BrainZooming

MAY 31, 2018

The general manager at an industrial manufacturer wondered about how to effectively engage the hourly workforce as innovation strategy participants ? His question reflects legitimate senior executive interest in engaging the entire workforce to drive innovation and ROI through far-reaching process improvements. via Shutterstock.

Engagement 55

Engagement Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 55

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 25, 2015

If you have the right people present , and they are in a chatty mood, how can you morph the gathering into a strategic conversation? One way is by introducing strategic thinking questions that steer meandering conversations into strategic conversations. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions to Start Strategic Conversations.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy Tips 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 15, 2018

I was talking with someone who was wondering aloud about how to boost the creative thinking skills of a group made up primarily of fact- and logic-driven individuals. Think accountants, engineers, compliance officers, and others in right-wrong answer professions. What a great (and challenging) question. via Shutterstock.

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Creative Thinking Groups Creativity Exercises 96

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 15, 2015

You start writing blog posts , stick with it nearly every day , repeat that for nearly eight years, and suddenly, you have two thousand blog posts. At least that’s what has happened with the Brainzooming blog! Today, based on the post counter in WordPress, is our two thousandth blog. MM, 2K, 2000.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises eBook Guidelines 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 22, 2016

During in-person and online strategic planning workshops , we regularly use a strategic thinking exercise that helps leadership groups quickly identify a shared future vision statement. Pushing Back on a Strategic Thinking Exercise. An Alternative Strategic Thinking Exercise to Develop a Vision Statement.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Groups 40

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 9, 2015

From a facilitation standpoint, it was the most arduous couple of days of going through strategic thinking exercises I recall. With groups changing out every few hours, there was a continual, tight window to get all the input we’d need to build out a strategic plan and timeline for our client’s strategic initiative.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Groups Strategy 40

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

We have been working with a client that had done a lot of strategic thinking about a new initiative. Those are six starting places to use when you are doing strategic thinking about big lists. The thing is, they had done the hard strategic thinking and already had all the raw material they needed.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Groups Engagement Tools 40

BrainZooming

JUNE 26, 2018

Talking with one city’s representatives about strategies to sell-in a broadband recommendation with voters, they asked whether it is okay to engage its citizens after city leadership develops a recommendation. Engage your audience in collaborative strategic planning earlier than later. It involves more constraints.

Collaboration 59

Collaboration Engagement Strategic Thinking Leadership 59

BrainZooming

APRIL 22, 2016

I debuted a presentation on “Results – Creating Strategic Impact,” our mini-book on employee engagement ideas to boost an organization’s strategic thinking. The question was whether it makes sense to try and engage employees in the ways I discussed when they aren’t likely to be around for very long.

Engagement 40

Engagement Strategic Thinking Underperforming Technical Team Exercises 40

BrainZooming

MAY 6, 2016

At the 2016 Brand Strategy Conference, Antonia Dean, Director – Marketing, Brand Development, & Strategy at The Estée Lauder Companies covered the strategic thinking ideas behind creating an entrepreneurial environment in a large company. Ask them to provide concrete examples of when they devised creative solutions.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Underperforming Technical Team Company Culture 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 15, 2016

Sometimes creative thinking challenges come from inside your own head. In many organizations, however, substantial creative thinking challenges come from leaders and cultures that may say they want new thinking, but seem to do everything they can to scuttle creativity. Mike Brown.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity Brainstorming Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

MAY 1, 2017

The four characteristics relate to quick decision making, engaging employees, anticipating forward-looking change, and delivering consistent performance. For each characteristic, here are related Brainzooming articles with exercises and tips to improve your own performance creating strategic impact. Engaging Employees.

Underperforming Technical Team 87

Underperforming Technical Team Strategic Thinking Exercises eBook 87

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

We have released a host of eBooks on strategic planning exercises and ideas to increase collaboration, creative thinking, alignment, and successful implementation. The 600 Most Powerful Strategic Planning Questions (Download). The questions also address branding, marketing, innovation, creativity, and implementation.

