Resources

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  • Most Popular Strategy Execution Articles of the Quarter

    As we wrap up Q1 2024, it’s important to evaluate our progress. Are you effectively executing your strategic plans, or are you lagging behind? If you’re unsure about the direction your strategy execution process or projects are taking, please reach out to me for assistance.

     

    As you wrap up Q1 2024, it’s a good time to evaluate your progress. Are you effectively executing your strategic plans, or are you lagging behind?

    By reading this, you’re part of a community of over 7,000 business leaders who all want to turbocharge their strategic projects.

    You’re super busy, I know. I aim to share 3 brief tips each week that you can read in under 3 minutes. If you find this valuable, please share it with others who will benefit.

    Meantime, here is the list of the 3 most-read Turbocharge Weekly articles of the quarter.

    3 most-read articles this quarter

    1. Tips for product strategy execution
    2. Time saving strategies for managing stakeholders
    3. Surprising strategy tactics inspired by Japanese toilets

    Quote of the week

    “…we bring our whole selves to the decisions we make. And those decisions, in turn, both reflect and determine who we are.” Barack Obama.

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    Free Turbocharge session

    You can consciously decide now to make better decisions and fast track the transformative impact you can make on your business and those around you. If you haven’t attended before, join a free group coaching session to catch a sneak peak into the Turbocharge membership to accelerate strategic projects. This is on Tuesday 23 April 2024 8-9am AEDT Sydney, which is Monday, April 22nd in the afternoon in the US. We will discuss some of the 7 Habits of Highly Successful Transformation Leaders. Register here to join us.

    _____________

    Please help me reach my goal of 10,000 subscribers. Think about who else will benefit from this article and forward it to them.
    Keep turbocharging with human-centred strategy 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Quick tips for strategic problem solving

    In my day-to-day interactions with clients, leaders, innovators, and change-makers, one question frequently arises: How can I enhance my strategic problem-solving skills?

     

    Strategic problem solving is a key skill that many business leaders, innovators and change makers are looking to improve. I can see this in my research, and hear this from clients and members. These skills have become particularly important as the world becomes more complex. Professionals are starting to understand that you cannot simply transplant “best practices” into a new context and hope that it works. It is most likely that it won’t. You need flexible problem solving skills that you can apply to any challenge.

    I think you’ll find these strategic problem solving tips useful.

    3 ideas for improving your strategic problem solving

    1. Draw visual diagrams – If you missed last week’s edition, read how to improve your strategic planning, with a visual technique to “unravel the spaghetti”. Co-create this with your team.

    2. Write things down – this is a useful technique for clearing your headspace. This frees you up for better problem solving by removing the cognitive strain on your short term memory. Write down your “to do” lists, things you are thinking about (even your dreams), your worries, your ideas. I have 1,417 notes on my iPhone, synced to my Mac. Such a great way to Turbocharge my productivity, so easy to find what I need.

    3. Want a free toolkit? Recently, an ex McKinsey colleague of mine based in New York, Will Bachman, shared a toolkit for McKinsey-style problem solving. Here is a link to Will’s post with instructions to request a copy from him.If you’d like to know how to approach problem solving McKinsey-style, I cover this in the Turbocharge membership. My live masterclasses are one hour express on Zoom each month, designed for busy people. Or catch the recordings in the membership hub.

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    For more free tips, see my new YouTube channel. Don’t forget to like and subscribe. 👇

    Quote of the week

    “We don’t rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.” James Clear.

    _____________

    Please help me reach my goal of 10,000 subscribers. Think about who else will benefit from this article and forward it to them.
    Keep turbocharging with human-centred strategy 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Easy Strategic Planning Framework to Master Complexity

    The key to navigating complexity with ease lies in creating an effective business strategy. Start by mapping out initiatives, considering their impact, and organizing them logically.

     

    What do convergence, spaghetti and business plans have in common?

    We can feel our world becoming more complex, much of this due to convergence.  I see 4 key trends here:

    • Complexity in lives and purchase habits. Our work and personal lives are interwoven spaghetti.   First there were Blackberries.  Now we use our smart phones for hybrid working, WFH, WFA, 24/7.  Social media.  If you think you can keep your work and home separate, forget it. Your boss and client noticed on Facebook where you stayed on your vacation.   If you didn’t post it, your friends or kids did. This convergence of work and life impacts the complexity of purchase habits for B2C markets, and has knock-on effects in B2B markets.

