“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”– Albert Einstein When Steve Jobs, founder of a small company that produced (what was generously described as) a personal computer, announced his vision of a computer on every desk, IBM executives thought he was daft. He went on to build Apple Computer…
This is the fourth and last post in my series on values. Understanding values and their impact on our lives is particularly important to me. Like many people, I fell into my career. All my plans and dreams were pushed aside in favour of a paycheque and a company car. My seduction by a good…
Identifying Core Values Most strategic planning processes use the writing of the statement of core values as the process by which they are identified. Big mistake. Write the statement only after you’ve identified your true values. If you are focused on writing the statement you will be influenced by how your values sound to others…
“At this moment, America’s highest economic need is higher ethical standards — standards enforced by strict laws and upheld by responsible business leaders.” George W. Bush, July 9, 2002 When was the last time you saw a corporate statement of values without the word excellence in it? Companies big and small claim a devotion to…
“If you think of vision and mission as an organization’s head and heart, the values it holds are its soul.” V.R. Buzzotta Part One in a Series I started out writing an article on the importance of uncovering our true core values when developing a strategic plan. As I began explaining why values are important…
“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” Alvin Toffler The essence of strategic planning is taking the big picture and boiling it all the way down to what needs to be done today. If we don’t have a big…