I just finished a two-year project looking at Michael Porter’s most important insights for managers. Connecting the dots between his classic frameworks (the five forces, for example) and his latest thinking (the five tests of strategy) gave me a new understanding of the most common mistakes that can derail a company’s strategy. In a previous [...]
How to Solve It (1945) is a small volume by mathematician George Pólya describing methods of problem solving. Four principles How to Solve It suggests the following steps when solving a mathematical problem: First, you have to understand the problem. After understanding, then make a plan. Carry out the plan. Look back on your work. [...]
Early stage technology companies should only implement a master brand strategy. Let me explain. There is such a thing in the world called brand architecture. Brand architecture is just a fancy and quick way of saying “this is how we are going to name our company, products, and services so that customers can find what [...]
The focus of this section of the newsletter is on identifying and using practical cognitive strategies to help with common cognitive issues related to brain injury. The approach I will be taking is to model cognitive strategies that I have seen work with students over the years and then talk about how those strategies can [...]
New Marketing Strategy Develop strategies based on the dynamics of online search, content marketing (brand journalism) and social media. Create great content that helps answer your target audience’s questions and solve their problems. Publish content on the web and across social media channels. Promote content using search engine optimization, permission based e-marketing and social media. [...]
To understand how business strategists used military strategies, we can look at the innovations of Napoleon and apply them to business situations. Napoleon made four key innovations. They were increase his army’s marching rate, organize the army into self contained units, live off the country, and attack the opponent’s lines of supply. All four provide [...]
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. How a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: [...]