Optima and co

11/08/2014

Staying Cool When the Heat is On: 16 Practical Ways to Lead and Manage through Stress http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2108

“Lurching from one crisis to the next”. That’s how it is sometimes for leaders in stormy waters. “If only there were a dull moment”, one coaching client recently said. “I yearn for a dull moment”. Pressure and the resulting stress response is both… [ 2039 more words. ]

29/07/2014

Choosing Business Priorities: Trump, Welch, Gates and Buffett http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2094

A friend of mine who designs websites once characterised the typical client dilemma with a hint of sarcasm: “I want everything to be prominent. Everything has to stand out above everything else.” This is something we all experience. I often… [ 481 more words. ]

10/07/2014

Values Schmalues! Are Corporate Values Just More Bu****it? http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2090

What do you think of the Values below? Good? Great? Our Values Communication. We have an obligation to communicate. Here, we take the time to talk with one another… and to listen. We believe that information is meant to move and that information moves… [ 657 more words. ]

01/07/2014

Sizzling Strategy Questions http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2077

No matter how big the business, there are some questions that are always relevant and, if answered with insight, honesty and creativity, will give you armfuls of value. Here are some useful strategy questions I use with groups and individuals: [list… [ 825 more words. ]

25/06/2014

9 ways to make time for Strategy http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2066

With the best of intentions, strategy is often neglected. One of the Catch-22 problems of growing a business is that the more successful you are, the more operationally demanding the business becomes. The more operationally demanding, the less time to… [ 788 more words. ]

18/06/2014

Facilitating Conflict in Boards and Teams – 25 Things to Remember http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2060

You get a call. Ostensibly, the request is couched as an innocuous “team-building day” for a senior team. But scratch beneath the surface, there is often unhelpful conflict that one or more of the group wants to work on and which has motivated them to… [ 847 more words. ]

10/06/2014

Chairing Skills: The Socratic Method http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=2016

The Chair is the Chief Facilitator of the Board. Having an orderly process for dialogue makes meetings so much more satisfying. When I train or coach Chairs, one of the tools they love is the Socratic Method of enquiry. Two and a half thousand years… [ 392 more words. ]

04/06/2014

Winning the tender process http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=1991

After the brain-ache of creating a tender that gets shortlisted, you are invited to present/interview. A frisson of excitement is followed by a fairly large black cloud as you think of the amount of work required to prepare. Yet my guess is that most… [ 677 more words. ]

09/05/2014

21st Century Meetings: get more from your collaborative planning sessions http://www.optimaandco.com/?p=1974

Most planning meetings take place in the dark ages. Here’s what happens. A group has a profound, creative conversation. They then capture it with a large piece of flip chart paper and very thick pen. The recorder pares down the thoughts into cryptic… [ 1108 more words. ]

02/04/2014

New Blog: reading time 55 seconds
http://www.optimaandco.com/7-questions-future/

1. DEMAND 2. CUSTOMERS 3. REQUIREMENTS 4. MARKET TRENDS 5. SUPPLIERS 6. PROCESS/TECHNOLOGY 7. CHANGE

02/04/2014

Thank you Colin Wilkinson, Sally Jackson and Leigh Ashton for saying my previous photo looked scary whilst I am smiley! Better?

18/03/2014

New blog posting. Reading time: 90 seconds.

7 questions for any business or team to help ensure you are sharing a strategy map.