Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

By stepping away from the day-to-day operations and fostering a focused environment, your leadership team can craft innovative strategies and strengthen collaboration. Importance of Strategic Planning Offsites A strategic planning offsite is not just another meeting; it’s an investment in your organization’s future.

Roadmap 100

Roadmap Design Underperforming Technical Team How To 100

BrainZooming

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

Nook and cranny strategic thinking exercises. The nook and cranny strategic thinking exercises term popped into my head during a Brainzooming client workshop. Each strategic thinking exercise poster had four or five brand dimensions on the Y-axis. You do the math with this strategic thinking exercise.

Strategic Thinking 73

Strategic Thinking Exercises eBook Groups 73

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. – Mike Brown.

Collaboration 59

Collaboration Engagement Strategic Thinking Leadership 59

BrainZooming

JANUARY 5, 2017

One of the most popular Brainzooming blog posts the past few years is rich in strategic thinking tools. It features more than 200 strategic thinking questions we’ve gathered, envisioned, and created going back to The Brainzooming Group origins as a corporate strategic planning department. Innovation. Creativity.

eBook 0

eBook Strategic Thinking Tools Creativity 0

Leapfrogging

APRIL 4, 2024

By stepping away from daily operations, you and your team can focus on long-term goals, engage in deep discussions, and forge stronger bonds. These retreats are not merely a change of scenery but a strategic move to foster innovation and alignment among the top decision-makers of your company.

Underperforming Technical Team 100

Underperforming Technical Team Leadership Design Exercises 100

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

How, if you are facing this situation, can you initiate a conversation with strategic thinking questions safe enough to raise the issue? 5 Strategic Thinking Questions to Start Reimagining the Organization. Need Fresh Insights to Drive Your Strategy? Stimulate fresh thinking. Mike Brown.

Strategic Thinking 89

Strategic Thinking eBook Exercises Analysis 89

BrainZooming

JULY 18, 2017

5 Strategic Thinking Questions to Answer Before Making a Decision. Here are five strategic thinking questions you should identify well before you are on the verge of making a decision: Who owns making the decision? 9 ideas for introducing your strategic plan with style and impact to engage your organization.

Strategic Thinking 72

Strategic Thinking eBook Strategy Strategy 72

BrainZooming

APRIL 7, 2017

We see seven keys to creating an innovative workplace culture where individuals are able to meaningfully contribute to the organization’s innovation strategy. It’s vital to point your innovation strategy in a direction. What is the first innovation strategy question to ask? 5 Ideas for Turning a Vision Statement into Strategy.

Strategy 151

Strategy Strategy Culture Strategic Thinking 151

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.

Engagement 55

Engagement Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 55

Paul Hobcraft

APRIL 24, 2023

It is our ability to consistently capture, build and develop new ideas within organizations or in open collaborations with others that have a direct effect on revenue growth and the ability to provide future sustainability. Future collaborations will build on a network of relationships and an ecosystem of design and thinking.

Innovation Programs 190

Innovation Programs Technical Review Innovation Policies 190

BrainZooming

MARCH 2, 2016

Many organizations are in the early stages of executing new strategies for this year. That is when you discover whether you have a solid, implementable plan or something that (maybe) looks good on paper, but doesn’t work well when you try to execute the strategy. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions for Helping Teams Execute Strategy.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy Strategic Management 40

BrainZooming

JULY 6, 2016

Whether strategic planning is months away or close at hand, however, it’s always smart to get a head start tackling big strategic thinking questions that warrant in-depth consideration. 9 Big Strategic Thinking Questions to Start Addressing Now. 9 Big Strategic Thinking Questions to Start Addressing Now.

Strategic Thinking 63

Strategic Thinking Exercises Strategic Management Strategy 63

BrainZooming

APRIL 6, 2016

I am in New York today delivering a Brainzooming branding strategy workshop on Engaging Your Internal Brand Team. The event is the Brand Strategy Conference. Our content addresses collaborative ways to strategically engage employees in creating and delivering the best brand experience. Mike Brown.

Engagement 40

Engagement Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

Paul Hobcraft

APRIL 26, 2023

Other relevant points to consider in an innovation mandate includes building the organization’s understanding of the following: Risk management : Innovation inherently involves risk, and the innovation mandate should address how risk will be managed, including risk assessment, risk mitigation strategies, and contingency planning.

Policies 148

Policies Innovation Programs Innovation Collaboration 148

Leapfrogging

APRIL 3, 2024

Employees are more engaged, motivated, and committed to the organization’s success when they feel aligned with its cultural values. Adaptability: Demonstrating flexibility to adjust strategies as needed in response to feedback and changing conditions.

Underperforming Technical Team 100

Underperforming Technical Team Leadership Culture Change 100

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Yesterday’s post on using a new type of SWOT analysis to stimulate bolder strategic conversations in strategy meetings garnered quite a bit of attention. It received enough attention that we decided to share an additional strategic thinking exercise that puts a twist on the typical SWOT analysis. We can help!

