STRATEGY CENTRAL

Sometimes a book just arrives…it's a long story…and there's a little intrigue about the title…and the next thing you know you're reading it.  That's been the case with How Did That Happen by Roger Connors and Tom Smith.  I've been working through the book for about a week and it already is a book that I've read a line and just stopped, turned back a page, and thought, "I need to read that again.  This is good stuff."

The subtitle is "Holding People Accountable for Results the Positive, Principled Way."  Sound like it might be helpful?  Authors Connors and Smith have collaborated on two previous books,The Oz Principle and Journey to the Emerald City, both on the subject of accountability.

What I'm loving so far is the very practical building block approach.  I'm seeing that this book could be one that helps to reshape and make systematic the process of forming, communicating, aligning and inspecting expectations (the four stages of holding people accountable the positive, principled way).

I don't know about you, but for me this could turn out to be a pretty important read.  If you've ever gotten to the aftermath of a project and asked "How did that happen," maybe it's a book you'll find helpful too.  Want to read along?  You can order your copy right here.

Makes you think…doesn't it?  What could you do tonight and tomorrow to prepare for what you cannot predict?  According to productivity guru David Allen, "the best way to be ready for the unknown is to deal with that which is
very known—the current incomplete, loose ends of your life."  Which brings me to my own life…my own desk…my own inbox.

If you've never worked your way through Allen's Getting Things Done : The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, you may need to add that book to your must reads.  And if you want to prepare for what you cannot predict…you may need to implement what he teaches!

I know most of you have already discovered Tony Morgan.  Good stuff over there.  In case you haven't read his article on the advantages of doing ministry without a ministry strategy…you really need to take a look at it.  Right in line with so much of what we've talked about over here.

What's the number one advantage?  "You give the loudest person the opportunity to decide what happens at your church."  I know you can see where this is going…but you'll love it anyway!  Click here to take a look.

Picked up a new book off the stack last week.  The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times by Scott D. Anthony. You might recognize his name.  Some time back I wrote about his previous book, The Innovator's Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work.  Loved his previous book…this one's off to a great start as well.

Both books continue in the line of thinking developed by Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma.  No surprise, Anthony has coauthored with Christensen in the past and refers a number of times to his previous work.

One of the keys to innovation is to develop an awareness of advances in other fields.  If you study the work of innovators, from Thomas Edison to IDEO, you'll find that they are regularly plucking seemingly unrelated concepts or parts of what is happening outside their own field and then applying them in their own work.  When you listen carefully to Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, or Andy Stanley…you can't help but come to the same conclusion.

If you're looking for ideas from outside your field that might apply, these are two excellent books to start with. 

Without question, one of the best reads I've had in the last 10 years was Bill Taylor's Mavericks at Work.  Easily one of the most marked up books on my shelf.  This morning one of his blog posts caught my eye:
The 10 Questions Every Change Agent Must Answer

Are you a change agent?  I know…you may not have that title on a business card, but are you in the business of change?  It may be a wiring thing, but it's a rare day when I don't find myself face to face with the debris field where the ideas and strategies of yesterday have collided with the culture and values of tomorrow (or at least today).

One of the great lines from Taylor's article reads:

As Albert Einstein famously said, "Problems cannot be solved at the
same level of awareness that created them." Or, in the spirit of some
unknown Texas genius: "If all you ever do is all you've ever done, then
all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

1. Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see?  I know what you're thinking.  Get past the word "competition."  The key here is that to be a change agent requires thinking about possibility.
2. Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas?  The answers probably will be found in an arena that you're not in.  The game is changed when we're able to look outside our own field.
3. Are you the most of anything?  This can be true of every organization.  It's not about size.  It's about a customized future.
4. If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would miss you and why?  Enough said…this is a great question.  Worthy of an extended discussion.
5. Have you figured out how your organization's history can help to shape its future?  Another fascinating discussion.  Could it be that the best things from your past could serve to shape your future?
6. Can your customers live without you?  This may be why change is scary for many leaders.  I'd say there's no question that many of our organizations would eventually come around to say "yes."  And that might motivate some to change.
7. Do you treat different customers differently?  You've got to read Taylor's comment on this one.  Too good for me to give my take.  "One test of how committed a company is to its most
   important customers is how fearless it is about ignoring customers who
   aren't central to its mission. Not all customers are created equal."  Oh my.  That is why this is an important article.
8. Are you getting the best contributions from the most people?  Who is with you?  Are you tapping into the hidden potential of the crowd?  Or only the usual suspects?
9. Are you consistent in your commitment to change?  Again…oh my.  How many of our organizations could use this word?
10. Are you learning as fast as the world is changing?  Isn't it actually the case for many, many organizations that any learning has been over for a long time?  What about yours?

This is one of those articles that you'll want to bookmark or print off and look at again and again.  You can read it right here.

Does the way you ever talk about new ideas this way?

If you've never heard Jim Dethmer's classic talk, Community, Cause and Corporation…come on over to MarkHowellLive.com to check it out.  One of the best ever at a Willow Creek event.  Whether you're leading a church or running a non-profit, this is a talk that will give you a fresh way of seeing your organization.

No doubt you've already begun hearing bits and pieces of the debate inspired in part by Chris Anderson's soon-to-be-released
Free: The Future of a Radical Price.  Yesterday's blogosphere featured a couple interesting new takes.  Malcolm Gladwell took a contrarian view and Seth Godin weighed in affirming the position.  Interesting concept.  Interesting discussion. 

By the way, Tim Sanders tipped me off to the debate.  If you're not subscribed to his blog you can get what you need right here.

When is it time to take a look at the strategy that drives what you do?  Do you wait until it crashes?  Or do you take a look at it even when it seems to be firing on all cylinders?  Scott Anthony, author of The Innovator’s Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work, suggests that “it’s always at least worth considering whether it’s time to invert your strategy.”  In a recent Harvard Business Online article he gives a three question path for examining your current assumptions and a revised set that might drive future growth:

1. What is the critical assumption behind our current strategy?
2. What are distinct assumptions that, if true, would lead to a dramatically different approach to growth?
3. What are ways in which you can test the revised assumptions?

I love these questions!  Can you see how they might lead to a great discussion on your team?  Can you also see how it might pay to bring in a fresh pair of outside eyes?  In fact, Anthony goes on to write:

Need more.  Take a look at Ready To Go On An Assumption Hunt?

Everyone has a core message.  Sometimes it's a very faint bleating sound.  Other times it's like U2 belting out Pride (In the name of love).  But…everyone has a core message.  Mine, at least in part, is the reality of the Inside-Outside Disconnect.  I first had a name for it when I read John Kotter's A Sense of Urgency.  It is essentially the idea that those on the inside become so preoccupied with their own comforts and "necessities" that they forget about the needs and interests of those on the outside.  In fact, they have a harder and harder time even acknowledging that the interests are different.  It just never comes up.

So…my last post, on Developing and Maintaining an Outside-In Perspective, is just a new manifestation of my core message.  There…I've diagnosed myself.

What's your core message?