Exercises 94

Exercises Tools eBook Strategic Thinking 94

Leapfrogging

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

A speaker’s ability to captivate, engage, and inspire the audience sets the tone and leaves a lasting impression. On the other hand, an ill-suited speaker may lead to disinterest, a lack of engagement, and a negative perception of the event’s value.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Innovation Engagement Conference 100

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Strategic Thinking Exercises – 5 Questions to Test Your Vision Statement Impact . Blog Topic Ideas – Social Media Content Strategy for a Large B2B Company . Strategic Thinking Exercises – Where Does Your Brand Live? . Blogging for Business – 11 Ways to Tell a Great Campfire Story in Your Business Blog .

Strategy 71

Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking Exercises 71

BrainZooming

JULY 25, 2016

It may be an old and tired story, but it still illustrates an important point about engagement and the willingness (or unwillingness) of employees to go all in with a new business initiative. The thing is, unsuccessful employee engagement strategies are not an employee problem. – Mike Brown. – Mike Brown.

Engagement 40

Engagement Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

JULY 12, 2016

Here are five keys we’ve found for successfully engaging employees in innovation strategy. The Brainzooming Buy-In Manifesto – 5 Keys to Engaging Employees in Innovation Strategy. If you want engagement and ongoing participation for developing and implementing an innovation strategy, start with these five keys. – Mike Brown.

Engagement 40

Engagement Strategy Strategy eBook 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 9, 2016

9 Creative Thinking Skills to Turn Talk into Strategy. The team leader’s question prompted this list of 9 creative thinking skills that help turn strategic conversations (or even conversations that seem like talking without any particular strategic focus) into something that feels like strategy.

Creative Thinking 40

Creative Thinking Creativity Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

APRIL 11, 2018

Be very silent (uncomfortably silent) until the audience notices and re-engages. Move to the Shrimp creative thinking exercise. Call on the person with bright eyes and engage with them. Create a contest right on the spot and give a pair of orange I am Creative socks to the winner. Use self-deprecating humor.

Exercises 81

Exercises Creative Thinking Creativity Groups 81

BrainZooming

JUNE 29, 2017

In that type of situation, we recommend using strong strategic thinking questions and frameworks to quickly understand the situation, the players, and the opportunities. Getting to What Is Strategic. Strategic Thinking Questions to Identify What Matters for a Brand. What Is Strategic and What Isn’t?

Resources 86

Resources Strategic Thinking Comparison Strategy 86

BrainZooming

JANUARY 24, 2019

Topics ranged from entrepreneurship to leading creative teams, from being cognizant of one’s news sources and information suppliers to the factors that make up a creative mindset. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some of my takeaways from conference, here on the blog. The hard part, honestly, was deciding which sessions to pick.

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Conference Strategic Thinking Creativity Resources 74

BrainZooming

JUNE 5, 2018

An efficient AND effective innovation strategy adapts to a company’s business objectives, strategic priorities, and team. It doesn’t start with getting everyone together in a room for a creative thinking workshop and expecting innovative ideas to happen spontaneously. Engaging atypical stakeholders and experts for input.

Analysis 66

Analysis Strategic Thinking Survey Innovation 66

BrainZooming

AUGUST 10, 2018

Strategic Thinking Exercises – 8 Ideas for Brand Innovation. 5 Keys to Engaging Employees in Innovation Strategy – Our Buy-In Manifesto. Strategic Thinking – What Kind of Perfection Are You Looking For? Strategic Thinking Lessons – Keeping Your Company Fresh. Sharing an Innovation Vocabulary.

Strategy 45

Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking eBook 45

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 10, 2017

I went back through recent responses from among readers who are on the blog most frequently. “Buy in from staff on the new vision and the required change” 5 Keys to Engaging Employees in Innovation Strategy – Our Buy-In Manifesto. . Engaging Employees in High Turnover Situations. Innovation.