    • Digital and industry convergence. Your industry is likely converging with other industries.  Lines between them are blurred.  Technology and digital business models are now deeply embedded within most businesses.  And AI will change things forever.

    • Stakeholder complexity. Your competitors, suppliers and business partners – they’ve evolved over the last decade.  Increased in number. Many have merged, globalized and reinvented. Some of your prized team members could be fractional executives, long term sub-contractors and gig workers. You can look at this as convergence of external stakeholders with internal.

    • Volume of projects on top of BAU. Previously you had a manageable number of live projects on top of your business as usual work.  Now I see medium to larger businesses with hundreds of projects underway; smaller businesses are totally overloaded.  Most with complex inter-dependencies. Inter-related decisions.

    All of this spaghetti creates confusion and overwhelm, and I often see managers stuck in their planning because of this. Today I’d like to share with you an approach that I use to help managers get “unstuck”. I use the 3 easy steps below to create a picture of what is going on around the plan that we’re developing. It is useful for all types of plans you’re working on: strategic plans, team plans, product launches, culture change, digital projects and innovation programs. Like all my frameworks, this is best co-designed, co-created with your team, stakeholders or clients.

    3 steps to create a strategy framework for complex plans

    1. Draw a diagram of how your initiatives fit together. Take a step back when you’re planning your strategy or project, and think about your broader context.  What other projects are related?  Draw each project or initiative on the page in a box. On paper, a whiteboard, a screen – it doesn’t matter. If you create a diagram of all the parts, you’ll see things differently.  See the simple example below. If you’re in my membership, you’ll find many editable frameworks and examples in your playbook: “Program Design with Impact”.
    2. Think about what else is being disturbed by your plan?Add these initiatives to your diagram all in a separate box. Overlay trends, movement, what is converging. Have the relevant moving parts been captured?
    3. Sort the initiatives on the page into a logical order – what belongs on the Y and X axis? Shift things around, put them in an order that makes sense to you (eg impact to customer), and then label the axes. Group some items as needed. Then you have created your own framework to suit your situation, your organization, your culture. I guarantee you will get new insights.

    One last word.  I’ve also seen too much analysis paralysis in my time.  Finish your planning phase, and go and execute it. Fast. The market isn’t standing still.

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    Quote of the week

    “Take time to get to know the people; show a genuine interest in the people you work with. It will make your work life a happier place.” From my wise little sister, Julie Carlin, Solution Delivery Manager for iOCO Tech in Cape Town.

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    Please help me reach my goal of 10,000 subscribers. Think about who else will benefit from this article and forward it to them.

    Keep turbocharging your strategy with a people-centric approach 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Clarify Your Personal Purpose to Turbocharge Your Impact

    If you want to live your life with enthusiasm, motivation, and happiness, you need to align your personal purpose with your organizational purpose to help you drive effective business strategies. 

     

    This week I’m writing about personal purpose, because it’s so important to our enthusiasm, motivation and the impact we make in our work and lives. It defines who we are, and why we get up in the morning. I like the way Oprah describes purpose as something that connects the dots of your life.

    Don’t get me wrong, organizational purpose is also important and provides valuable guidance to developing your strategy. Mission and vision are now truly outdated, and are increasingly being replaced by purpose statements. I enjoy supporting organizations to identify their purpose (did this for a non for profit last week), but that is a topic for another day.

    Benefits of a personal purpose

    When you are clear on your personal purpose, you will find it clarifies what you should focus on to give you the most satisfaction. Just as an organizational purpose guides a business to defining their strategy, a personal purpose guides you to where you can have the biggest impact in your work.

    When I defined my purpose, I found many benefits including an increase in my energy levels. I’d like to share it with you as an example.

    My purpose is growth: growth of business, growth of others, growth of myself, and growth of communities.

    Incidentally, I’m an avid gardener and love seeing plants grow in my garden in Sydney.

    For decades, I have delivered or mentored leaders to deliver their strategies. This used to tick all 4 boxes of my purpose:

    • Growth of business – my colleagues and I have contributed to significant ROI many multiples of the cost of the initiatives.

