Focused Momentum
MARCH 22, 2021
You are in a conference room (or now in a virtual meeting) where a team member presents a slide of data in a teeny-tiny font. You think you have seen these slides before, yet your eyes strain to identify the piece of data the presenter is discussing. Strategic Thinking
BrainZooming
OCTOBER 6, 2016
We were on a hotel site visit to scout the location for an upcoming client conference. The objective was to solicit their innovative ideas for how to create the highest impact in a challenging conference space. 9 Strategic Thinking Questions – Innovative Ideas from Experts. Many of the strategic thinking questions we share help people imagine things that have never happened.
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BrainZooming
MAY 8, 2017
Or you receive confirmation from a speaker that what you have been thinking is right (or pretty close to right), and you can take that back to the office and tell the boss. A Strategic Thinking Framework Is Better than an Answer, Really! Instead, I include lots of strategic thinking frameworks for decision making. While these strategic thinking frameworks aren’t answers, they allow you to quickly develop answers even in areas where you lack experience.
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. 16 Strategic Thinking Ideas for Creating an Entrepreneurial Environment Inside Your Company. When creating the new culture, think “lowercase b.” 10 Keys to Engaging Employees to Improve Strategic Results.
BrainZooming
MAY 29, 2020
Zane wanted to develop and share content that addressed what business executives need to be thinking about in strategy, innovation, branding, and creative leadership. I’ve spoken at SEMA conferences multiple times and have also spoken and written articles for the Performance Racing Industry.
BrainZooming
OCTOBER 15, 2015
The blog started on the Blogger platform in November 2007 after seeing Jessica Myers (who was at Garmin Industries at the time) speak at a conference about being able to start a blog for free in just ten minutes. While having a daily deadline has become less stimulating creatively over the years, I shudder to think of how much experience and the number of strategic thinking exercises that would have come and gone without any documentation if not for the Brainzooming blog.
BrainZooming
FEBRUARY 12, 2018
” An attendee at the 2018 Social Media Strategies Summit conference in San Francisco made that comment. She’s trying to manage through three strategic expectations the senior management team and board have regarding a content marketing strategy: They want to keep everything on one Facebook page. She can’t change either of the first two strategic expectations. I suggested she instead focus on creating a strategic conversation with her management team.
BrainZooming
APRIL 6, 2016
The event is the Brand Strategy Conference. Our content addresses collaborative ways to strategically engage employees in creating and delivering the best brand experience. The branding strategy workshop came about from talking to too many executives that think it’s okay to let employees in on branding changes at the same time (or even after) customers learn about them. Strategic Thinking Questions to Identify What Matters for a Brand.
BrainZooming
AUGUST 31, 2015
Thinking about that question relative to improving and growing my talents, capabilities, and knowledge prompted this list of eleven professional growth plan possibilities for a week dedicated to getting smarter. The whole week’s professional growth plan could be dedicated to: Participating in days full of multiple webinars as a way to create a personal virtual conference program. Brainzooming - All Posts Career Performance Strategic Thinking Strategy Tools career growth
BrainZooming
OCTOBER 26, 2015
People paid money to see you lead a workshop at a conference. If you are facing a similar situation, think about this: The person that has selected you has a vested interest in your success. For organizational innovation success, contact The Brainzooming Group to help your team be more successful by rapidly expanding strategic options and creating innovative growth strategies. Brainzooming - All Posts Career Collaboration Performance Strategic Thinking career strategy
BrainZooming
MAY 20, 2016
A name for a new Friday feature popped into my head at a conference. These features will include photos and strategic thinking questions or innovation prompts. And just as we hope for all Fridays, future Creative Quickies will be fast, fun, and stimulating enough (via strategic thinking questions) to give you something to ponder and act upon when you return to the office the following week. There are soooooooooooooo many ways to generate creative ideas.
BrainZooming
JANUARY 24, 2017
I had the opportunity to see Dayton Moore, General Manager of the Kansas City Royals , discuss his perspective on organizational harmony as he opened the Jump Start 2017 conference in Atlanta. SMC 3 sponsors the annual conference. 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.
BrainZooming
OCTOBER 20, 2015
At the Chicago Traffic Club conference last week , I presented on social media strategy and content marketing. Think about the Opportunity. Brainzooming - All Posts Collaboration Marketing Performance Social media Strategic Thinking relationships social media strategyIn an hour-long presentation, we spent considerable time discussing why it is a smart social media strategy for business-to-business salespeople to take an active role on social media platforms.
BrainZooming
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
Strategic Planning – 5 Dangers of Cheaping out on Hiring a Facilitator. Fun Strategic Planning Activities – Do you like doing an ice breaker exercise? 7 Tips to Improve Conference Call Presentations. 11 Examples of Strategic Thinking without an Offsite Meeting. Strategic Thinking – 12 Ways Project Teams Can Stay out of the Weeds. Creating Strategic Impact – 3 Project Management Steps to Productively Review Concepts.