Strategy 40

Strategy Strategy eBook Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

APRIL 10, 2017

Employ extreme creativity and disruptive innovation-oriented questions to push your strategic planning vision exercise in bold, future directions. Ensure you have all the strategic thinking perspective and voices we always recommend. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates.

Exercises 91

Exercises Strategic Thinking eBook Trends 91

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 6, 2018

We wanted to be highly-engaged with our outside strategy partners. They wanted to maintain a black box approach, however, sucking all the information from us, then retreating by themselves to dream up “creative” branding ideas. Subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates. We can end your frustrations.

Strategic Thinking 68

Strategic Thinking Collaboration Strategy Strategy 68

BrainZooming

JUNE 20, 2018

An executive responsible for strategy planning who was downloading our eBook on 11 Fun Strategic Planning Ideas posed an important question: How can you successfully identify and try new ways to get internal groups working together on strategic planning? Subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates.

Groups 58

Groups Collaboration eBook Strategic Thinking 58

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

Visualize those scenarios and depict them so everyone in the organization has a common source from which to imagine the future strategically. We cannot share client-specific examples here on the blog. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates. Want to explore these ideas in more detail?

Strategy 81

Strategy Strategy Exercises Strategic Thinking 81

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

We’ll use highly productive strategic and creative thinking exercises. We’ve done this hundreds of times, so we know how to adapt our strategic planning methodology so it’s highly efficient for you. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates.

Exercises 74

Exercises Strategic Thinking eBook Roadmap 74

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

Letting everyone know upfront that WE will handle turning the input into a strategic plan (so they don’t have to). Designing strategic thinking questions leading to engaging conversation among familiar and new participants. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Improve Strategic Results. – Mike Brown.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Collaboration Groups 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 15, 2017

After every idea is placed, the group engages in a strategic conversation about each idea’s placement. With more time, we frequently develop a decision support tool for a client to use in prioritizing strategic opportunities. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming blog email updates.

Exercises 77

Exercises Strategic Thinking eBook Groups 77

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Looking for the Elusive Big Idea during Strategic Planning. Strategic Planning – All the Strategy Roles You Need. Strategic Thinking Perspectives – Three Strategic Voices to Include on Your Team. Creative Thinking Skills – Using Questions and Structure Successfully. Just Start! Mike Brown.

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

There are a couple of different ways to apply structure to strategic planning exercises : You can enforce using templates and forms participants have to complete so their answers are uniformed and structured. Productive Structure for Strategic Planning Exercises. After this strategic collaboration, a full-time strategic planner (i.e.,

Exercises 40

Exercises Strategic Thinking Collaboration Strategy 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 26, 2016

I fielded a request for a few ideas on social engagement for an upcoming eBook an online company is creating. One of the questions related to how brands can set themselves apart through a customer experience strategy and outstanding customer engagement. These engagements wind up in business magazine brand profiles and case studies!

Strategy 40

Strategy Strategy eBook Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 22, 2016

These fourteen articles recap our thinking and recommendations across these three areas. Strategic Planning – All the Strategy Roles You Need. Strategic Thinking Perspectives – Three Strategic Voices to Include on Your Team. Strategic Visioning Exercises – Group Collaboration the Right Way.

Exercises 40

Exercises Collaboration Strategic Thinking Strategy 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 8, 2016

New Business Ideas and a Creative Block in Your Organization. Strategic Thinking and 10 Fundamentals of Creating Strategic Impact. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions – Helping Teams Execute Strategy. Strategic Thinking and 10 Fundamentals of Creating Strategic Impact. Preparing for Growth.

Change 40

Change Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

We’re big proponents of the value of bringing together a diverse group of people with varied creative thinking skills for strategic planning workshops within organizations and communities. Often, however, executives jump too quickly to flying everyone into one place for a big strategic planning meeting.

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Creative Thinking Exercises Groups 40