    • Growth of communities – we created cross-functional working groups which are like internal communities in organizations that amplify transformational change.

    • Growth of others – I’ve seen the careers accelerate of people who were involved in these communities eg an EA who became a HR Business Partner.

    • Growth of self – I always learn from talented people I’ve work with.

    That was all fine until my learning curve started slowing. Then the link to my purpose became insufficient. I felt less engaged and restless. I needed to do something different. I’m sure you’ve experienced this at different times in your career.

    So I collated the hundreds of McKinsey-style frameworks that we have used successfully with clients over the years, and created playbooks from them. All the essential topics to delivering strategy and transformations. We launched the Turbocharge membership last May for business leaders (most are aspiring to C-Suite) who want to make a transformative organizational impact. (If you’re only reading these newsletters, you’re only receiving a fraction of the value.) Essentially the Turbocharge membership has enabled me to help many more people and organizations. That is my purpose on steroids. I now feel more energized than I’ve been in my life. You can do the same.

    3 steps for maximizing your impact through purpose

    1. Define your purpose if you haven’t already done. See the 3 circles framework below. (We will work through this in the March module of the Turbocharge membership).
    2. Identify the parts of your work (or life) that deliver on your purpose, and maximize your focus on these. For example, can you delegate any parts of your work (or life) that aren’t delivering on your purpose?
    3. Share your purpose, so that others can be inspired by you.

    *** Please forward this article to others who will be interested. ***

    _____________

    Here is a framework from the March 2024 module: the Power of Personal Purpose, Passion and Superpowers:

    Quote of the week

    “Your real work is to figure out where your (internal) power base is and to work on that alignment of your personality, your gifts you have to give, with the real reason why you are here. Align your personality with your purpose, and no one can touch you.” Oprah Winfrey, founder of a $2B media empire.

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    Clients, partners and sponsors

    In the spirit of turbocharging your impact and personal brand, I’ve arranged a free hands-on workshop on sales messages with my sales mentor, Rachel Bourke. Sales messages are your brand’s verbal bumper stickers, enabling you to leave a memorable impression. Learn how to create your own memorable sales messages. Register here to join us on Wednesday April 10th 2024, 11am – 12:30pm Sydney AEST time (Tuesday 9th evening in the US).

    _____________

    Keep turbocharging your strategy with a people-centric approach 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Elevate Strategy Sessions: Insider Tips for Success

    Are you a CEO, founder, or innovator tired of boring strategy planning, business planning, or complex project planning meetings? Shake things up by learning how to make your sessions more engaging and productive in this article.

     

    How often have you sat through boring planning sessions? Or sessions were you don’t think everyone contributed their best? Where you were disappointed with the outcome?

      “I was not looking forward to this. I thought I’d be sitting here all day listening to presentations. But it’s been so interesting, and I’ve loved being involved.”

    This is what a board member said to me during a one day strategic planning workshop that I facilitated last week. It warmed heart to see her so enthusiastic and grateful.  With a bit of careful consideration before your workshop, you can have an enjoyable, productive session where everyone contributes, and you’re pleased with your planning outcome.

    3 tips for your strategic planning workshop

    1. Create psychological safety in the room at the start. You can do this with a creative icebreaker activity that you match to the culture of the group, and needs of the participants. We used a techniques that got everyone out of their seats hunting down some information, which meant everyone was talking and moving and greeting each other ….. and this made everyone really relaxed at the start. I knew from the laughter in the room that they felt safe to contribute.
    2. Design some interesting active ways for people to get involved and actively contribute. This means rolling up their sleeves and doing activities in small groups, working on tasks that contribute to the goal of the day.  This increases energy and engagement. Less boring than listening passively to presentations. We used a design thinking to come up with a purpose statement.
    3. Before the workshop, ask for input on strategic parameters from all participants. This will frame the discussion, keep it focused and appropriately bounded, and Turbocharge your conversation. For example, we decided the strategic themes before the workshop.  This allowed participants to have a productive conversation on the day about the stuff that matters. (Distinction: This was a convergent planning exercise not a divergent strategic thinking exercise!)

