Recent Blog Posts

Difference between Goals and Outcomes
Yesterday, a colleague asked why we don't use the term "goals" with Strategic Doing. Instead, we focus on outcomes that we can measure. What's the difference? The drawing below explains....

Strategic Doing Under the Hood
This graphic takes you under the hood of how an agile strategy process works within open networks, teams, and collaborations, including the development of ecosystems. Here are the key points: 1....

Insights from Ecuador: Moving to Network Thinking
Networks -- collaborations, open innovation, clusters, ecosystems -- drive an economy forward. Yet, many of today's leaders are lagging behind. It's understandable. They developed their skills in an Industrial Age,...

Aaron Beck and Strategic Doing
Aaron Beck, the father of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) died this week. He had a powerful influence on the development of #strategicdoing. This strategy practice is designed to create a collective,...

Collaboration is a Process
In completing the research for my dissertation, it surprised me that the most insightful work on collaboration was published in 1990. Written by Michael Schrage, the book carries the surprising...

Leadership as Art
Artists can help us see around corners. They can tap into our unconscious mind to make us aware. They can present us with unique vantage points from which to see...

A Trip into the Swampy Lowlands
Put on your boots. In this post, we are heading into the swampy lowlands of real-world problems. But first, some background. Each year, the BBC presents a lecture series, called...

Closing triangles: A key to stronger networks
"How do we strengthen networks?" "Close triangles." "That's it?" "That's a start." That conversation took place between Valdis Krebs and me in 2003. Valdis is an expert in social network analysis. At...

Recombinant Innovation: It’s all about the networks
Recombinant innovation links and leverages assets to define new solutions. A classic example: the iPhone, a combination of existing technologies. Apple's genius came in designing and guiding complex supplier networks...

Diversity beyond demographics
There are many kinds of diversity - ethnic, gender, age, language, etc. But is there diversity beyond demographics? The most recent Third Thursday gathering of the Strategic Doing community -...

An inside look at transformational change
Examples of changes we can't see abound: plants sprouting or cells dividing, for example. We know it's happening, but it's not until the change has multiplied many times over that...