“As long as there is a global marketplace and exploding technological progress, the need for formalized and ongoing organization alignment efforts will continue.” Mastering the Cube, Chapter 8 Like the foundation of a house, the structure of your organization is the cornerstone on which every function is based. Does a solid,
Every organizational alignment leader needs at least one good change partner. This is a person who can help the alignment leader stay on track through the difficult process of planning and initiating organizational change. Here are four primary traits to look for when choosing a change partner for your organization.
Visit any business news site and you’ll find at least one article talking about “disruptors.” Uber has disrupted the urban transportation business. Airbnb has disrupted the hotel business. Amazon has disrupted the entire retail industry. Any analyst will be happy to offer you his or her take on “the it
How do the people in your organization approach major decisions? Do they rely on gut instinct? Do they ask superiors, coworkers, or customers? Or do they turn to analytics for insights that can help them make the best choice based on real-world outcomes? Many organizations spend millions of dollars collecting,
Building on our recent post about the costs of a misaligned culture and what to do about it, today I want to go deeper and talk about the vital link between strategy, culture, and actions. Even if a culture fully aligns with an organization’s strategy, individual choices can weaken that
What do Starbucks, Zappos, Southwest Airlines, Dropbox, and Twitter all have in common? Each has a distinct corporate culture that infuses everything it does, from marketing to hiring practices to strategic decision making. If you’re familiar with the system we present in our book Mastering the Cube, you’ll recall that
In a world of fast-paced market changes, increasing automation, and rising digital transformation, it feels like small start-ups have increasing power to disrupt markets and perhaps even compete with much bigger companies because of their focus, nimbleness, and lack of legacy systems and capabilities. But, is that really true? Has
Effective strategy implementation is imperative for long-term success. Think of your company as a river. Executives stand at the mouth of the river, and there the water rushes with great strength and purpose, but as the river rolls cross-country the force and power dissipates – branches and tributaries form. Even
Many businesses look to shared services to optimize their performance and help them meet the bottom line. When properly designed and implemented, shared services can increase efficiency, cut costs, maximize synergies, improve performance, and/or enhance your services and capabilities. With so much to be gained, it is worth making sure
The medical definition of strategy is, roughly, change that contributes to successful evolution. Think about this in terms of your business. Isn’t that the end goal – successful evolution? What’s notable here is that nature evolves through a series of trials and errors, and the organisms that adapt in more successful