Strategic Discipline Blog

As most of you may know a little over two years ago I was projected to be another statistic of cancer.  With very slim odds (less than 10% initially) through some miraculous events my Acute Myeloid Leukemia found its way into remission. I received a bone marrow transplant from a generous donor in September of 2012.  The road back hasn’t been easy. While my healing may be remarkable, in many ways this achievement may not be as difficult as what each of you face each and every day.  Rather than diminish what was accomplished, this is to elevate what you and every other person on the planet faces as you work to accomplish each day.  

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Topics: Discipline, Strategic Discipline, Switch, Discipline Plan, positive reinforcement, The Power of Full Engagement

If doing something once a day is good for business, does doing it twice double the impact? 

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Topics: Discipline, Strategic Discipline, Best Business Practices, Leadership Team, daily huddle

It’s ironic that as I started to write Select The Right People – Zappos “Are You Lucky? I was feeling good about my recovery from Acute Myeloid Leukemia and my Bone Marrow Transplant.  That Tuesday I decided to go to the University of Iowa Hospital/Clinic since my leg hurt since I slipped and fell into my snow blower the week before. 

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Topics: Acute Myeloid Luekemia, Strategic Discipline, priorities, routine sets you free, Bone Marrow Transplant, habits, routine, top priorities

Question:  Why do most businesses fail?

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Topics: Strategic Discipline, Decision-Making, One Thing, Annual Plan, Four Decisions, Rockefeller Habits Checklist, leadership commitment, Execution

What’s the number one function of a leader?  It’s the ability to predict. 

“The fundamental journey of a growing business is to create a predictable engine for generating wealth as it creates products and services that satisfy customer needs and creates an environment that attracts tip talent.” Verne Harnish, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits

Unless a company has the ability to determine where it is today and project where its’ going to be this week, this month, this quarter, and this year, it’s not on a trajectory for growth.  It might not even be on track for survival.  A favorite quote of mine is, "When you’re green you grow, when you’re rip you rot!"

Ultimately the reason for imposing structure and instituting systems is to achieve predictability.

This is why Strategic Discipline is such a critical piece to success.

Determine your priorities. Create and monitor metrics. Develop Meeting Rhythms to build a Cadence of Accountability. 

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Topics: Strategic Discipline, planning, Annual Plan, leadership, strategy, Leadership Team

Routine Sets You Free!  

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Topics: Acute Myeloid Luekemia, Business Growth, Strategic Discipline, Business Priorities, Business Vision, Businesss Disciplines, Bone Marrow Transplant

In these blogs we emphasize the importance of Four Decisions and Three Disciplines, the later a Positioning Systems foundation principle for  Strategic Discipline.

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Topics: Strategic Discipline, 4-3-2-1 formula for business growth, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, Four Decisions

According to the Power of Full Engagement two behaviors dramatically increase the likelihood of successfully locking in new rituals in the typical thirty to sixty day acquisition time period.  They call these behaviors Basic Training and they are very similar to the process we ask our Gazelles Clients to follow for developing Strategic Discipline.

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Topics: Strategic Discipline, employee performance, meeting rhythms, time management, The Power of Full Engagement

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Topics: Discipline, Good to Great, Business Growth, Strategic Discipline, Business Priorities, Business Dashboards, Jim Collins, Businesss Disciplines

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Topics: Discipline, Good to Great, Strategic Discipline, Culture of Discipline, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, Four Decisions