BrainZooming

APRIL 20, 2016

I asked them to engage in some strategic thinking about innovation opportunities for the company. They used that as a justification for opting out of strategic thinking. I disabused them of the idea, however, that their narrow job descriptions were synonymous with narrow strategic thinking roles.

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Strategic Thinking Innovation Engagement Creative Thinking 40

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.

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Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy Tips 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. The descriptions are purposely neither good nor bad; they simply represent ways an organization could pursue the strategy.

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Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Groups 40

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 9, 2015

The overall group sizes for each innovation strategy workshop varied from fourteen to more than twenty-five people, depending on the topic. From a facilitation standpoint, it was the most arduous couple of days of going through strategic thinking exercises I recall. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Create Improved Results.

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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.

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BrainZooming

APRIL 5, 2017

If your organization ’s strategic plan process comes together based on a few senior executives sitting in a room followed by a bunch of managers working alone in their offices, however, pulling the strategic plan notebook off the shelf is a HUGE metric for whether it’s successful. Contact us, and let’s book time to talk.

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Collaboration Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy 73

BrainZooming

AUGUST 30, 2016

I mentioned upcoming business collaboration opportunities for Brainzooming yesterday , including co-presentations, creating content, and developing new workshop and training offerings. What to look for in a business collaboration? The collaborator brings something different (and complementary) to what we do and offer.

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Collaboration Strategy Strategy Creative Thinking 92

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.

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Engagement Strategic Thinking Underperforming Technical Team Exercises 40

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 1, 2015

How do you gain the best advantage from the expertise, experience, and ideas inside your organization as you pursue strategic planning? It was a pleasure to talk with Kelly about the impact of collaborative strategy on strategic planning, a topic she and I have discussed off the air many times over the past few years.

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Collaboration Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

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.

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Engagement Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Last week was diverse in the Brainzooming world, as we were engaged in serving clients across many different aspects of what we do. Thursday included working with a local non-profit to develop the strategic foundation for an important initiative, along with developing initial themes from the Carbondale community collaboration workshops.

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Collaboration Strategic Thinking Groups Engagement 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. 10 Keys to Engaging Employees to Improve Strategic Results.

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Strategic Thinking Underperforming Technical Team Company Culture 40

BrainZooming

AUGUST 11, 2016

What leadership skills are necessary to successfully champion a collaborative strategy ? A client fully immersed in developing and implementing a collaborative strategy asked that question. 4 Vital Characteristics of Collaborative Strategy Leaders.

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Collaboration Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

AUGUST 1, 2016

If you’ve been a Brainzooming reader for any length of time, you know we’re huge proponents of collaborative strategic planning. Collaborative planning implies a process that goes beyond the board room to include individuals throughout the organization in meaningful ways to provide insights and input to shape organizational strategy.

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BrainZooming

MARCH 21, 2016

I was horrified by this viewpoint coming from senior executives because it is so strategically misguided. 3 Keys to Engaging Your Internal Brand Team. One alternative to letting your employees know about a new direction in branding strategy after your customers is to view employees as an internal brand team.

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Engagement Strategy Strategy eBook 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 1, 2015

In nearly every Brainzooming community collaboration workshop, we conclude with a Plus-Minus-Interesting-Recommendation-Question exercise (a PMIRQ for short). 41 Surprising Things about Community Collaboration Done Well. New People Coming Together Collaboratively and Effectively. Small unknown group collaboration”.

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Collaboration Exercises Strategic Thinking Brainstorming 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

When discussing a strategic planning or innovation strategy engagement with a client, we use the graphic below to design our recommended approach. We’re increasingly incorporating online collaboration workshops ( which we call Zoomferences ) to do more of the work typically done through in-person visioning workshops.

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Collaboration Creative Thinking Exercises Groups 40

BrainZooming

JUNE 29, 2017

While leading strategy development in a new company poses challenges (including needing to learn a tremendous amount as you go), it has a comparable number of advantages (Including not laboring under preconceived ideas about how the organization does things). Getting to What Is Strategic. What Is Strategic and What Isn’t?

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Resources Strategic Thinking Comparison Strategy 86

BrainZooming

JULY 12, 2016

There are so many ways to botch involving employees (and community members, if that’s your audience) in developing and successfully implementing an innovation strategy. Here are five keys we’ve found for successfully engaging employees in innovation strategy. Ask me to participate. That’s the Brainzooming Buy-In Manifesto.

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Engagement Strategy Strategy eBook 40

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 19, 2016

If you are responsible for leading the strategic planning process at your organization, dive in and tweak your process to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. 113 Ideas for Strategic Planning Process Improvement. 12 Questions to Jump Start Your Strategic Planning Process. 5 Ideas for Simplified Strategic Planning.

