Strategies (th)at Work

Strategies
(th)at Work

75 essays by Giles Hopkins on leadership, teams, learning and business strategy, written 2013–2019.

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Learning

  1. Twelve Days of Budget Cuts and a Crow in a Dead Elm Tree (Partridges and Pears Were Too Expensive)

  2. Three Secrets to Thriving in an Organizational Matrix

  3. Prepare for Perpetual Technology Upgrade Mode: Lifetime Learning With an Attitude

  4. Evil Geniuses Win $6.6 Million Playing Video Games: eSports May Be Good for You

  5. The Power of Persistently Pointless Processes: Have You Balanced Your Checkbook Lately?

  6. “Super School” Project Challenge: Seven Steps to Re-Inventing High School

  7. Four Reasons Why Annual Performance Reviews Fail and What To Do About It

  8. Transparency is a Great Way to Start Growing a Company Culture, But It’s Only a Start

  9. What Do You Do If Your Boss Manages Straight Up?

  10. Don’t Accept the Defaults! What Are You Doing to Customize Your Life?

  11. How Students Taught Me the Best Strategy for Changing the Game

  12. The Art of Yak Shaving Revisited

  13. Five Steps to Meaningful Giving: Maybe It’s Time To Channel Your Inner Scrooge

  14. Being Smart About Being Smart: Invite Others Into a Shared Thought Process

  15. A Secret to Special Relationships – Cultivating Ordinary Time

  16. Time You Made the Move to a Mac? What I Learned in the First Two Weeks

  17. Three Secrets to Becoming Your Own Tech Support – Your Children Will Thank You

  18. Three Keys to the Successful Launch of a New Employee that I Learned Baling Hay

  19. Confronting the Near Enemy: Is One Emotion Masquerading as Another?

  20. What Am I Missing Here? Five Ways to Make the Invisible Visible

  21. Put on Your 3D Interview Glasses and Hire Three-Dimensional People

  22. But the Problem Actually IS Complicated! Seven Reasons to Build a Model to Solve It

  23. Growing a Company Culture: What Kind of Trellis Are You Building?

  24. The Proliferation of Undoable Jobs and How To Recognize Them

  25. Creating the Best Solution Requires Both Seekers and Finders – Which Are You?

  26. Top Ten Tip-Offs That Someone Is About to Cut Your Budget

  27. Four Keys to Building Your Credibility as You Start a New Job

  28. How To Help a Boss or a Client Who Is Determined and Wrong

  29. Three Keys to Measuring and Managing Customer Satisfaction

  30. Four Best Questions to Hire Someone Who Will Hit the Ground Running

  31. Ten Thousand Hours and Ten-Minute YouTube Videos

  32. Touch the Rope

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Leadership

  1. The Sportification of Politics and the Possibility of Governing

  2. Evil Geniuses Win $6.6 Million Playing Video Games: eSports May Be Good for You

  3. What One Horse and an Open Sleigh Taught Me About Change Management

  4. Transparency is a Great Way to Start Growing a Company Culture, But It’s Only a Start

  5. Five Secrets to Briefing Stakeholders, Senior Management, or the Board Effectively

  6. What Do You Do If Your Boss Manages Straight Up?

  7. Do Me a Favor? See Whether the Ben Franklin Effect Makes Sense to You?

  8. How Students Taught Me the Best Strategy for Changing the Game

  9. Four of the Most Common Mistakes in Team Management and How to Fix Them

  10. Being Smart About Being Smart: Invite Others Into a Shared Thought Process

  11. Three Keys to Managing People and Risk That I Learned From Teaching Au Pairs to Drive

  12. Three Keys to the Successful Launch of a New Employee that I Learned Baling Hay

  13. Five Reasons Your Company Is Addicted to Reorganization and How to Survive the Next One

  14. First Three Steps on the Road to Becoming an Expert Manager of Experts

  15. Two Secrets to Discovering the Benefits of the Long View: From Deadlines to Lifelines

  16. Put on Your 3D Interview Glasses and Hire Three-Dimensional People

  17. But the Problem Actually IS Complicated! Seven Reasons to Build a Model to Solve It

