Gilead members only
LEARNINGClick here for suggestions to help you find what you need.
Discussion – Building a Winning Career
Bill Cowan rightly pointed out in this week's workshop that most of us are good at our jobs, but not necessarily good at marketing ourselves.I put myself in that category. Marketing is so very much harder and yet Bill's strategy for building a winning career seems...
How to tell a story when you can't offer a recommendation
I am often asked a question that goes a bit like this: "How do I use a storyline when I can't or don't need to offer a recommendation?" There is at times a concern that storylining isn't fit for purpose in this setting. We saw a terrific example of this play out in a...
How to handle ‘background' in board papers
How often do you see decision making papers that begin with a section for background? And ... how often is that background really, really long? This is a problem on a number of levels, not only because board members and other leaders routinely list 'too much...
How to know when you are stuck in the weeds
Have you ever wondered how to know when it's time to 'pop up' out of the weeds so you can see the big picture?A number of people in the program have asked this question and a December working session focused on the issue in a way that is useful to all of you.The key...
Houston, we have a problem …
++++++++++++++++++ ALERT - Those of you who are new may like to save this one for later. I am going deep on deductive storylines today. ++++++++++++++++++ The 'Houston, we have a problem ...' storyline pattern was a favourite during this week's coaching sessions....
Exploring bottom up and top down thinking when problem solving
This was a terrific session where we explored a concrete example that we can all relate to. We dug into Ravi’s housing shortage challenge again to explore how we might use hypothesis trees, issue trees or design thinking to help. We were reminded of a number of things...
How to use a storyline as a thinking tool to develop your strategy
Two of this week's coaching sessions shone a very bright light on how storylining is about much more than 'putting words on a page'. It's about surfacing the ideas that we want to convey. So, this week I want to focus on how you can use a storyline rather than how you...
A script to help you get feedback on a storyline
This week one of our number was using a storyline with their manager for the first time and was wondering whether there were ways to set up the conversation better. In the spirit of helping, I have outlined some suggestions to help you explain to a 'non storyliner'...
The difference between being ‘clear' and being compelling'
This week's working groups provided an excellent opportunity to think about the difference between being 'clear' and being 'compelling'.I have drawn out three key takeaways that highlight that although being clear is a useful place to start, it is often not...
How to make a deductive structure ‘really sing'
Have you ever wondered what holds a deductive flow together? Part of the success requires the statement and comment to be tightly linked together, along with the comment and the therefore point. However, weak support for any of the points, but particularly the...