Curated News on Strategy Execution

Appreciated this article on how Flagship Pioneering (venture firm behind Moderna) leverages “emergent discovery” to create variants of an idea and then seeks to evolve each idea by always trying to learn more and to ask what’s possible. As they say, the theme behind the firm’s innovation process is not a “shots-on-goal” approach where 1 in 10 ideas are expected to be succcessful, but, rather, a desire for every exploration to be a learning experience. This article reminded me of one of my all-time favorite books, Erik Beinhocker’s “The Origin of Wealth” which was my first introduction to evolutionary economics. Both the article and Beinhocker’s book are worth reading to gain a real understanding of emergent discovery.

I couldn’t agree more with the actual empirical evidence of this article – that online shoppers don’t always care about faster delivery times, especially if the exact delivery time window could be pegged. However, to get up on the balcony, I really appreciated the elements of the case study – the use of data to understand customer preferences and, then, the move to organize employees to think through how to meet the newly understood preference. This article highlights the benefits of working to create prepared minds in our organizations. A virtuous cycle of continuous improvement follows!

This article restates (without being prophetic) the basic reality that all of work is being transformed by technology, so let’s keep pushing forward with digital transformation efforts! The authors suggest that these efforts are “future-proofing” our organizations. Based on a Bain study, the authors provide six practices, and lots of pioneering case examples, for “assembling and managing teams” leveraging data and technology.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about problem definiton, problem framing, and problem reframing. This article pushes us to recast our thinking from being binary – Yes or No, This or That, etc… Instead, can we reframe our thinking to consider Both And or a Win-Win situation? I think that reframing is one of the most important skills of leaders. It shows empathy (to understand the other), curiosity, and flexibility. But, for some reason, it’s not easy!

Great case study of UPS from the eyes of their new CEO, Carol Tomé. I really enjoyed her vivid description of the process she took the company through after inheriting the top role amidst the pandemic. The article outlines a very thoughtful approach to reorienting around purpose and values, integrating the voice of employees, and devolving some decision-making. This may seem basic, but, at the same time, it is so healthy. Love it.

This is a follow on to Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement that Facebook will become a metaverse company – moving from 2D to a 3D “embodied [online] world”. In this article, the author explores what currently exists in the beta release of Facebook’s Workrooms – a product that, in name, seems to be focused on 3D work meetings. I am late to this game, so I will refrain from saying more! However, I think it may be time for fast followers to dive in! Read on to gain a quick understanding.

This article is fascinating; possibly one of my favorites of the year so far. From research (with examples), the author constructs a two-sided definition of agility – the agility for “speed” AND the agility to go “slow”. The author explains why specific situations may warrant slowness for certain dimensions of their organization. For example, for some companies, they may want to preserve identity or to be known for a set of stable client offerings while other organizations are willing to quickly pivot their identity or reorient their offerings. Noting that I have only touched on the depth and breadth of this tantalizing article – and its accompanying frameworks, it is really a required read for curious management thinkers. I wish I could have applied these ideas to a failed merger to which I was an equally responsible party! It’s unfortunate that this scholarly article is behind a rather hefty paywall. I’ve linked to a video summary. In addition, the author, Christiane Prange, has a book called Agility.X: How Organizations Thrive in Unpredictable Times. The book may be a cheaper option even though I highly recommended a subscription to California Management Review!

This title says it all, “Compassion and Accountability Aren’t Mutually Exclusive”. Many times, both will be needed! Managers should have compassion and take account of the individual contexts of their employees (especially after the challenges of this past year), but they can also hold their employees accountable to the tasks at hand. This article lays out helpful hints to do both at the same time.