by Stuart Cross | May 17, 2018 | Business Rocks, Simplicity, Speed and Pace, Strategy
This week’s focus: One of my key messages to my clients is the need to focus on their big priorities. Too many organisations get bogged down in vain attempts to move a million ‘strategic’ projects forward, rather than concentrating on the handful of initiatives...
by Stuart Cross | May 15, 2018 | Innovation, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Speed and Pace
Managers value predictability; it gives them a sense of control over external events. In my experience, results that do not match initial expectations are not normally welcomed, and actions are quickly put in place to restore performance to expected levels. Even...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 18, 2018 | Innovation, Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
In my experience, 70% or more of the attention of most senior executives is devoted to problem-solving, and up to 40-50% of it is on ‘fire-fighting’, resolving big, urgent issues as they arise. If you wish to gain a stronger position in your market, however, you...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 4, 2018 | Leadership, Performance Improvement, Speed and Pace
In recent weeks I’ve come across several examples where leadership teams have been struggling to get important new projects off the ground. In one instance, a three-month gap had emerged between agreeing the need for a particular set of projects and any work...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 21, 2018 | Leadership, Simplicity, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Every organisation I’ve ever known or worked with has had a myriad of goals, objectives and targets. The trouble with too many competing objectives, however, is that it results in unnecessary confusion and complexitWhen I work with my clients we determine their #1...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 1, 2018 | Leadership, Simplicity, Speed and Pace, Strategy
It takes a photon of light a little over 8 minutes to reach the earth after it leaves the sun’s surface. In the vacuum of space, the photon literally travels at the speed of light over the 150 million km journey. But doesn’t light always travel at that velocity? Well,...
by Stuart Cross | Jan 18, 2018 | Growth, Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Towards the end of last year, I was talking to the CEO of a large UK retailer who was bemoaning the lack of progress in delivering his company’s strategic agenda. Earlier in the year, he and his executive team had spent several days developing a clear new growth...
by Stuart Cross | Jan 4, 2018 | Innovation, Leadership, Performance Improvement, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Whatever your views about the ongoing Brexit discussions, there can be little argument that the situation is creating uncertainty for UK businesses and their leaders. A slow-down of economic growth, falling house prices and sales, a devaluing currency and rising...
by Stuart Cross | Nov 28, 2017 | Innovation, Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Embed from Getty Images The news that Prince Harry is to marry his long-term girlfriend, Meghan Markle, seems to have created a positive public reaction across the UK and beyond. Back in the 1930s, the idea that a member of the royal family was planning to marry an...
by Stuart Cross | Nov 14, 2017 | Growth, Innovation, Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy, Stuart's World
Last week I ran one of my periodic “Big Breakfast” meetings in London. The topic was “How Failure Can Accelerate Growth”. A dozen business leaders attended, from companies with revenues ranging from around £5 million to £50 billion, and Tim Wright, the CEO of NPW...
by Stuart Cross | Sep 28, 2017 | Speed and Pace, Strategy
High-level strategy is as useful to most workers in an organization as a high-flying airliner is to people in a bus queue. The bus passengers may briefly look up and notice the plane and its vapor trail, but, even if it is traveling in the same direction, it cannot...
by Stuart Cross | Sep 18, 2017 | Growth, Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
I have recently launched a new offering for my clients, The Strategy Powerhouse. The service was built on my realisation that most strategy efforts don’t lead to change and don’t lead to higher performance. They simply rearrange the company’s metaphorical deckchairs...
by Stuart Cross | Sep 11, 2017 | Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Meanwhile, a much smaller client, with revenues no greater than £50 million has made great strides with its priority initiatives. The team has implemented new IT systems, significantly grown its on-line sales channel and invested in new product launches. As a result,...
by Stuart Cross | Aug 15, 2017 | Growth, Innovation, Performance Improvement, Speed and Pace
When it comes to accelerating your business’s growth, pace is not about being reckless or taking unnecessary risks. There is a clear difference between pace and haste. If you try to reach top speed immediately, without going through the gears, you will simply stall....
by Stuart Cross | Aug 8, 2017 | Leadership, Performance Improvement, Speed and Pace
There is a Japanese saying that translates as ‘you can’t chase two hares’. If a top-class hunting dog chases after a hare it has a 10% chance of catching it. But if the dog hedges its bets and tries to chase two at once, its success rate is reduced to nil. The dog...
by Stuart Cross | Jul 17, 2017 | Growth, Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Dylan, my oldest son, has been noodling with the guitar for a couple of years now. He can now play a few songs and a couple of licks. When I ask him if he wants to improve, he tells me that it’s on his list of things to do. However, that list is long and it he usually...
by Stuart Cross | Jul 13, 2017 | Innovation, Leadership, Nothing Fails Like Success, Speed and Pace, Strategy
There was a time, not that long ago when companies didn’t necessarily have an innovation-related objective on their strategic agenda. Instead, they would, for example, be focused on reducing costs, expanding geographically or creating operational excellence. It wasn’t...
by Stuart Cross | Jul 10, 2017 | Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
The creation and delivery of a business strategy is a Sisyphean act; it is never-ending. It is developed in formal meetings and corridor conversations and is delivered through major change projects as well as the daily conversations between your customers and...
by Stuart Cross | Jun 29, 2017 | Leadership, Speed and Pace, Strategy
This is the fifth in a series of articles that builds on my strategy manifesto that I posted a couple of weeks ago. As a consultant myself I know that, done well, working with external consultants can add real value to the development and delivery of your business...
by Stuart Cross | Jun 15, 2017 | Growth, Leadership, Nothing Fails Like Success, Speed and Pace, Strategy
Many companies struggle and fail, not because they are bad at what they do, but because they are great at what they do. Look at Kodak, for example. Its decline didn’t result from the company being poor at film processing. On the contrary, the company’s success has...
