One of the really great things we do in Business School is to teach students an abundance of analytical tools. There’s the basic SWOT analysis – what are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats? And there’s . . . Scenario Planning – let’s forecast the possible futures. Balanced Scorecard – how can we predict future performance by tracking metrics in various … [Read more...] about Analysis Cannot Answer the Question “Why”
purpose
Aim & Impact
Mission Statement Mini-Case. Recently, my friends in the Office of Career Services at the Smith School of Business at Maryland asked me to do some strategy work with them. The first thing we reviewed was their mission. Here is the Mission exercise I take organizations through: *AIM: Specify exactly what “persons, places, or things” the organization aims to … [Read more...] about Aim & Impact
Giving Purpose to Work
Companies across the globe are spending millions of dollars each year on this term we never really heard much about twenty years ago – “employee engagement.” Why is all this cash being targeted toward employee engagement? Because research done by The Gallup Organization and others has shown that engaged employees end up driving higher levels of profits. Engagement = Revenue … [Read more...] about Giving Purpose to Work
Save Time, Increase Energy, Focus Purpose
“What time management tips do you have?” I am asked this more and more often by consulting clients and our Smith School Executive MBAs. The pace of work seems to get crazier all the time and email is totally out of control. The issue is broader than “managing time” at work. As I talk with people, what they are really interested in is how to have higher levels of … [Read more...] about Save Time, Increase Energy, Focus Purpose
Drucker’s Five Important Questions
The Nonprofit Strategy class I am teaching at Maryland was due to discuss SWOT analysis last night, so it has had me thinking about various assessment tools available for nonprofits. Peter Drucker spent a great deal of time in his later years working on applications of his management ideas for nonprofits – or, as he called them – social sector organizations. One of the … [Read more...] about Drucker’s Five Important Questions