The Monster in the Cupboard – Overcoming Fear of Challenges
Don’t underestimate the fear factor Overcoming fear of challenge is the first step in managing challenges successfully- without it we are paralysed into inaction. Most things we do in life are a challenge. From standing up to walk for the first time, learning how to speak to sitting exams to starting out on a career […]
Systems for Transition
Last week I looked at the importance of managing transition for business and one of the ways to do this is to have effective systems in place. Solo entrepreneurs and start-ups often make the mistake of thinking they are not big enough or established enough to worry about systems. They also often hate this aspect […]
Managing Transition with a Human Touch
Why managing transition is important for business A formal business transition plan is usually put into place when the original owner has decided they want to sell all or part of the business and leave. However, businesses go through many transitions from sole proprietor, to partnership, to limited liability company perhaps as far as floating […]
Eccentric Entrepreneur or Modern Day Innovator?
We all know of some crazy ideas that inventors come up with- often they are the subject of funny YouTube videos. However, some ideas seemed crazy at the time and yet, years later are a reality. This week’s post takes a look at innovative ideas that were scorned and are now part of our everyday […]
Be Innovative: Try Wearing Odd Socks
How can being innovative be a realistic company objective? Last week I looked at what innovation means and considered whether this was something that could be actively encouraged and why it was important. Most companies know that to stay ahead of the competition they have to have both a unique selling point (USP) and loyal […]
The Meaning of Innovation & Why It’s Important
Business executives are often told by their managing director to be more innovative, as if the very word will transform their marketing, product development and ultimately create success. It can be hard to act on this when you are not sure what innovation means and what is just old ideas in new packaging. Innovation is a […]
How Useful Are SWOTs and PESTs?
Concluding my series on strategic thinking with a look at the planning tools used by many businesses and learned by every A Level Business student in the country and why they are sometimes useless! Planning tools are not really strategy Part of objective setting is taking a look at where you are right now as […]
Putting Strategic Thinking To Work
Most business goes through a planning phase in its yearly cycle and usually that plan is revisited at least monthly. However, that planning can get a bit formulaic and becomes almost a ritual rather than an innovative exercise. If you can effectively harness the strategic thinkers in your leadership and within the organisation then monthly […]
How To Improve Strategic Thinking Skills In Leadership?
Strategic thinking skills, in an ideal world would be something developed at all levels of an organisation. However, realistically speaking, strategically smart workers would not be much use if their managers and bosses are not strategic! So an organisation needs to lead by example and develop strategic thinking skills in their management, or recruit strategic […]
Headless Chicken Vs Strategic Thinking
What does strategic thinking mean? Strategic is a term that has become extremely popular in this century- just look at the graph below which shows its use in literature over the decades Strategic means relating to the identification of long-term or overall aims and interests and the means of […]