  18. Growing a Company Culture: What Kind of Trellis Are You Building?

  19. Searching for Alternatives to Death by Powerpoint: The Single Slide Strategy

  20. Don’t Argue With Your Team, Argue FOR Your Viewpoint

  21. Dealing with the Dangers of Hub and Spoke Management: All Roads Lead to …

  22. Five Secrets to Getting the Credit You Deserve and the Appreciation You Want

  23. What Power and Authority Do You Have and How Do You Use It?

  24. Four Keys to Building Your Credibility as You Start a New Job

  25. The Secret To Keeping Your Balance When Your Job Becomes A High-Wire Act

  26. No Teamwork? Or Is There Is No Work for Teams?

  27. Strategy Is About Making Choices, Not Just Decisions

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Managing Yourself

  1. Prepare for Perpetual Technology Upgrade Mode: Lifetime Learning With an Attitude

  2. The Power of Persistently Pointless Processes: Have You Balanced Your Checkbook Lately?

  3. Don’t Accept the Defaults! What Are You Doing to Customize Your Life?

  4. The Art of Yak Shaving Revisited

  5. Five Steps to Meaningful Giving: Maybe It’s Time To Channel Your Inner Scrooge

  6. Two Strategies for Enjoying the World Beyond Broadcast Television

  7. Three Secrets to Making an Impact: Pipelines, Timing and Exploring the “Adjacent Possible”

  8. A Secret to Special Relationships – Cultivating Ordinary Time

  9. What Your Old Computer Can Teach You About the Importance of Taking a Vacation

  10. Three Keys to the Successful Launch of a New Employee that I Learned Baling Hay

  11. Confronting the Near Enemy: Is One Emotion Masquerading as Another?

  12. What Am I Missing Here? Five Ways to Make the Invisible Visible

  13. First Three Steps on the Road to Becoming an Expert Manager of Experts

  14. Two Secrets to Discovering the Benefits of the Long View: From Deadlines to Lifelines

  15. Give Your Idea to Someone Else to Run With – Sometimes a Horse Needs a Different Rider to Win

  16. A Learning Opportunity in Flexibility and Determination for You and Your Team

  17. The Proliferation of Undoable Jobs and How To Recognize Them

  18. Searching for Alternatives to Death by Powerpoint: The Single Slide Strategy

  19. You Should Add “Ego Risk” to the Risks You Are Managing

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Business Strategy Cases

  1. Three Secrets to Thriving in an Organizational Matrix

  2. Disruptive Technologies Create New Growth Opportunities for Your Professional Services Business

  3. Four Secrets to Successful Business Marketing Strategy

  4. It’s Time For You to Think About Hiring Four-Dimensional People

  5. Evil Geniuses Win $6.6 Million Playing Video Games: eSports May Be Good for You

  6. The Power of Experiencing What Your Customers Are Experiencing

  7. Five Reasons Your Company Is Addicted to Reorganization and How to Survive the Next One

  8. Is Your Market Going to be Uberfied or AirBnB’d? Disruptive Innovations Coming Your Way

  9. Great Teams Are Worth Watching, Learn Their Secret and Pass It On!

  10. Give Your Idea to Someone Else to Run With – Sometimes a Horse Needs a Different Rider to Win

  11. What the Muppets Have to Say About Your Business and Your Audience

  12. Five Steps to Create Customer Support to Match Your Hyper-Convenient Service

  13. Five Lessons You Can Learn From CVS’s Recent Announcement

  14. Who Are Your Customers?

  15. Successful Businesses Ask and Answer Two Questions Relentlessly

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Teams

  1. The Sportification of Politics and the Possibility of Governing

  2. It’s Time For You to Think About Hiring Four-Dimensional People

  3. Evil Geniuses Win $6.6 Million Playing Video Games: eSports May Be Good for You

  4. What Am I Missing Here? Five Ways to Make the Invisible Visible

  5. Great Teams Are Worth Watching, Learn Their Secret and Pass It On!

  6. A Learning Opportunity in Flexibility and Determination for You and Your Team

  7. Searching for Alternatives to Death by Powerpoint: The Single Slide Strategy

