Strategic Thinking: How We Continue to Move from Strategic Thinking to Strategic Action

Nelson Soken, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Strategist

As we close another year and continue to navigate through the pandemic and, we hope, in the New Year move toward the endemic phase, I wanted to share some observations related to virtual learning and the application of Strategic Thinking during this challenging time.

Observation #1: Expanding Opportunities to Grow Collaboration among Global Audiences

The virtual environment has provided broader opportunities for global leaders and employees to engage with each other beyond the pre-pandemic world of in-person events. Participants who have never or rarely been able to participate in in-person sessions, have been able to engage with colleagues from other business units and countries. Participants are so grateful to have broadened their perspective and now have a larger network. It was wonderful to explore the richness in diversity of ideas and at the same time, examine the commonalities across regions. Recently, we were even introduced to the use of simultaneous interpreters to support Zoom sessions being conducted in multiple languages. What an experience!

Observation #2: From Learning Events to Tackling Critical Business Challenges

We have been working more and more with clients on targeted Strategic Thinking application sessions that have immediate impact on business results and objectives. With our client sponsors, we do business consulting in which we:

• Collaborate on clearly defining and scoping a business challenge to be confronted  
• Identify where they can seek to find solutions across the value-chain
• Explore constraints/assumptions that should be considered in solution identification (time-horizon, resources, budget, scope)
• Declare expected results and next-step actions

The organizations we consult with are working on a range of complex problems such as distributor pricing strategies, supply chain issues, and product introductions and launches. Clients report that the structure, concepts, and interactive application activities have provided their teams with an approach to engage collaboratively and have generated insights and actionable next steps for them to explore further and execute on immediately. Results from these sessions included business strategy briefings with senior leadership that led to funding for implementation—identification of specific areas of improvement that can be executed in the upcoming fiscal year to improve profitability, and development of new markets.

Observation #3: Creating Future Leaders through Continuous Learning and Application

Strategic Thinking skills are in demand now more than ever! In addition to workshops, three specific areas that we have recently focused on in collaboration with clients to achieve business results in real-time are:

• Business Challenge Consulting: Working with leadership, we scope specific business challenges to clearly define the problem as it connects to the organization’s current business needs and strategy. This engages the leader in the process directly, creating enthusiasm and tying directly to key business priorities.
• Design Clinic with Coaching: We implemented a series of Design Clinics where teams first work on their sponsor’s challenge applying Strategic Thinking practices. Then, the team meets with the business consultant to share their progress, vet their specific ideas, and receive feedback and coaching about their plans as they move forward.
• Strategic Thinking Tool-kit and Canvas: We created a set of tools to enable ongoing application of strategic thinking with a reusable planning tool to document a plan of action while mapping key questions that must be considered.  

Feedback we have received from clients has been positive and many of these programs are being scaled globally. Leaders have been impressed with the quality and breath of the strategic insights of participants and have, in many cases, encouraged participants to pursue the solutions they have identified.

Everyone has been looking for ways to keep engaged and focused on delivering positive business results. Our experience with Strategic Thinking clients has reinforced that creatively facilitating in a virtual environment with necessary supports is critical. Success requires teamwork. The work these past 20+ months has been difficult, but truly rewarding. With all of its challenges, it has been a pleasure to collaborate with people from so many organizations and countries across more time zones than I can count!

As we look to the New Year, it is my hope that we can create a brighter future full of opportunities. The future will require strategic thinking and innovation as we figure out our new normal. Some things may go back to how they were. However, the invaluable lessons we have all learned and the ways we have adapted have created better ways on which we can optimize and continue to grow.

Wishing everyone a restful holiday season to rejuvenate and have time with family and friends! I look forward to meeting some of you in the coming year as we journey through the new normal together.

Announcing Public Programs for 2022!

Once again, we'll be offering our public programs online, so you can participate virtually from the comfort of either your home or office. And, as always, we're offering our popular Exercising Influence program but for 2022, we're offering it in two versions. See the descriptions, below.

Exercising Influence: Description and Schedule

• Introduction to Exercising Influence 3-hour webinar
  In this session, participants will be introduced to the key concepts and the Exercising Influence behavior model. There will be some experiential activities and practice opportunities and participants will leave with the outline of a plan to apply what they learned. The schedule is below:
  • February 9, 2022: Introduction, 1 session
    Cost: $495
  • October 6, 2022: Introduction, 1 session
    Cost: $495
• Exercising Influence Two 3-hour webinar sessions
  In this two-session program, participants will learn and then go beyond the basics to dive deeper into the influence behavior model. They will have more opportunities for skill-practice and feedback. They will plan and practice for a real and significant upcoming influencing opportunity.
  • July 7 & July 14, 2022: Full Program, 2 sessions
    Cost: $925

Register online

Leading Remote Teams Through Influence

We're also happy to announce our first public offering of Leading Remote Teams Through Influence. This program, using skills and behaviors drawn from our Exercising Influence program, offers team leaders and members the skills to succeed, especially when working across boundaries of time, distance, and culture.

