Strategic planning can be a valuable tool for organizations of all sizes. Done properly, a strategic plan provides a solid roadmap for the organization, outlining the vision and detailing the key objectives to be accomplished within a given timeframe that should enable progress toward the vision. A strategic plan also provides clarity and alignment for […]
Discovering Value: Why Most Managers Fear and Leaders Embrace Risk
It seems there are innumerable ways individuals and organizations attempt to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. At a macro level, government seeks to create jobs. Academic efforts target the recruitment and retention of top students, offer talented faculty an opportunity to pursue efforts outside traditional education or research efforts, or pursue creative alternate funding mechanisms for […]
Business Process Improvements Are Valuable Innovations
Over the course of my professional life I have had the opportunity to serve on a number of advisory boards for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. I value my time and only agree to serve on advisory boards where the leaders are individuals that I genuinely respect and who I believe are more than capable […]
Executing on Innovation within the Matrix
In an earlier blog post, Cory Hixson referenced an interesting book on executing innovation entitled Beyond the Idea, which discusses different types of innovation projects within larger organizations. While the book provides a good macro perspective on how innovation works in a larger company, implementation of an innovation effort of any reasonable size within a matrixed […]
Succession Planning & Murphy’s Law
Most of the best HR practitioners I know preach the merits of succession planning—and I’ll freely admit they are mostly correct. The active preparation of personnel for their next steps within an organization is critical to future success. However, succession planning is no panacea. I sat through many talent management review sessions where we worked […]