Journal Themes
Relying on “old playbooks”
A recent World Economic Forum/Bain analysis noted that “It’s now clear the rules of long-term planning are being rewritten” in an era of rolling disruptions.
Technology is the main engine of economic change: Professor Jean-Paul Carvalho
A favoured quote from Professor Jean-Paul Carvalho of the University of Oxford, speaking on the critical role technology has always played in the history of human innovations.
Staring down reality - How resilience shows itself in strategy implementation
Diane Coutu’s Harvard Business Review article, How Resilience Works, reminds me that resilience, in people and in organisations, starts with the courage to see things as they are, not as we wish they were.
Academic foundations behind business development, transformation, and innovation
Many of these theoretical frameworks are both older than many realise, and influence us more than we might think.
The risks of only focusing on business development
Here are some of the key dangers, supported by several noteworthy strategy and innovation theorists.
A product ladder for artists
I find it useful to think of your products as a ladder, with different products being relevant at different stages of a customer journey.
Bigger moves with a strong demand Pipeline
A strong demand pipeline is, and should be a confidence-generator; confidence that the business is on the right track, and well aligned to the needs of a target market. It can even show a business new target markets, if you know how to look well enough.
You cannot choose the right tools until you know what the business needs
Choosing the right tools starts with understanding the business problem in clear, structured, unambiguous language.
Beyond performance management
For decades, management has been framed around a single dominant idea: managing people to a defined performance standard. But that framing becomes limiting when organisations are trying to change, not just perform.
An introduction to project acceleration
Speed is seductive, but it is not the same as success. In this post, I unpack crashing and fast‑tracking.
Having ideas is not the same as innovating: ideas are not the problem in small business innovation
Despite an abundance of ideas, innovation rarely survives contact with day-to-day delivery. Most ideas fade, stall, or remain half-formed. They sit in notebooks, voice memos, or the back of the founder’s mind, revisited occasionally but never quite acted on.
A benefits roadmap by status
A benefits roadmap is a powerful addition to the project or programme delivery roadmap.