Don Graumann's Blog, page 15

The Copyright is official. “StrategicPause: Stop. Think. Lead.”...

The Copyright is official. “StrategicPause: Stop. Think. Lead.” is in the Library of Congress!

Grab your copy here.

Schedule Happy

What activity genuinely makes you happy every time you do it? Do you do it enough? Are you explicitly setting aside time for that activity?

Success slows Efficiency and Innovation

When business is good, long-term strategy suffers. The urgency to drive efficiency and innovation to stay ahead is absent. Force a periodic Strategic Pause and pretend you need to respond to a threat or opportunity.

Save your “Good Press”

What’s the best compliment you’ve gotten in the last 3 mos? Save your “good press” as encouragement for when you are down.

Do you share your “Why”?

What is your personal brand? Is it implicit or explicit? Do you share your “why” with your team and those who should know?

Too Many Priorities = Too Much of a Good Thing

Having too many top priorities is as bad as having none. In both cases, little strategic progress will be made.

Is it also a priority for them?

Do you recognize when your top priority is not necessarily someone else’s top priority? If you do not take it into consideration, you will see relationships decline.

More Effective or Efficient?

If you can do better, do you need to be more effective (focusing on the right things) or efficient (doing things right)?

Responding to Your Point of Diminishing Returns

Do you know when you hit your personal point of diminishing returns? When you hit it, do you power through or shift work to a more productive time?

Emulate the How, not the What

Who are your role models? Do you admire them for WHAT they achieved or HOW they achieved it? You’ll get more value from emulating the how than the what. The how is the behavior.