Leading impactful change is now the single most important organizational prerogative and executive capability. While executives and managers often say that "business as usual" is over, their actions are not always as fully supportive as they might be. Why? Because this is very hard work, often scary and always challenging.
The good news is that there is a disciplined way to start thinking about this challenge. While it starts with a mindset shift, it can also come with practical insights, tools, and ideas. These all revolve around the same key imperatives:
Over the last 25 years, I've studied or worked with over 100 companies around the world that had breakdowns in strategic thinking that led to market failures. Often these companies were very successful for long stretches of time, and a degree of complacency and arrogance began to take hold within management teams. Two primary books have emerged from this work: Why Smart Executives Fail, and Think Again: Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions. My work with these companies has enabled me to drill down to the heart of strategic thinking so that leaders can make better decisions for their companies and for themselves.