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Strategic Thinking Exercises Guidelines Strategy 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. This means there is no opportunity for productive collaboration to devise the plan. FREE Download: “Results!!!

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Exercises Strategic Thinking Collaboration Strategy 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 3, 2016

Here are four different approaches The Brainzooming Group employs with clients: Instead of using complex strategic exercises that aren’t beneficial outside planning, we use strategic thinking questions that fit how people think and work on a daily basis. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Create Improved Results.

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Strategic Thinking Exercises Engagement Strategy 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

And the asterisk on fun acknowledges we’re stretching the definition of fun to cover things nerdy strategic planners think are fun such as “mental stimulation,” “highly collaborative groups,” and “people that want to be involved in strategic planning the next time it happens.”. – Mike Brown.

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Strategic Thinking Exercises Collaboration Groups 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 15, 2016

Individuals Posing Creative Thinking Challenges. How Creative Thinking Gets Killed by Team Members – 8 Fatal Blows. 5 Ideas When an Uber-Positive Boss Crushes Creative Thinking. Strategic Thinking Skills – 29 Clues You’re Not Dealing with a Strategic Thinker. FREE Download: “Results!!!

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Creative Thinking Creativity Brainstorming Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 22, 2016

And by done well, we mean that the vision statement: Is developed broadly and collaboratively. These fourteen articles recap our thinking and recommendations across these three areas. Collaborating on a Vision Statement. Strategic Planning – All the Strategy Roles You Need. What Are We Trying to Say?

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Exercises Collaboration Strategic Thinking Strategy 40

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Because of this, the list was worthless for doing what I suspect everyone hoped it would do: provide a starting point for the strategic thinking needed to back into a definition of and explanation for what the new initiative would turn out to be. 6 Ways to Organize Ideas from Strategic Planning Exercises. – Mike Brown.

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Exercises Strategic Thinking Groups Engagement 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 8, 2016

Strategic Thinking and 10 Fundamentals of Creating Strategic Impact. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions – Helping Teams Execute Strategy. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Improve Strategic Results. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

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Change Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 9, 2016

The net of it is this: a lot seemingly wasted business conversations can contribute to progress if you have the wherewithal to listen and restructure them into clear strategies. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Improve Strategic Results. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

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Creative Thinking Creativity Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

APRIL 21, 2017

The folks at Armada Corporate Intelligence offered an internal branding strategy take on the United Airlines woes, offering strategic thinking questions you can ask and answer to improve your brand’s resiliency and avoid brand crises. 3 Ways Your Internal Branding Strategy Can Be Smarter than United Airlines.

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Strategy Strategy Underperforming Technical Team Technical Review 72

BrainZooming

JANUARY 20, 2016

10 Lessons for Engaging Your Employees to Create Stronger Results. Creating Strategic Impact” Senior executives are looking for employees who are strong collaborators and communicators while being creative and flexible. In short they need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results.

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Project Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

MARCH 16, 2016

Not all of those will work in every situation, obviously, but this is a checklist we’d use to actively and successfully involve a team in group strategy exercises. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Improve Strategic Results. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

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Exercises Groups Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 25, 2016

The thing is, there’s a different way to structure business meetings to help a group come together and collaborate in an innovative, productive way. 10 Lessons for Engaging Your Employees to Create Stronger Results. In short they need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results.

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Meeting Collaboration Creative Thinking Tips 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 24, 2017

10 Keys to Engaging Employees to Improve Strategic Results. Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders need high-impact ways to develop employees that can provide input into strategic planning and then turn it into results. Increase focus for your team with productive strategy questions everyone can use.

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Conference Collaboration Product Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

If you need new ideas about how to approach strategic opportunities and challenges, a collaborative workshop to imagine a variety of possibilities can be very productive. If the gaps pertain to unknown facts and information, brainstorming won’t be productive. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Create Improved Results.

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BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Create Improved Results. Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders are looking for powerful ways to engage strong collaborators to shape shared visions. They need strategic thinkers who can develop strategy and turn it into results. FREE Download: “Results!!!

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Leadership Underperforming Technical Team Creative Thinking Meeting 40

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 13, 2015

I think we just stumbled over our newest brand experience exercise! – Mike Brown. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Create Improved Results. Creating Strategic Impact” Leaders are looking for powerful ways to engage strong collaborators to shape shared visions. FREE Download: “Results!!!

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Strategy Strategy Guidelines Engagement 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 27, 2015

But from what I see in Catholic parishes around the country, increasing access, convenience, the ease of trial, communication about the benefits, and the impact of how you invite them to participate can be a winning turnaround branding strategy with a powerful impact in reversing declining usage trends! – Mike Brown.

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