting which aspires to bring together academics, consultants and business-people for fruitful dialogue and exchanges, although in fairness the tilt does… Read more »
Discovery Driven Planning: Teaching in Non-Degree Executive Education Programs
I’m just here at the Strategic Management Society’s annual conference in Cologne. It’s a meeting which aspires to bring together academics, consultants and business-people for fruitful dialogue and exchanges, although in fairness the tilt does… Read more »