Insights
Read our latest articles
Our perspectives on strategy, organisation, change, operations and growth, and on the decisions that tie them together. Practical, short and written to be used.
When to bring in a consultant
External help is sometimes the right choice and sometimes an expensive detour. Honest guidance on when to use a consultant, when to do the work yourself and how to get value.
Read the articleTreat your strategy as a set of bets
A strategy is not a forecast. It is a small number of bets about where the business can win. Seeing it that way makes it easier to choose, easier to follow up and easier to change.
Read the articleOne region, three cultures
Norway, Sweden and Denmark share a great deal, and the differences still matter. Practical points for working or expanding across Scandinavia.
Read the articleIs the change working?
Final results arrive late. Leading indicators, a few simple measures and careful listening tell you much sooner whether a change is taking hold.
Read the articleFix one process this week
Big improvement programmes often promise a lot and change little. Fixing one annoying process properly, this week, usually does more. Here is a simple way to do it.
Read the articleThe first 90 days of a change
The opening three months of a change programme shape everything that follows. Here is what to focus on, month by month, and what to leave for later.
Read the articleHow to run a pre-mortem
Imagine your project has already failed and ask the team to explain why. A practical guide to running a pre-mortem in a 60 to 90 minute workshop.
Read the articleHire for ownership
The people who move a business forward are the ones who act like owners. Here is what that looks like, how to find those people, and how to keep them acting that way as you grow.
Read the articleCutting costs without cutting what matters
Across-the-board cuts are quick to announce and slow to recover from. A more careful approach protects the capabilities that create value and removes cost where it does the least harm.
Read the articleStrategy on one page
If your strategy cannot fit on a single page, most people in the organisation will never use it. Here is what to include, what to leave out, and how to put the page to work.
Read the articleDugnad at work
The Norwegian tradition of dugnad, where neighbours turn up to do shared work together, holds useful lessons for leaders trying to bring about change in their organisations.
Read the articleThe smallest test that could change your mind
Before you invest in a new product, market or service, find the cheapest test that could prove you wrong. Here is how founders do it, and how established businesses can too.
Read the articleFive questions before a reorganisation
A reorganisation is expensive, disruptive and hard to undo. Before redrawing the chart, leaders should be able to answer five plain questions about purpose, cause, cost and follow-through.
Read the articleWhy decisions get stuck
Most stalled decisions are held up by ordinary things, such as unclear ownership, too many sign-offs or missing information. Here is how to get them moving.
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