    *** Please forward this article to others who will be interested. ***

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    For more on culture, the key to unlocking strategy success, watch the one minute YouTube clip below and subscribe to my new YouTube channel below. 👇

    Quote of the week

    “HR’s involvement as a partner in planning and executing organizational strategy has increased from 36% in 2021 to 50% in 2024.” McLean and Company’s HR Trends report 2024.

    If you’re stuck, call me. I can help with your next strategy process, business planning, or complex project planning.

    _____________

    Keep turbocharging with a people-centric approach 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Surprising strategy tactics inspired by Japanese toilets

    I recently visited Japan and was fascinated by their seamless integration of technology into daily life, from restaurant robots to immersive experiences like TeamLabs, and high-tech toilets.

     

    Last week I had my first visit to Japan.  Good fun, and super interesting if you love emerging tech like I do.

    The tech that I particularly enjoyed:

    • their use of robots serving food in a restaurant, and delivering items to rooms  of our hotel (see my post)
    • An immersive digital experience called TeamLabs (see my post)
    • The high tech toilets.  While they are in very few homes in western countries, in Japan they seemed to be ubiquitous.  There is something special about sitting on a pristinely clean, warm toilet seat in winter.  Similar but even more exceptional than the seat warmer in our Volvo.  I do miss that now that I’m home….

    So what can we learn about Strategy from Japanese toilets?  I’m flush with insights.

    3 strategy tips for this week

    1. Consider how to bring unexpected delight to your clients.  I just had to smile every time I sat on a pristine warm toilet seat.   Each time still felt unexpected.  A little luxury in the day. What is the equivalent we can provide to our clients?
    2. Introduce just the right number of options to get fast product adoption (particularly for newbies).  As a Westerner, I could intuitively use the toilet in the most basic no-frills way, or I could easily experiment with the options, even though most of the instructions were in Japanese.  Nothing was overwhelming.  Each option was valuable.    For example, I love the idea of choosing to listen to “waterfall” music.  I meditate regularly and this sound transports me to a peaceful place.  This has been well embraced by Japanese ladies who are apparently very particular about their privacy.
    3. Structure your market research to find the right client segment.  This is what I found out about Toto, the market leader (>60% share of toilets in Japan).  When they first introduced these bidet-style toilets, Toto asked 300 employees to test different positions to pinpoint the best comfort and hygiene. Toto discovered what is now called the “golden angle”, that made these very attractive to high-end female clientele in Japan.  And the market grew from there.   (PS the Golden Angel is that the wand must operate at exactly 43 degrees.)   What is your golden angle?  Have you asked the right research question to discover what will appeal to your Ideal Customer Profile?

    I’m convinced the next big phase of tech will be robotics integrated with generative AI. This will create a more personalized, human-like experience with robots. There are so many applications that will enhance productivity and convenience.

    Quote of the week

    “Adopt a startup mindset when launching a new product line. Start small and focus on proving the ideas without overcommitting resources.  This approach allows experimentation and the discovery of innovative solutions that can benefit the broader product portfolio over time.” Megan Cook, Head of Product, Atlassian

    _____________

    Please forward this article to others who will be interested.

    Keep turbocharging, keep growing 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Accelerate your career in transformative strategy

    Starting a career in strategy execution or transformation requires a clear understanding of the essential skills needed to become an authority in the field.

     

    If you want to build your career and reputation on executing transformative strategy, read this.

    You can be more effective if

    you know what strengths to leverage

    and

    you pin point exactly what skills to hone.

    I haven’t found a good diagnostic tool In over 25 years of working in the field of strategy execution, that focuses holistically on the personal skills needed to implement transformative strategy. So I developed a tool last year, and offer it free of charge. It takes less than 5 minutes. You will receive a personalized report with scores against each of the 10 dimensions below.

    Complete your Transformation Success Score here.

    Quote of the week

    “Dig deep—get deliberate, inspired, and going.” Brene Brown.

    Isn’t this a beautiful call to action as we gear up for 2024?

    _____________

    I’d be delighted if you forward this article to others who will be interested.

    Keep turbocharging, keep growing 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • 3 tips to get a yes for your strategy recommendations

    Whether you’re an executive, a project manager, or a team leader, presenting a business case or recommendation to boards or stakeholders  effectively  is crucial. Always keep in mind that getting to yes is the goal.

