Moving the Needle

Scaling Agile Through Cascading Missions
I had a conversation recently with a few industry professionals who were expressing concerns about the idea of scaling agile. Their objection was that not everybody can be agile nor needs to be. Their primary argument was that most people’s jobs are well-defined in...

Becoming a RAD Organization
The goal of the book Disruption Proof is to help leaders and founders of companies to create what I call RAD companies, which stands for being resilient, aware, and dynamic. RAD requires new behaviors and skills for all, while also establishing new systems, processes,...

Visibility Planning & Project Prioritization
In our last blog post we spoke about how the common understanding of Horizon Planning is broken. So, if the model is broken, how do we fix it? Visibility Planning Unlike Horizon Planning where projects are prioritized based on "level of innovation" and "time to ROI",...

The Current Horizon Planning Model is Broken
"What distinguishes the corporations that carry on growing is their ability to create [new] businesses. They can innovate in their core businesses and build new ones at the same time.” (Alchemy of Growth, 1999). About horizon planning The current model of horizon...

The 5 Jobs to Address Uncertainty
The increased complexity and endless disruptions of the modern world brought on by the transition to the digital age means uncertainty is everywhere. All across our businesses, we face new challenges, as what used to work no longer achieves desired outcomes. The self-awareness of admitting what we don’t know is the first step toward figuring out new best practices. Fundamentally, people must act differently in the face of uncertainty. Businesses need to adopt learning strategies in order to improve, adapt, or even reinvent their execution strategies.

Toward a New Horizon Model
The horizon model originally came from the book “The Alchemy of Growth” by Stephen Coley, Mehrdad Baghai, David White. The purpose for the model was to help businesses think about their need to develop new revenue sources over time.

Do We Need Better “Innovation”
Do companies know how to innovate? Should innovation be part of an individual’s job title? Should it be in a job description? Does a company even need to innovate? Most big companies think technology when thinking about innovation, regardless of whether or not they’re technology companies. Startups are often considered to be de facto innovators, but is that the case?

We Can’t Stop Disruption
It is important to recognize the size of the changes going on in the world. In my previous post, I discussed how we are no longer in the industrial age; that fundamental structural changes are underway in all facets of society. We must embrace disruption in...

Is Disruption the New Normal?
Obviously, Covid-19 has brought massive uncertainty to businesses. From managing remote workers, to internal communications dominated by video platforms, to the devastation of small business buyers and consumer budgets, the ‘new normal’ would have been barely...

What Does It Mean to be a 21st Century Leader?
People often have different ideas of what makes a good leader. The definition of a leader, to me, is someone who empowers others to be all that they can be. They must bring out the best in people and help them realize their potential, including how to pursue their own...