BrainZooming
SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
“Inside the Executive Suite” from Armada Corporate Intelligence featured an article this week with strategic planning questions based on Amazon. Inspired by an article in The Wall Street Journal by professor Scott Galloway, they lay out five strategic imperatives Amazon uses to disrupt markets and grow. We participated in conferences and client discussions recently where Amazon and its aspirations were an overwhelming focus.
BrainZooming
NOVEMBER 28, 2017
He’s about to leave his job as a strategic planning and marketing VP at a Fortune 500 transportation company and he’s got this whole other direction mapped out for himself—he’s been blogging now for a couple of years in preparation for this move. “I I don’t think I had any clue, at the start, about the impact the blog would have on my life.”. Back in LA I keep thinking about how naturally we worked together and how our skills and expertise complemented one another.
BrainZooming
OCTOBER 21, 2015
This year, however, I think is going to be the last one. You can tell how good a conference is by how many blog posts it inspires on the way home. Just as you accumulate stuff around the office you think you’ll use but never do, you also accumulate prospects that talk about wanting to work with you but never do. God will withhold what you think you need right when you don’t really need it as a distraction.
BrainZooming
AUGUST 13, 2018
Years ago, I attended a services marketing conference sponsored by a prominent university. Doing that, however, leaves it to customers and prospects (if you interview them) to tell you what THEY think drives their choices. The right combination of outside perspectives and productive strategic thinking exercises enables your brand to ideate, prioritize, and propel innovative growth. Rapidly deploy effective strategic thinking exercises to spur innovation.
BrainZooming
JUNE 30, 2016
It’s one way of passing along our conference production experience and lessons to all of you. If you’re planning a conference, ask all of these questions in plenty of time to do something about them! Brainzooming - All Posts Collaboration Events Implementation Performance Strategic Thinking Tools event marketing marketing strategyI mentioned in an earlier article how the Gas Can event on June 24, 2016 was “half empty” at best.
BrainZooming
FEBRUARY 5, 2016
As you think about your career strategy , how do you see yourself? In his final press conference as coach of the New York Giants, Tom Coughlin demonstrated what it looks like when someone is bigger than the job. I would encourage you, however, to watch the press conference video. For organizational innovation success, contact The Brainzooming Group to help your team be more successful by rapidly expanding strategic options and creating innovative growth strategies.
BrainZooming
APRIL 25, 2016
While I didn’t have time to spell out the steps other than writing down all the vision statement examples she would hear during the conference, here is a way to explore first and figure out the right big strategy statements you need afterward: Start with finding the right ideas that describe and represent your brand. Now think about any other places where the words you are considering are used.
BrainZooming
JUNE 24, 2016
That’s a content marketing strategy topic I’ve been thinking about as more social platforms offer “go live” features, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and Tumblr. Nevertheless, thinking of content marketing strategy analogies , brands doing live video strikes me as very similar to “destination TV.” Those are my thoughts on going live, all based off of thinking about a strategic analogy.
BrainZooming
JULY 25, 2017
The conference theme is building resilience and joy in uncertain times. That took me to the idea of abundance thinking, one of the fundamental strategies of idea magnets. Brainzooming - All Posts Career Collaboration Creativity Implementation Innovation Performance Strategic Thinking Tools idea magnetsChuck Dymer and I presented to a group of logistics managers in Chicago last week. The topic was how to handle uncertain times successfully.
BrainZooming
AUGUST 29, 2016
I think Mess reached out online after reading some Brainzooming articles. I’ve said multiple times that I don’t think I’ve ever read anyone online that’s written about their personal successes and challenges in such a real, raw way. She also kindly shared one of her Innovation Think Pad kits and issued a creative nudge to create a visual vocabulary for Brainzooming.
Paul Hobcraft
MAY 9, 2022
Until we have practices that go beyond brainstorming on the one hand or simply tweaking a new product development process on the other, we will never arrive at the promised land of strategic innovation. There must first be an intimate connection between strategic thinking and innovation.
BrainZooming
JULY 6, 2017
I delivered a keynote on the importance of collaborative internal branding during the SMC3 2017 Connections conference. Over time, it became clear that we needed to lead the way because only the marketing team would approach these areas strategically. It was also clear that branding agency thought about them strategically while our advertising agency didn’t. Brainzooming - All Posts Branding Strategic Thinking Strategy Tools advertising agencies branding strategy
BrainZooming
JUNE 27, 2016
Last Friday’s Gas Can Creative Conference sponsored by AAF-KC (American Advertising Federation – Kansas City) was a half-empty gas can, at best. While there were a few presentations and ideas to stimulate our creative thinking skills, there were far too few for an all-day event. 3 Creative Thinking Skills Ideas from Gas Can 2016. Today, here are three valuable creative thinking skills ideas no matter where your creative community is located.
