by Stuart Cross | Jul 21, 2011 | Strategy, Top 10 Tips
Focus on a few, big priorities. Dave Packard, co-founder of computer giant Hewlett Packard once said, “More organisations die of indigestion than starvation.” In other words, business leaders try to do too much at once, lose focus and become irrelevant. For each...
by Stuart Cross | Jun 15, 2011 | Performance Improvement, Top 10 Tips
You don’t need me to tell you that today’s business world is unpredictable. We can quickly become overtaken by events outside our control. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t raise profits even when the economy is going south. Here are 10 ways to grow profits in...
by Stuart Cross | May 24, 2011 | Innovation, Top 10 Tips
I have previously written elsewhere about 5 innovation killers, but have been thinking further on this subject and have now identified 10 organisational and management factors that I believe prevent companies from reaching their innovation potential. Professional...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 27, 2011 | Strategy, Top 10 Tips
We’ve all been there. The annual strategy away day is a fixture for many management teams. And yet, all too often, they are sessions where there is more heat generated than light, and where real breakthroughs are thin on the ground. Based on my experience of leading...
by Stuart Cross | Apr 11, 2011 | Growth, Innovation, Top 10 Tips
New applications for existing technologies. Sir James Dyson’s bag-less vacuum cleaner technology was inspired by the way a local sawmill used a giant cyclone to lift and remove sawdust from the air. Combine disparate technologies. Apple’s iPod and iTunes, brought...
by Stuart Cross | Mar 14, 2011 | Leadership, Performance Improvement, Top 10 Tips
Ensure that you and your executive colleagues model the behaviors you want. Develop a culture of openness and trust. How often do your managers and executives seek direct feedback on their trickiest issues from their peers? Get closer – much closer – to your...
by Stuart Cross | Feb 3, 2011 | Leadership, Strategy, Top 10 Tips
Ensure the program leader has the right capabilities for the job. I know that this is obvious, but I have seen too many instances where the program leader is totally unsuited to the work demanded by leading a major strategy initiative. Irrespective of the technical...