     

    Business cases and recommendations are the bread and butter of strategy and projects. We all need to develop strategies and initiatives, and at critical milestones, recommend these to our boards, leadership teams, staff, and sometimes customers and other external stakeholder groups.

    When I mentioned to an executive recently that my focus in the Turbocharge membership is business cases, he said that wasn’t relevant to him. However in fact EVERYONE presents business cases, you may just call it something else.

    You may call it a

    proposal

    case for change

    presentation with costs and benefits

    transformation roadmap

    a recommended strategy.

    They all have one thing in common. As you present your preferred option, you need to get a “YES” answer to proceed. Below are 3 tips to “seal the deal”.

    _____________

    Here are 3 tips to get a YES

    1. Put some science to your recommendation. This could be research, hard facts, a decision making matrix (one of the best tools I learned during my MBA which I teach in our February Turbocharge membership), or a cost benefit financial analysis. AI is making this easy and quick – just ask ChatGPT to summarize the research for you.
    2. Put some emotion into your recommendation. People like it when I tell war stories from the trenches, as they’re a powerful way to influence. Case studies, examples, stories are powerful at generating emotions, and more memorable than facts alone.
    3. Consider the workplace culture in which you’re making the recommendation, and how to make it attractive within that particular culture. For example, if the business is highly risk averse, have you mitigated all risks and provided an option for a small scale trial / pilot / test period? How do you make the recommended option feel safe?

    _____________

    Quote of the week

    Think outside the square in terms of how you can make your recommendation feel safer. There are many more ways than this:

    “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” Unattributed.

    _____________

    Join our Turbocharge membership in February if you want your recommendations to land better with decision makers.

    If you find this blog useful, please forward it to another person who will benefit.

    Keep turbocharging, keep growing 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Change your strategy approach from push to pull

    You can’t get to the Unicorn Zone by pushing harder. You must create a pull effect in all of your projects and strategies.

    Many executives contacted me after I wrote the words, “you can’t get to the Unicorn Zone by pushing harder. You must create a pull effect”. This  is what resonated for many of you:

    This is true of ALL your strategies and projects. Some executives asked about when to use PUSH and when to use PULL. The answer is that PULL is always preferable, and today I’d like to offer you a few suggestions on how to create a pull effect. The quote below first provides some further context.

    _____________

    My favorite quote

    “Hey CEOs: Return-to-office mandates don’t work”, Adam Grant, recently posted this on LinkedIn, confirming what we all know deep down.

    People don’t want to be PUSHed

    People don’t like Strategy (capital S intended) announced from the top

    People don’t want to be told, they like to be asked.

    Nicely.

    For their opinion.

    The caveat is that as a CEO or leader, you don’t abdicate all responsibility for decisions. If you don’t remember my previous advice on this, see strategy is not democratic.

    _____________

    Here are my top 3 tips on how to create PULL:

    1. Don’t forget the WIIFM. What’s in it for me? Put yourself in their shoes and consider how you can make your strategy (project, idea, recommendation, pitch…) more attractive for THEM. What is it that makes them tick? And if you don’t know, ask them. Ask those around them.
    2. People love choices. It is how we are wired. Given choices, we feel like we have more power, more autonomy. So find a way you can offer people choice. For example, if you want people to come into the office more, offer teams a choice of how they want to do this, how many days a week, or which particular days.
    3. Remember the great Dr. Robert Cialdini, Godfather of Influence techniques, who has popularized the principle of scarcity? If something is scarce, we want it more. Diamonds are more costly than bush rocks, as there are plenty more bush rocks around. (Especially in Outback Australia.)A while back in a client’s culture change program, the VP and I needed to encourage several business divisions to get involved in the initiative and attend meetings. The problem was that the divisional executives were too busy, not interested, said they didn’t have time.So we rationed our offer. Scarcity in action. We explained that we only had capacity to offer this to 2 divisions, and they would need to make a case to be the ones chosen. It was very interesting to see the demand increase. This initiative suddenly became very attractive. And the culture change was a significant and measurable success.

    ………………………………

    I have plenty more tips for creating PULL. Let me know if you want more by clicking on the “Loved it” in the comments below or email me. We are also diving deep into this in the Turbocharge membership.

    If you find this blog  useful, please forward it to others who will benefit.