  8. Don’t Argue With Your Team, Argue FOR Your Viewpoint

  9. Five Secrets to Getting the Credit You Deserve and the Appreciation You Want

  10. Experiment This Week With the Power of an Observant Thank You.

  11. The Secret To Keeping Your Balance When Your Job Becomes A High-Wire Act

  12. No Teamwork? Or Is There Is No Work for Teams?

  13. Touch the Rope

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Communications

  1. Three Secrets to Thriving in an Organizational Matrix

  2. The Sportification of Politics and the Possibility of Governing

  3. Five Secrets to Briefing Stakeholders, Senior Management, or the Board Effectively

  4. Do Me a Favor? See Whether the Ben Franklin Effect Makes Sense to You?

  5. Four of the Most Common Mistakes in Team Management and How to Fix Them

  6. Being Smart About Being Smart: Invite Others Into a Shared Thought Process

  7. But the Problem Actually IS Complicated! Seven Reasons to Build a Model to Solve It

  8. Alternatives to Jargon: Expanding Your Tool Box of Analogies and Adages

  9. Five Secrets to Getting the Credit You Deserve and the Appreciation You Want

  10. Experiment This Week With the Power of an Observant Thank You.

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Innovation

  1. Disruptive Technologies Create New Growth Opportunities for Your Professional Services Business

  2. Evil Geniuses Win $6.6 Million Playing Video Games: eSports May Be Good for You

  3. The Power of Persistently Pointless Processes: Have You Balanced Your Checkbook Lately?

  4. “Super School” Project Challenge: Seven Steps to Re-Inventing High School

  5. Don’t Accept the Defaults! What Are You Doing to Customize Your Life?

  6. How Students Taught Me the Best Strategy for Changing the Game

  7. Two Strategies for Enjoying the World Beyond Broadcast Television

  8. Three Secrets to Making an Impact: Pipelines, Timing and Exploring the “Adjacent Possible”

  9. Creating the Best Solution Requires Both Seekers and Finders – Which Are You?

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Company Culture

  1. Twelve Days of Budget Cuts and a Crow in a Dead Elm Tree (Partridges and Pears Were Too Expensive)

  2. Three Secrets to Thriving in an Organizational Matrix

  3. It’s Time For You to Think About Hiring Four-Dimensional People

  4. Four Reasons Why Annual Performance Reviews Fail and What To Do About It

  5. What One Horse and an Open Sleigh Taught Me About Change Management

  6. Transparency is a Great Way to Start Growing a Company Culture, But It’s Only a Start

  7. Growing a Company Culture: What Kind of Trellis Are You Building?

  8. Top Ten Tip-Offs That Someone Is About to Cut Your Budget

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Customer Satisfaction

  1. Four Secrets to Successful Business Marketing Strategy

  2. Four Reasons Why Annual Performance Reviews Fail and What To Do About It

  3. Nine Things You Don’t Want to Hear from Customer Service

  4. The Power of Experiencing What Your Customers Are Experiencing

  5. Five Reasons Your Company Is Addicted to Reorganization and How to Survive the Next One

  6. Is Your Market Going to be Uberfied or AirBnB’d? Disruptive Innovations Coming Your Way

  7. When Your Service Breaks, Take the Opportunity to Enhance Your Customers’ Satisfaction

  8. Five Steps to Create Customer Support to Match Your Hyper-Convenient Service

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Time and Priorities

  1. Finding the Balance Between Modern Convenience, Self-Reliance, and Community

  2. Prepare for Perpetual Technology Upgrade Mode: Lifetime Learning With an Attitude

  3. The Art of Yak Shaving Revisited

  4. How Much Work is Enough? Are You Working Smart, Hard, or Long?

  5. Three Secrets to Managing Interruptions With Less Stress for Everyone

  6. Four Steps to Make Your Team Meeting Worth Everyone’s Time

  7. Make Your “not going to do it anymore” List

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