• April 27 & 28, 2022: Full Program, 2 sessions
  Cost: $495

Register online

All sessions begin at 9:00 am and run until 12:00 noon, Pacific Time

Barnes & Conti Virtual Catalog of Programs

In case you missed our Thanksgiving Newsletter, please check out our catalog with updated virtual offerings. All our programs are available either online/virtually or in person.

We hope you will find topics that resonate with your organization’s or workgroup’s needs for the 2022.

Please download the catalog here and feel free to contact Lauren Powers (lpowers@barnesconti.com)/215-850-2882 to discuss your needs and how we might partner to design a custom solution for your organization.

Our 21st Annual Virtual Feast

Barnes & Conti continues our tradition of sharing some favorite recipes with you.

• Salad: Pear and Gorgonzola
  Kim Barnes contributed this classic to one of first virtual feasts. We're reprinting it because it's still a classic, and delicious.
• Main Dish/Soup: Bertha Maslow's Cabbage Borscht (see below)
• Mustard and Red Wine Marinated Chicken (aka "Chicken Beaujolais")
  Joel Kleinbaum contributed this recipe to our first-ever Virtual Feast in 2001! It’s just as good now as it was then.
• Dessert: Sweet Potato Pie
  Elaine Turcotte, our Operations Manager, not only shared her recipe, but a couple years back, she shared the leftover pie when we were all in our Berkeley office.
• Dessert: Chocolate Pecan Pie
  Lauren Powers, SVP of Business Development, contributed this family favorite, handed down to her from her mother.
• In case you missed our Thanksgiving recipe collection, the collection included Lauren's recipes for Apple Cranberry Sauce, and Sausage Stuffing, Joel's Treviso Radicchio and Apple Salad, Eric Beckman's (Barnes & Conti Global Director) Savory Sweet Potato Gratin, and last, but never least, Kim Barnes' recipe for Sugar Hubbard "Pumpkin" Bars.
  

Featured Recipe: Bertha Maslow's Cabbage Borscht

B. Kim Barnes, Barnes & Conti CEO

What a coincidence that Kim Barnes, founder of Barnes & Conti, a leadership development firm, would have a cousin who worked for Abraham Maslow’s wife. As you may recall from your introductory psych courses, Maslow was the father of modern management who developed a way to look at human motivation that has prevailed for years.

Says Kim, “When my cousin, Simone, first moved to the Bay Area with her husband, she found a job cataloging the papers of famed psychologist Abraham Maslow, who had recently died. His wife, Bertha (who unfortunately, was to die that same year) hired her and as they worked together over the next few months, she gave Simone (who herself was an artist and a chef) some of her favorite recipes, including this one for cabbage borscht. I was delighted to learn about this, since I always liked this quote from Maslow about his mother-in-law, who was an excellent cook: “A first-rate soup is better than a second-rate painting."

Ingredients:

• 3-4 beef shanks*
• 1 medium cabbage, shredded
• 1 large onion, whole
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Sour Salt to taste (citric acid crystals)
• 2 large cans of tomatoes
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• Sugar to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sour cream (garnish)

Method:

1. Boil shanks in 6-quart pot filled halfway with water, plus salt, pepper, sugar, sour salt, and large onion which will be thrown away later
2. Cover and simmer until meat is tender. Take meat out and cool. When meat is cool, remove from bones and put back into stock.
3. Shred cabbage and add cabbage and onion to pot.
4. Add tomatoes and tomato paste.
5. At this point, taste soup for right combination of sweet and sour taste as you like it.
6. Let the soup simmer for hours…the more the better, or even overnight (I would use a slow cooker for that). Or…
7. Do it in two steps. Day before serving, do the first step. Before adding cabbage and tomatoes, cool and refrigerate. When the fat is solidified, remove it and cut away just the lean part of the meat and put it back into the bouillon. Several hours before serving, reheat the bouillon and then add cabbage and tomatoes and adjust the balance of the sweet and sour taste.
8. Garnish with sour cream when serving.

*Note: If you can't get beef shanks, you can substitute 3-4 lbs. or so of beef short ribs, or 2-3 lbs. of beef stew meat or boneless chuck. Of course, if you are using boneless beef, you won't need to cut it off the bones! But your broth might not be as rich tasting...

About the Artwork at the Top

Our holiday greeting this year features the "Skating Scene" by American artist Lois Mailou Jones.

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