by Phil Jones | Updated 20 Jun, 2018 | Strategy, Thought provokers
I frequently see postings and hear statements where people suggest that strategy is about being different. Strategy is about differentiation. Saying strategy needs to be different is a myth. It is only a competitive strategy in a market to create distinct profits...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Avoiding communication mistakes, Strategy communication, Thought provokers
Whilst researching my next book, I was discussing with a Chief Executive how he communicated the culture his organisation. He explained that they published the revenue, margin and profit from every deal on the wall. Everyone knew what the overheads were so that they...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Organisations are Social systems, Thought provokers
If you have any doubts about using social media in communications and customer interaction, then read this article. The Dell Social media Command centre picture should be enough alone to convince you that social media is vital in the presentation of your organisation...
by Phil Jones | Updated 26 Oct, 2017 | Thought provokers
Being a manager rarely gets the credit it deserves. Flicking through Gary Hamel’s blog on Management 2.0 for Wall Street Journal, I came across this excellent quote “Our capacity to improve the state of the world is ultimately bounded by our capacity to...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Communicating & Socialising Strategy, Socialising strategy, Strategy communication, Thought provokers
This is a shocking statistic. Some research was conducted into why many strategies seem well conceived, but poorly executed. It concluded that whilst many organizations have some success with their strategy, almost nine out of ten organizations fail to fully implement...
by Phil Jones | Updated 4 Jan, 2018 | Socialising strategy, Strategy as a learning process, Thought provokers
There was a question on a LinkedIn forum recently – “What is a good strategy?” Many have taken that to mean, “What is a good business strategy?” – but I want to widen this, to be a behavioural view of strategy… A view of...
by Phil Jones | Updated 4 Jan, 2018 | Communicating & Socialising Strategy, Strategy communication, Thought provokers
Do you ask your staff to boil down a message? Just give me the one page version” they say. The danger is you can boil down the ocean until there is nothing left but the salt, the sea salt. And you cannot swim in sea salt. Let me explain. I was chatting to a...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Strategy communication, Thought provokers
All plans should be burnt…. …and the Chief Executive did just that – in front of his 50 senior managers. Recently the Managing Director of a client organisation was presenting their strategy to the senior managers. He started by openly admitted that...
by Phil Jones | Updated 18 Oct, 2017 | Culture of performance, Thought provokers, World of Public Sector & NFP
The other week I was talking with a consultant who works in a large-ish consultancy. He had only been working in the Public sector for two years and said he was surprised by what he found. His description astounded me. He said, “Public sector managers and staff...