StrategyDriven

StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve better results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag posts on the StrategyDriven website.

Episode 17 - The Use of Models elaborates on Strategic Analysis Best Practice 5 - The Use of Models. This discussion…

• elaborates on why models should be used during a strategic analysis
• identifies the specific benefits and risks of using models
• describes what to do if a situation arises where an appropriate model is not available to support an evaluation

Final Request…

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Howard T. Dickens Jr. is Vice President of P Enterprises and co-Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. A dynamic public speaker, facilitator, and training consultant, he has shared his insights with hundreds of executives and managers at all organizational levels; helping them develop motivational leadership behaviors, cultural competence, and the ability to manage workplace conflict. To read Howard’s complete biography, click here.

Nathan A. Ives is a Strategy & Operations Manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, a StrategyDriven contributor, and co-Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over fifteen years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at numerous Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Popularity: 99% [?]

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Solutions addressing today’s multifaceted business challenges and opportunities can be extremely difficult to recognize; the ever increasing pace of change within the business environment further complicating this problem. In order to successfully deal with this challenge, decision-makers need the support of people and tools to help them distill large quantities of data, recognize important business trends, discount temporary fads, and translate their findings into meaningful organizational activities. Because no one analysis perspective will adequately account for all of the important nuances associated with a complex problem, multidiscipline teams and diverse tools should be employed to establish a complete picture organizational performance and environmental conditions. Use of a diverse set of models during the strategic analysis process helps create this needed picture.*

As discussed in Strategic Analysis Best Practice 5 - The Use of Models, organizational leaders benefit significantly by using models to help them sift through the mountains of available data and to recognize the meaningful patterns and relationships that yield the information needed to make timely decisions. Yet as is the case with all measuring instruments, an individual model can only evaluate one or a few characteristics of organizational performance or environmental conditions. Therefore, multiple models, each targeted at a different aspect of performance, should be used to paint a complete performance picture from which decision-makers gain the insight and understanding needed to make quality decisions.

Final Thought…

Use of diverse models to analyze organizational performance and environmental conditions is akin to using an assortment of organizational performance measures and multidiscipline teams. This practice provides varying perspectives on the same situation, leveraging a broader data, knowledge, and experience base, and subsequently more fully characterizing existing circumstances and future opportunities which in-turn helps decision-makers identify the appropriate course of action.

* The use of a multidiscipline team in support of analysis processes is described in Strategic Analysis Best Practice 6 - Multidiscipline Teams.

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Nathan A. Ives is a Strategy & Operations Manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, a StrategyDriven contributor, and co-Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over fifteen years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at numerous Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Popularity: 74% [?]

Clarity of communication is a critical component of all business transactions. Without understanding, we are prone to execute instructions in a manner different than that desired. So how then, can we as communicators ensure our message is clear and understood by those receiving it?

For communications to be clear, they must possess several key qualities, one of which is common language. Common language is more than a specific language; it also includes a common frame of reference. People from different locations often use words and phrases the meaning of which is not broadly understood. And even among individuals sharing a like understanding of this slang, an off-normal word association can inhibit understanding.

One of the best illustrations of two people speaking one language, English, but not understanding each other because of a lack of common reference is Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” routine first performed in the early 1930’s.

Video 1: Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” from the 1945 film The Naughty Nineties.

Recognizing Common Language Challenges

Preventing communication misunderstandings will eliminate the often costly need for rework and renegotiation in addition to the damage done to relationships. Several activities that help identify when a common language challenge is likely to exist:

• Identifying the language and fluency level of audience members
• Learning the regional living differences of audience members
• Listening for requests for clarification or restatement
• Looking for the appearance of inquisitive or confused facial expressions
• Checking for alignment between audience member responses and information communicated

Minimizing Common Language Challenges

In addition to recognizing common language challenges, communicators can proactively minimize the occurrence of these misunderstandings by:

• Communicating in the language of the audience or employ an interpreter to do so
• Eliminating the use of colloquialisms from communications
• Checking for understanding of key messages and action requests
• Using visuals to augment verbal communications, particularly for complex or abstract concepts

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Karen K. Juliano is StrategyDriven ’s Editor-in-Chief and Director of Communications and Marketing. Prior to joining the StrategyDriven team, she helped produce weekly programming for a Public Access Television station and served as a production assistant in the public affairs office at United States Naval Base, Philadelphia. To read Karen’s complete biography, click here.

Popularity: 63% [?]

The StrategyDriven family would like to thank our listeners for helping us achieve the third place ranking from among the over 2000 business podcasts listed on Podcast Alley in April!

Each week, co-hosts Nathan Ives and Howard Dickens present a richer and deeper exploration of the principle, best practice, and warning flag posts found on the StrategyDriven website. Their discussions identify benefits, define implementation methods, and provide examples to help leaders increase alignment and heighten accountability within their organizations.

The strength of our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. With your support, our community of listeners and readers has grown tremendously in the past several months. Please help us continue to grow by recommending the StrategyDriven Podcast to family, friends, and colleagues who you believe will benefit from listening.

Additionally, please consider voting for us monthly on Podcast Alley by clicking here. Casting your vote for the StrategyDriven Podcast improves our monthly ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, grows our community.

Thank you again for listening to and voting for the StrategyDriven Podcast !

Popularity: 68% [?]