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James Murphy Articles

Guest post by: James Murphy

X-Gap: Using Strategic Planning to Close the Project Execution - Click To Read Article
Teams and organizations are constantly plagued by project execution errors and failures. These failures create an execution gap - a gap between what an individual and/or team plans to do and what they actually do instead; however, there are strategic planning techniques that a team can utilize to improve project execution. One of these techniques is the Execution Gap Meeting, or X-Gap.

Collaborative Leadership: A Process for Success in a Turbulent World - Click To Read Article
Do you know how to provide collaborative leadership in a disciplined fashion? And how does one define disciplined collaboration? Collaboration - and successful collaborative leadership - does not derive from "where" or through "which" media people interact. Instead, it is about "how" people interact. And that "how" must be disciplined.

Simplicity and Elegance: Expressing Your Core Competencies - Click To Read Article
Core competencies are one or a combination of a few unique or rare abilities; however, a description of core competencies is not simply a laundry list of various organizational attributes. Naming your core competencies can be very difficult because we, as business leaders or managers, often mistake our daily tasks as our organizational imperative.

Organizational Gravity: Three Steps to Foster Continuous Improvement, Defy Obsolescence and Take Flight - Click To Read Article
Organizational gravity keeps an organization grounded and focused, contributing to a passion for continuous improvement at a tactical level. However, these improvements seem to arrive at the expense of innovation and adaptability. So what steps can an organization take to defy organizational gravity?

Executive Coaching and Debriefing for Corporate Leadership Development Programs - Click To Read Article
In today's management environment, new forms of corporate leadership development programs have emerged. One of the most popular development tools is executive coaching, as corporate leadership development programs frequently utilize these services. However, the fundamentals of executive coaching have actually been around for many years in the form of debriefing.

The Red Team: A Simple But Effective Method to Improve Mission Planning - Click To Read Article
In mission planning, the practice of utilizing a Red Team is necessary. A Red Team is a simple means to overcome the overconfidence bias and the theory of "groupthink," the need for groups to seek conformity and unanimity in planning and decision making. Tactical planning processes must be subjected to a Red Team to minimize errors and to foresee future problems.

Thirteen Elements of Effective Planning - Click To Read Article
In our companies and organizations, effective planning is a social activity. Deciding on a strategic planning process as a group, rather than as an individual, adds even greater complexity to an already complex task. Collaborative and effective planning techniques require a combination of 13 essential elements to be successful.

Effects-Based Thinking Part III - Click To Read Article
In Part I of this series, the concept that everything exists within a system from the perspective of complexity was introduced. In Part II, a three-tiered framework of effects-based thinking (EBT) and planning critical to understanding change in organizations, markets and communities was discussed. In this final installment, discover how effects are planned within complex systems and how adaptive leadership propels those effects.

Effects-Based Thinking: Part II - Click To Read Article
In 'Effects-Based Thinking - Part I', the definition of effects-based thinking, or EBT, was established as an approach to strategic planning, which contributes to long-lasting organizational impacts. Expanding on this concept, we can view the differences between strategic planning with EBT and simply tracking progress with metrics. With EBT, we're able to construct, align and adapt our measurements to ensure success within the organization.

Strategic Planning and Effects-Based Thinking: Part 1 - Click To Read Article
In strategic planning and decision making, effects-based thinking (EBT) is a vital tactic to assess the effects of specific actions, not in a narrowly defined and time-limited way, but through a perspective that is sensitive to broad-ranging and lasting impacts. In our fast-paced personal and work lives, we tend to think more about today's issues rather than tomorrow's - but effects-based thinking is the opposite of short-sightedness.

Complexity: The Execution Challenge You Don't See - Click To Read Article
Complexity lies in every aspect of strategic planning and it is a concept that needs to be clearly understood in order to anticipate and overcome execution challenges. We live in a highly complex world and - for the most part - we cannot comprehend the intricate concepts needed for strategic planning. With outside management consulting, companies often see that it is easier to understand the complex architecture of cause and effect.

The Benefit of Safety Debriefing - Developing a Culture of Learning through Lessons Learned - Click To Read Article
Safety debriefing skills learned from a qualified consulting firm is a necessity in today's rapidly changing business environment. The forces of rapid global change can render limited professional skill sets obsolete almost overnight, and continuous learning about business processes can give professionals invaluable 'lessons learned', helping to prevent succumbing to obsolescence or irrelevance.

Project Execution through Successful Leadership: How to Lead Like a Fighter Pilot - Click To Read Article
Successful leadership is a concept measured by benchmarked success and project execution, and is also indicated by one's actions and influence upon others. While innate values and personal characteristics lend themselves heavily toward the development of a leader, these traits do not primarily form the core of a true leader. Leadership is defined by a combination of values, thoughts, and the ability to inspire others to emulate your actions.

Recruiting America's Military Elite to Lead Your Organization - Click To Read Article
The value that transitioning military leaders bring to civilian organizations is quickly becoming a highly sought after asset. Unlike their business contemporaries, America's military elite have already headed up a team comprised of their fellow soldiers, for whom they are directly responsible. Discover how recruiting former military leaders can inject your organization with incredible knowledge and skills.

Checklists - Building Teams in Complex Environments - Click To Read Article
Regardless of the industry in which you work, checklists save lives, money, and time. Despite having numbers of technological tools at our disposal, humans are still prone to needless error. These situations - whether simple or complex - can be avoided with a concise, yet comprehensive operations checklist. Not only can it boost performance, but it can also be an effective team building strategy.

More Than a To-Do List: Build Teamwork, Improve Execution with a Project Checklist - Click To Read Article
A project checklist has been shown to improve execution in many industries, namely the medical field and the world of military aviation. The Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief cycle introduced by a checklist encourages collaborative, effective team building initiatives, which are critically important to executing maneuvers properly both in business and in combat.

Flawless Execution: Bridging the Continuous Improvement Gap - Click To Read Article
Lean and Six Sigma, while effective business tools, possess certain gaps that lead to reductions in ROI; Flawless Execution, a simple, scalable continuous improvement process taught to fighter pilots in the world of military aviation, bridges the gaps found between the two, while encouraging development and promoting leadership and team building strategies to get the job done right.

Execution Rhythm Encourages Effective Business Communication - Click To Read Article
With so many new gadgets to divert attention and collaboration, a breakdown in effective business communication is bound to happen. But, with the proper preparation, a team can combat these challenges with the "Execution Rhythm" methodology, a powerful solution that fills the gaps that often prevent the completion of tasks in a business environment. Discover how using new tools can actually help team members close their Execution Gaps.

Execute Rhythm in Six Steps with an Easy-to-Implement Strategic Planning Process - Click To Read Article
In just six steps, you can take your organization from having a loose project timeline to a performance driven framework known as Flawless Execution. Without a disciplined, strategic planning process, tasks are liable to go unfinished and teams are apt to get off track. Reaching the finish line and closing the execution gap comes from a rigorous, yet structured method of Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief.

The Value of Military Leadership Experience in Turbulent Business Environments - Click To Read Article
Surviving and prospering in a troubled economy requires a certain kind of leadership. Since the tactics required in both business and combat are fundamentally similar, business success and military leadership experience are often linked. See what the latest research says about how military officers can improve companies operating in turbulent business environments.





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