Strategic Discipline Blog

Consider the situation facing George Washington, as supreme military commander of our nation’s revolutionary troops just prior to Christmas 1876.  

Read More

Topics: Annual Plan, leading and lagging indicators, Stockdale Paradox

Can you remember the anticipation of Christmas Eve when you were a child, or perhaps the joy and satisfaction of going to bed on Christmas night filled with contentment over all the gifts you received that day?  I count myself fortunate to have lived in a middle class family where Christmas evening brought us just about everything we wished for each December 24^th.   It was hard falling asleep both Christmas Eve and then Christmas night in anticipation of what was to come and in complete joy in having received everything you expected.  My mother and father were extremely good to us, both in listening to what we wanted and then making sure we received it.

Read More

Topics: Discipline, Good to Great, Acute Myeloid Luekemia, leukemia

In Top Ten Elements to Drive Business Growth - 4-3-2-1 Formula we looked at the elements that Gazelles and Positioning Systems focus on to drive growth in small to mid-sized businesses.  These are fundamentals that Jim Collins discovered in his groundbreaking book Good to Great and have been further confirmed by studies at Harvard Business Review.

Read More

Topics: Strategic Discipline, Coach Advisor, Catalyst, Culture of Discipline, Consultant

From the outbreak of the Civil War until July 1863 General Robert E Lee, commander of the rebel Confederate forces was able to repulse, evade, and defeat a much superior size and equipped army of the Potomac.  He relied on precise, accurate information about the movement of his adversary as provided for him by his cavalry commander Jeb Stuart.  This flamboyant, attention seeking, audacious, Major General provided reliable information that allowed Lee to at one point to divide his inferior forces and capture an important victory at the battle of Chancellorsville.  That confidence building victory propelled Lee to invade the North in June of 1863 bent on dealing the Union a crippling blow that would capture Washington DC and bring Great Britain to the Confederate forces aid. 

Read More

Topics: Strategic Discipline, leading indicators, leading and lagging indicators, Four Disciplines of Execution, Execution

In Top Ten Elements to Drive Business Growth - 4-3-2-1 Formula we provided Four Decisions, Three Disciplines, Two Drivers and One Catalyst as the keys to grow your small to mid-sized business.  The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling suggests there are Four Disciplines and supports this with examples and evidence of companies who have achieved success following these four disciplines. 

Read More

Topics: Discipline, Strategic Discipline, Four Disciplines of Execution, Execution, 4 Disciplines of Execution, top priorities, Wildly Important Goals

Most businesses have some solid metrics in place to monitor their Process/Productivity Drivers.  Productivity/Process Drivers include Make/Buy, Sell, and Recordkeeping. This blog will focus on Process/Productivity Drivers and the need to set Critical Numbers to balance this driver against your People/Relationship Drivers in your business.

Read More

Topics: Process/Productivity Drivers, People/Relationship Drivers, key performance indicators, Critical Numbers

Priorities are essential to create alignment and initiate growth for your business.  You need to establish One Thing as the most important priority for the quarter and the year.  However you must realize that in doing this step you need to also create a balancing critical number.  Otherwise your business will get out of proportion.  “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy” is a good quote to remember.  All focus on productivity and no focus on relationships (or vice versa) can make your business operate as if rolling on 4 flat tires.  Despite achieving success in one area the business fails to achieve significant progress.

Read More

Topics: One Thing, Process/Productivity Drivers, People/Relationship Drivers, priorities, Metric Balance, Critical Numbers

Read More

Topics: 4-3-2-1 formula for business growth, Annual Plan, Four Decisions, best practices of growth companies, Rockefeller Habits Checklist, rockefeller habits 4-3-2-1 growth formula

What’s it cost your company in terms of hard costs when you hire the wrong person?

Read More

Topics: People Decisions, Jim Collins, hiring decisions, Cost of Mis-hire

I’ve always been a believer in being thankful, however the process of meditation, reading and learning from Dr. Joe Dispenza’s book “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” has dramatically changed my belief to an absolute.  Dispenza believes there are elevated emotions and survival emotions.  As we get to middle age we are even more susceptible to survival emotions which is why many resort to addictive tendencies.  Fortunately if we gravitate to the higher “elevated” emotions we can break our bad habits and become who we truly are and desire to be.

Read More

Topics: Strategic Discipline, Elevated Emotions, Gratitude and Recognition