Why Organizations Struggle to Execute What Matters Poor Strategic Planning Processes Many organizations need more rigorous processes for strategic planning and goal setting. For example, a recent Bain survey found that 65% of executives rate their company’s strategy process as poor. Leadership fails to dedicate time to reflect and analyze market trends, competitive forces, and…
The amazing practice of blaming the last thing Buzzword bashing – categorically dismissing a management paradigm, approach, process, fad, or previous initiative – is a go-to change strategy for many organizations (though most won’t say that). It is also a sign that you’re likely to repeat the mistakes of the past. “Agile (or OKRs,…
Article Update: we received some interesting feedback on this article and decided to record a more in-depth video that talks about this subject, we encourage you to watch it. Agile changed the world of software development. But in many organizations, those groundbreaking frameworks have grown stale, bureaucratic, and ineffective. Some even argue Agile is “dead”….
Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) have become a popular framework for aligning organizations around strategic goals. However, many companies struggle to realize benefits from OKRs. Why do OKR implementations often fail? In our recent video, Adaptivity’s Adam Asch and George Schlitz dive into the three most common mistakes that doom OKR efforts: Misuse/Poor Application The…
Many organizations have adopted Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) as a modern goal-setting methodology. OKRs help align organizations around measurable outcomes and provide the focus for execution. However, organizations often need help setting OKRs and achieving the full benefits of driving engagement, accountability, and results through their application. The difference comes down to installing…
If you’re close to me, you likely know that I have had a few health challenges over the past 10 years – at times these challenges have landed me in the ER as a precautionary measure. I want to share a very recent experience and my take-away from a not-so-great interaction. There is a…
After all of the time and effort we spend on process improvement, we still do not realize the outcomes we are trying to achieve. Once, not long ago, we just told people “what” to do. The boss told the manager, the manager told the worker, and the worker did the work. Things got done until…
The convergence of leadership and stewardship holds immense power. True leaders go beyond achieving short-term goals. They embody a higher purpose in stewardship. This concept encompasses the responsibility to ensure long-term success and sustainability for the business. By aligning decisions with stakeholders’ best interests, leaders create a profound impact that transcends financial gains, leaving an…
Technology is fantastic; the tools and services available to us have fundamentally changed how we work and the work we do. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest. It’s different. AI will disrupt entire capabilities that we have relied on and structured around for years. Unlike the cloud or the metaverse, which inherently provides us with…
Just this week, a crane partially collapsed on an apartment rooftop in my city. Thankfully, nobody was hurt or killed. However, the residents of the building and the surrounding area have been evacuated for days as they assess the damage. So, doing what I do for a living, I turned to my wife and said,…
Losing touch is easy; we are busy people with tons going on. We have our projects and products, stakeholders & shareholders. We track budgets and risk, and compliance. We work with teams for research and analysis, teams for architecture and security, delivery, and QA. Managing this requires process and meetings, documentation, and sign-offs – and driving it all is a massive list of things…
The below statement is a common remark that is frequently made by those in technology. That said, it could easily be said by anyone in business. It’s rooted in the idea that so much of the current work consumes the day, and there’s little time, if any, left to think about how work could be…