BrainZooming
JANUARY 24, 2019
I’ll be honest: my expectations were high for this innovation-focused conference , and I was doing my best to manage them. Far and away the finest conference I’ve ever attended, it was epic for several reasons. It all felt incredibly thoughtful, which is a surprising way to describe a conference. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some of my takeaways from conference, here on the blog. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.
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. I was horrified by this viewpoint coming from senior executives because it is so strategically misguided.
BrainZooming
JANUARY 12, 2016
I first heard this song while looking for hero-themed songs for our Transformation conference. This song could loop forever, and it would be just fine as I think about what could any of us be. Related posts 26 Strategic Thinking Questions to Truly Understand Yourself Brainzooming – Mentee to Mentor R.E.M. I have dear friends that were ripped apart yesterday. I have to admit I was only a fan in passing.
BrainZooming
FEBRUARY 28, 2018
Several months later, the deal seemed in question, but we got an opportunity to do a 30-minute phone conference with the company president to address his questions. The right combination of outside perspectives and productive strategic thinking exercises enables your brand to ideate, prioritize, and propel innovative growth. Rapidly deploy effective strategic thinking exercises to spur innovation. People still ask if I miss working for a Fortune 500 company.
BrainZooming
NOVEMBER 4, 2016
” If you aren’t sure what we do and whether we should be working together, here are several pain points we’ve addressed for clients in the last year: My organization needs a new or updated strategic plan, and we don’t want it to be as painful as last time. We can bring you a quicker, more effective strategic planning process than you’ve likely ever experienced. Stimulate fresh thinking.
BrainZooming
NOVEMBER 4, 2015
I recorded a video for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) that ties into my presentation at their conference on creative thinking skills and “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation.”. How do I realistically find time to think more creatively or innovatively about my business when I don’t have time; I just have to get things done?”. A big part of improving your creative thinking does not necessarily mean setting aside time to have offsite meetings and generate ideas.
BrainZooming
FEBRUARY 29, 2016
That proved to be true; since that time, we have collaborated on two American Marketing Association national market research conferences several years ago and a creative workshop a few months ago. For organizational innovation success, contact The Brainzooming Group to help your team be more successful by rapidly expanding strategic options and creating innovative growth strategies.
BrainZooming
JULY 23, 2018
As part of the launch activities, you’re invited to a Facebook Live presentation I’m deliver on the seven Idea Magnets creative leadership strategies during the Leadership Institute conference. Creative Thinking Help Is on the Way – Idea Magnets! Creative Thinking Skills – 10 Ideas for Stimulating Extreme Team Creativity. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.
BrainZooming
JANUARY 23, 2019
Last fall, Emma and I saw Beth Comstock, the former vice chair of General Electric and head of its GE Business Innovations unit, keynote at the Inbound conference. While the conference featured stronger keynotes, these innovation strategy-focused quotes and action items from Beth Comstock resonated with me. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.
InnovationTraining.org
AUGUST 22, 2019
The CliftonStrengths exam sorts people based on four different domain areas : Strategic thinking: how do you absorb, think about, and analyze information? The FourSight Thinking Profile is centered around providing self-awareness to cultivate innovation and effective problem solving. Thinking vs feeling – how you make decisions. Thinking (T) or Feeling (F). Find more design thinking and innovation resources on our blog.
Adam Hartung
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
This was the telltale sign of a retailer that had focused on beating up its suppliers for years, cutting them out of almost all margin, without thinking about how it might need to change its business model to grow as competitors chopped up its traditional marketplace. There was no strategic thinking happening at WalMart, as executives believed there would never be a need to change the strategy. Walmart announced quarterly financial results last week, and they were not good.
BrainZooming
OCTOBER 19, 2017
On the conference’s second day, we talked about her passion for learning from and helping to mentor and develop strong woman in business. If so, you may want to start thinking about whether it’s time to find another job (and act on it if it is). Strategic Thinking Exercise – Simply Making Big Decisions. I delivered a Brainzooming workshop on “Budget-Extending Social Content Strategy” at the Social Media Strategies Summit this week.
BrainZooming
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017
The Hubspot Inbound conference is coming up at the end of September. Based on last year’s attendance at the Hubspot Inbound conference, I’m guessing there may be 20,000 or more people this year. That’s why I call Inbound, and other conferences drawing tens of thousands of people, small-town business conferences. Developing a Small-Town Business Conference Plan. The typical rules do not apply at a small-town business conference.
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