Leading from the future

Have you had a flash of insight that fundamentally shifted how you saw the future? I’ve seen this happen in group dynamics, but only when there is an unusually high level of trust and comfort in the room. Now there’s an emerging field of research and practice that can help us set the scene for this kind of breakthrough.

Innovation expert C. Otto Scharmer draws on the experience of skillful facilitators in global corporate and nonprofit settings to discern the elements that make these collective “ah-ha’s” possible. His Theory U presents these elements in a coherent process that guides participants beyond habitual patterns of listening and thinking. Continue reading

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Real-time strategic planning

One of the most exciting things I’m doing these days is facilitate “real-time” strategic planning using a dynamic new model developed by David LaPiana.

We’ve all participated in traditional strategic planning – with 30,000-foot environmental scans and SWOT analyses – and then watched the overly ambitious and abstract results gather dust on a shelf.  Continue reading

Posted in Strategic Thinking & Planning | 9 Comments