The Strategy Guy

4 Basic Principles for better Results & Organizational Growth

The Strategy Guy — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:53:19 +0000

It’s been almost 10 months since I last blogged here, and whilst time has passed, basic principles to success have stayed the same. I’ve now relocated my base of operations to San Francisco, where the buzz of activity seems to be supersonic when compared to the rest of the world. Next week I’ll be back [...]

Core Values, Guiding Principles & Social Contracts

The Strategy Guy — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 06:00:44 +0000

Guiding Principles are any principles or precepts that guide an organization throughout its life in all circumstances, irrespective of changes in its goals, strategies, type of work, or the top management. – The Business Dictionary Core Values, Guiding Principles or Social Contracts… what matters most is not the name you give them, but rather how [...]

How to become a Critical Thinker

The Strategy Guy — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:00:15 +0000

“I think there’s a feeling that people need to sharpen their thinking skills, whether it’s questioning assumptions, or looking at problems from multiple points of view.” – David A. Garvin of the Harvard Business School This post was inspired by John Baldoni’s HBR article “How Leaders Should Think Critically“. Question assumptions Critical thinkers are inquisitive and look [...]

How to Get the Right Work Done

The Strategy Guy — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:00:35 +0000

Getting things done isn’t about time management.. but rather about how you manage yourself and your choices, within the time you have available to you. – David Allen Managing Workflow, Projects & Priorities That’s what time management is really about to begin with. you have a limited resource (time) and an over abundance of activities [...]

How-To Fix the Open Space Syndrome

The Strategy Guy — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:00:54 +0000

Let’s be honest.. the advent of Open Space Offices had more to do with economics than productivity. That said, other than death & taxes, every challenge has a (or various) solution(s). The current work environment provided by most employers who support an Open Space layout is highly unproductive for getting work done at work. Interruptions [...]

Current #1 Cause of Organizational Failure; Managing in “The Cloud”

The Strategy Guy — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:19:23 +0000

In a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey of 2,207 executives, only 28 percent said that the quality of strategic decisions in their companies was generally good, 60 percent thought that bad decisions were about as frequent as good ones, and the remaining 12 percent thought good decisions were altogether infrequent. In another independent survey only 33% of senior [...]

3 Leadership “Hows” Critical for Organizational Health

The Strategy Guy — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 06:06:00 +0000

“To sustain high performance, organizations must build the capacity to learn and keep changing over time.” What does a healthy organization look like in your mind? Employees finding meaning through their work? Customers finding transforming experiences through their interactions with you? Investors & shareholders making a difference through their investments? That’s what it should look [...]

3 Critical Success Messages for any Technology Start-up & Engineering Leadership

The Strategy Guy — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 13:03:32 +0000

During my weekend reading, I came across 3 wonderful & inspiring messages from Joe Stump in his recent interview on Capture The Flag that will surely help any internet / technology entrepreneur rethink (or solidify) their current perceptions of where they’re headed & why. Whether an internet entrepreneur, corporate executive, engineering team leader or budding [...]

The Best Success Tip Ever!

The Strategy Guy — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:00:49 +0000

Talk less.. listen more! This Dilbert strip couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time! Just this past Tuesday I had been privileged to be asked to help mentor entrepreneurs in IBM’s SmartCamp (Barcelona edition). Imagine that you’re in a room.. and for the next 90 minutes you have seasoned veterans & highly networked serial [...]

7 Leadership Development Keys; Bizbarcelona The Entrepreneurs’ Fair 2011

The Strategy Guy — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 05:48:58 +0000

This year, the traditional Entrepreneurs’ Day and the innovation summit HiT Barcelona have been transformed into “bizbarcelona“, a macro event that brings together internationalization, financing, enterprise creation, business growth and the energy of more than 12,000 entrepreneurs. I had the privilege to once again be invited back to speak, and I shared an updated vision [...]