    Keep turbocharging, keep growing 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🌱 For more ideas, playbooks, and to learn from others with similar challenges, join our Turbocharge community at the price of a coffee a day. Money back in 14 days if you’re not satisfied.
    2. 🌱🌱 Email me to book your 1on1 mentoring session to fast track your strategy execution.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).

  • Digital impacts to your strategy – where to start

    In today’s world, to stay relevant in business you need to review your strategy execution process regularly. Especially with the rise of AI and other digital innovations. You either adapt or die!

    You know you need to review strategy regularly due to digital, AI and other innovations. But where to start?

    I’ve been thinking about this more than usual, since an interesting chat I had with a stranger at a party. We were standing looking over Sydney Harbour, and we were winding our way through the usual Q&A you do when you meet someone. How do you know the host? What do you do over the holidays? What sort of work do you do?

    Turns out the guy runs a medium-sized video production company for the business market. It has been highly successful over a number of years. So I asked him what was he doing about digital and AI. HIs answer was that he was dabbling in AI tools to make the video production more efficient. He had not yet go around to thinking through how AI may displace his business entirely, even though he understood it was inevitable.

    It makes me think of Kodak who failed to change their business model from camera film to digital photography. Buggy whips when motor cars were first invented. Mainframes. CDs. Video recorders. Record players (OK they have made a small retro comeback). Home telephones.

    It is not unusual for Business As Usual to take precedence over innovation. Sometimes we are so busy with BAU that it is difficult to make time for strategic work. And there are many other reasons companies chose to avoid bad news and risks. Many are documented by the talented late Prof Clayton Christensen (read the Innovators Dilemma if you haven’t).

    My tips for this week focus on digital and AI impacts to your strategy – where to start:

    1. Absorb what is going on around you. If you’re reading this, you’re already good!
    2. Talk to different people outside your company, profession or industry about what you’re doing to test your ideas. Not just your stakeholders. (That is exactly why the Turbocharge membership is aimed at diverse business leaders and change makers).
    3. If you think you’re involved in a buggy-whip-type business, start looking at alternatives adjacent to yours.  Adjacent products or services for your customers to solve other related pain points.  Different use cases or customer markets for your products or services.

    ………………………………

    Join me for a free Turbocharge discussion on January 30th, 2024 on influencing stakeholders

    It is being held on Zoom at 8-9am Sydney AEDT, which is the afternoon of January 29th in the US. This is a group coaching session, part of the Turbocharge membership. And its a one-off free invitation to my subscribers only, as a new year gift. You are welcome to bring your questions on stakeholder management, just watch and/or participate in the conversation. The recording will be available in the Turbocharge hub for members.

    Register here

    and you will receive a confirmation email with Zoom details.

    ………………………………

    Quote of the day

    “If a tree dies, plant another in its place.” Carl Linnaeus. I’m an avid gardener in my spare time, so particularly like the tree analogy. Nothing stays the same for long, including plants. 🌱

    ………………………………

    If you find this blog useful, please forward it to others who will benefit.

    Keep turbocharging, keep growing 😊🌱📈

    PSS Not sure how to get your strategy unstuck, projects powering, and transformation turbocharged? I can help you.

    1. 🚀 Get your question answered free. How: Email me – I answer your questions in these newsletters.
    2. 🚀 🚀 Discuss your question with me and other global transformation leaders, in our monthly Zoom group coaching sessions. How: Join Turbocharge Your Transformation membership.
    3. 🚀 🚀 🚀 Plan your next project in 1on1 mentoring sessions with me. How: Simply reply to this email.

    If you’re interested in

    #strategyexecution,

    #digitaltransformation,

    #changemanagement…

    * Don’t miss out. Subscribe to my personal weekly email to your inbox here.

    —

    About Lisa Carlin

    As a strategy execution specialist and scaleup mentor, Lisa works with ambitious digital leaders to turbocharge their transformation and business planning. Lisa’s clients have an independent sounding board and expert advice so they have absolute confidence they WILL ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS. Lisa is Co-Founder and Director of FutureBuilders Group of organisational development specialists, and volunteers as Chair of the University of Cape Town Australia Trust. Her early career was with Accenture (South Africa) and McKinsey (USA).