Chris was a good engineer. He was one of a dozen engineers on his team to answer service calls. Methodical and thorough, Chris was well respected by his team members. Still, he was not the star type. Quiet, a little shy, never seeking center stage, Chris’s focus was on the task at hand. One day his team took ownership of a new service contract. JD...
Read More
Breakdowns herald breakthroughs. Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs. What was is no more. Companies that were strong and stable are faltering and failing. Political, economic and social structures are collapsing. Every day brings new headlines. You wake up to find out that the world has changed. In the darkness you begin to see the stars. These are signs of transition; of big systemic transformation, an epoch...
Read More
Kaleidoscoping is a pattern recognition exercise. You seek to decipher the meta-process at play. You endeavor to discover the archetypal nature of what’s moving through the systems you are observing. Here is a kaleidoscoping exercise (written originally during October 2008). The process zooms into one field and looks to identify a pattern and recognize its potential in other fields. What is the significance of the...
Read More
Here are some of the ways belief continues to evolve through the ages: Ancient world: “I believe what I do not understand. I believe what frightens me.” Post ancient world: “I believe my belief will save me from what frightens me.” Modern world: “I believe only in what I see and touch.” Post modern world: “I believe in nothing.” New Age: “I believe in what...
Read More
Here are the four quadrants we often use in strategy and business development explorations. You can grow in these four ways: Stay within your core. Provide your core products, services and experiences to your current customers. Create new products, services and experiences for your current customers. Find new customers for your current products, services and experiences. Create new products, services and experiences for new customers....
Read More
Executives in their own words… Anurag Asthana Laurent Poujol Rahul Biswari © Aviv Shahar
Read More
This KEY is about two extraordinary encounters. It’s my way of encouraging you to spend quality time, have meaningful conversations and give thanks this Thanksgiving. Being raised in Israel, Thanksgiving was not part of my upbringing. We discovered and made this giving of thanks a family tradition when we came to the US. Whether you live in the US and celebrate Thanksgiving or not, you...
Read More
What is your greatest asset? Who holds the key to your organization’s future? It was a late Friday when the phone rang. I recognized the voice immediately. We had worked with Pete earlier in the year. Pete enjoyed our collaboration, it delivered exceptional results and helped his team coalesce and accelerate growth. He was a diligent and successful executive, known for getting things done and...
Read More
In a leadership summit we facilitated last week, a Chinese speaking bright strategist and a highly competent executive from Taiwan reminded us that in Chinese, the written character that speaks of danger and risk also contains the character of opportunity. We were all reminded by his observation that when life dishes out lemons you are there to make the best lemonade in town. Here is...
Read More
What Executives say about the experience and value of a Strategy Summit… Roger Bhalla Tom Mitchell Carol Hess-Nickels David Conrad Jonathan Kaye Melissa Bargainer Matt Wagner © Aviv Shahar
Read More