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Analysis Underperforming Technical Team 40

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 1, 2015

Success factors in strategic planning and creating collaborative strategy were the central topics we tackled on an edition of Smart Companies Radio, hosted by Kelly Scanlon, the owner of Thinking Bigger Business Media, Inc., Creating Strategic Impact mini-book. Creating Strategic Impact – How to Start?

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 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.

Collaboration 40

Collaboration Strategy Strategy Strategic Thinking 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 24, 2016

Here’s the strategic thinking question I saw in that moment: Where are your mirrors? 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. What’s your mirror?

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Engagement Strategy Strategy 40

BrainZooming

OCTOBER 10, 2016

Going into a strategy meeting today that is sure to be a snoozer ? Even if you are going into the meeting with the same old people , the same old topics, and the same old expectations to just get a strategy done and put into a notebook on a shelf so you can go back to doing what you’ve always been doing, there is hope! Outrageous.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Analysis 40

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

7 Strategic Thinking Questions When Things Aren’t Working. When things took an unexpected turn the other day, I mentally flew through various strategic thinking questions trying to comes up with ideas to adjust what we were doing. 10 Keys to Engaging Stakeholders to Create Improved Results.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Engagement Tips Strategy 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.

Engagement 40

Engagement Strategy Strategy Strategic 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.

Strategic Thinking 40

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.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Groups 40

BrainZooming

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

What are all the change management strategy roles a change agent plays? We were working with an organization on its future vision while facilitating its strategic planning process. Despite the static language, strategic conversations with the team suggested they possessed a legitimate interest in pursuing innovative strategies.

Strategy 93

Strategy Strategy Change Management 93

BrainZooming

APRIL 5, 2016

Since all the companies competed with one another, each one needed to determine its own business strategies. It seems ridiculous to help a company become better at strategic thinking and marketing without being allowed to tell them how to do it. Strategic Thinking Exercises – 3 Responses to New Ideas.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Underperforming Technical Team Brainstorming 40

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.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Innovation Engagement Creative Thinking 40

BrainZooming

FEBRUARY 9, 2017

That’s why instead of typing out nine strategic thinking questions from various business conversations (and contemplations) so far this week, I decided to Sharpie marker and share them with you in this image. These are strategic thinking questions our clients are asking. It’s still early. Innovation.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking eBook Guidelines Tips 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 11, 2017

I jotted down the questions since I saw them as a strong strategic thinking exercise. A Strategic Thinking Exercise for Determining Trustworthiness. Applying this Strategic Thinking Exercise Broadly. This is a great example of a simple strategic thinking exercise to speed and sharpen decision making.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises eBook Analysis 40

BrainZooming

DECEMBER 9, 2015

We facilitated a two-day innovation strategy workshop for an industrial company. During the innovation strategy discussions, we addressed the production process changes from five different perspectives. From a facilitation standpoint, it was the most arduous couple of days of going through strategic thinking exercises I recall.

Strategic Thinking 40

Strategic Thinking Exercises Groups Strategy 40

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? 7 Ways Groups Can Collaborate on Fun Strategic Planning.

Groups 58

Groups Collaboration eBook Strategic Thinking 58

Paul Hobcraft

MAY 9, 2022

“ Strategy is useless without innovation; innovation is directionless without strategy” Below is an extract from “Reinventing Innovation” by John J Kao. Instead of hierarchy and control, the focus of management must be on collaboration and enabling what is new. Innovation touches everything.

Innovation 130

Innovation Conference Strategic Thinking Strategy 130

BrainZooming

APRIL 5, 2017

Talking to executives, you hear the expectation that an organization should implement a solid strategic plan strategy-by-strategy. To the extent a strategic plan is not implemented in that way, it falls short in some fashion. 7 Collaborative Strategic Planning Process Impacts (Even if the Plan Sits on the Shelf).

Collaboration 73

Collaboration Strategic Thinking Strategy Strategy 73

BrainZooming

MARCH 21, 2016

I’ll be presenting a Brainzooming workshop on internal branding strategy at the Brand Strategy Conference in New York, April 6-8. The workshop, while drawing on material from my Fortune 500 work, springs from multiple conversations at the 2015 Brand Strategy Conference. 3 Keys to Engaging Your Internal Brand Team.

Engagement 40

Engagement Strategy Strategy eBook 40

BrainZooming

JANUARY 23, 2018

We have designed several branding strategy scopes of work recently where the available time between developing strategy and implementation is tight. In these cases, a critical question arises: How do you open branding strategy development to other partner organizations to create a seamless implementation process?

Strategy 95

Strategy Strategy Marketing Strategic Thinking 95

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

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.

Collaboration 92

Collaboration Strategy Strategy Creative Thinking 92