Leading Transformational Strategy – Next Practices

Not all business strategies require the same degree of change to be considered successful. Many are simply a continuation of an already established path and destination. Others identify the change in some areas of the business but those changes do not represent a significant departure from the status quo. Some strategies however require transformational change. These strategies are usually…

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Strategy – Why It’s Broken and How To Fix It

Only 20%-30% of corporate and business unit strategies successfully deliver expected results. That is a bold statement. However, this statistic has been reported in many studies from reputable firms and publications and mirrors much of what I have observed and experienced during my career. Despite awareness of the problem, the statistic itself has not really changed much in the last 20 years.…

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Flip Your Organization Chart

Do you know what everyone in your organization does? To find out, you might want to change your perspective. Years ago I learned to draw reading Betty Edwards’ book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.” The effort sharpened my perspective of just about everything. To draw, I learned to see differently and I walked away with a clearer, fuller appreciation of the things around me. This new…

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100% Of Companies Have This Problem

Process... just the mere use of the word can spread fear and panic in the workplace. This sad reality exists for a reason and 100% of companies unnecessarily suffer from a process problem. They suffer to varying degrees, but they are nonetheless suffering. The good news is bad process is one of the easiest things for leaders to remedy. By simply being willing to stop the madness and reclaim the…

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Does Size Really Matter?

Does size really matter? Should you go big or go home, or does quality win out over quantity? The fascination business leaders have with size has always both intrigued yet perplexed me. Is empire building and the pursuit of category dominance a healthy thing, or the corporate equivalent of the road to Perdition? I’ll frame the debate – you decide. It should be obvious to all; an enterprise not…

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The #1 Reason CEO Successions Fail

With all eyeballs on Marissa Mayer at Yahoo and Tim Cook at Apple, CEO succession is a hot topic these days – and rightly so. Few things adversely impact corporate culture, shareholder value, or brand equity like a failed CEO. In today’s column, I’ll share the most common reason for failed CEO successions. Given the obvious importance of leadership from the top, what always amazes me is the…

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Strategy, Capability & Really Bad Advice

Today’s post is a rather short rant, but one I felt compelled to put forth. I just finished reading an article where the author (a self-professed innovation guru) recommended strategy be aligned with capability, and that to allow ambition to exceed capability is nothing short of a recipe for disaster. If this sounds like rational thinking to you, I’d encourage you to read the text that follows…

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Is the Customer Always Right?

Is the customer really always right? How far should a company go to satisfy their clientele or customer base? What is the lost opportunity cost associated with customer churn? Is there a point when satisfying the customer is actually harmful to the enterprise, or back to the original question, is the customer always right? In today's post I'll share my opinion as to the validity of this old…

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When to Restructure

To restructure or not to restructure? When to restructure is the question many a business is forced to ask at some point during their life cycle. The mere discussion of corporate reengineering can cause fear, anxiety, and in some cases even panic. This is so much the case that some CEOs will avoid restructuring initiatives at all costs. There are even some business theorists that warn against…

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Contingency Planning

The best leaders always have a back-up plan, so my question to you is: what's your Plan B? My experience with most executives & entrepreneurs is they are totally committed to and focused on success. As a result, many of them tend to have a major blind-spot (translation: weakness) when it comes to the anticipation of setbacks.  While this is understandable, it is nonetheless naive, and it…

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M&A Without Buying the Company

Most people tend to look at acquisitions from a rather myopic and traditional M&A perspective: making a strategic or synergistic purchase of an operating entity on an accretive basis. However, restricting your view of acquisitions to operating companies is like playing a football game with only one play in your playbook. The truth is that acquisitions aren't just about buying companies,…

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What Is the CEO Average Tenure and Should They Have Term Limits?

I have read some interesting articles and blog posts of late on the subject of CEO term limits and felt this topic worthy of discussion. You should know from the outset that I fundamentally disagree with the concept of CEO term limits, and quite frankly I cannot really come up with a valid reason for supporting such a regressive concept. Any such argument in my opinion is rooted either in flawed…

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Growth by Partnering

If corporate growth is what you seek, but you lack the patience to endure the slow pace of organic growth and don't have the capital necessary to finance an acquisition binge, then you might want to consider the various benefits associated with partnering. While the concept of creating a strategic partnership is familiar to many, the reality is that few companies take advantage of them. Let me…

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Vision vs. Mission

Today's Myatt on Monday's question was posed by a CEO who asked: "Can you define the difference between vision and mission?" What a great question...it's always refreshing to me when an executive checks their ego and asks a clarifying question (a characteristic of great leaders by the way) rather than pretend they know the answer. The reason this is such a great question is that I've witnessed…

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Diversity and Leadership – Right Topic Wrong Conversation

I have grown quite weary of the politics driving the “Diversity” discussion. Let’s begin with this and see if we can agree on a jumping-off point: Giving special preference to any individual, class, or group to the advantage or disadvantage of another is wrong. Sounds reasonable, yes? Regrettably, many companies are creating operating environments where the opposite is true and conscious bias has…

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Culture Trumps Strategy – Not

Does culture trump strategy? I think not, and I'll explain why. Even though I have seen this phrase quoted by some very bright people whom I respect, it just doesn't resonate with me. I thought perhaps I was misunderstanding what was being said, so I decided to Google the phrase "Culture Trumps Strategy" and found that Stanford offered an Entrepreneurship Lecture by this title, I found several…

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