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Small Business Strategy

May 18
2 min

Finding the New Normal: 4 (Surprising) Steps for Small Businesses Now

I got to do coaching sessions for Small Giants companies last week, to help them plan their COVID-19 small business strategies. And I wa...

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Phimation Strategy Group

May 11
3 min

The COVID19 Dashboard We Need

A risk that is hard to see, highly uncertain, can act in different ways, and can have a huge impact on society. COVID19? Yes…but also T...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Apr 2
2 min

Steady Hand...or Street Fight

Part of small business strategy during uncertainty is having the right mindset. Most of my clients – especially those in the B2B tech spa...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Apr 1
2 min

A Coming Inflection Point?

I think the Initial COVID-19 Crisis will end the weekend of April 17, or the week of April 20 at the latest. I don’t mean that the battl...

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Readiness, Agility & Resilience: The Different Faces of Flex Capacity

Phimation Strategy Group

Mar 31
1 min

Readiness, Agility & Resilience: The Different Faces of Flex Capacity

As I was writing my ebook on Strategy During Uncertainty, I started with the concept of Agility – the ability to flex when needed. And th...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Mar 20
2 min

Winning the Uncertainty

Access my ebook on Strategy in Times of Survival at the bottom of this page Surviving Uncertainty is much simpler than Winning Uncertaint...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Mar 15
2 min

The Importance of Judgment

In this previous post, I described the Business Growth Stack. You’ll notice that Management appears twice. The dual-role that Management...

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The Business Growth Stack, and The Role of Judgment

Phimation Strategy Group

Mar 13
3 min

The Business Growth Stack, and The Role of Judgment

There is a lot of conversation these days about Business Operating Systems, which have generated great productivity improvements for many...

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What Your Reset Needs: The 4 parts of a business restart

Phimation Strategy Group

Jan 23
2 min

What Your Reset Needs: The 4 parts of a business restart

Small businesses are often dealing with situations in which performance has not met expectations. It’s not really a failure, per se, but...

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Ebenezer Scrooge Teaches Strategic Planning

Phimation Strategy Group

Dec 9, 2019
3 min

Ebenezer Scrooge Teaches Strategic Planning

Picture this… A friend of yours runs a successful Stage 2 business – but is also frustrated that things aren’t going as well as he’d like...

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Misalignment, Dysalignment & the Small Orange Cube

Phimation Strategy Group

Aug 30, 2019
3 min

Misalignment, Dysalignment & the Small Orange Cube

My brother is a great guy…and a great investment banker whose boutique firm uses the Haviland & Co brand that our family’s china business...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Aug 28, 2019
6 min

The cost of change

I recently decided to learn how to cook. This is a huge change for me – since I was raised on cans of Spaghetti-Os and ready-serve packe...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Jun 24, 2019
2 min

First steps toward accountability

I have 2 clients who are focused on “accountability” this year, and it’s proving a hard row to hoe for both of them. Why? Well, first of...

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Your horizon should drive your strategic planning

Phimation Strategy Group

Feb 12, 2019
2 min

Your horizon should drive your strategic planning

One of the first things that I look at when designing a strategic conversation is the horizon in which our decisions will have to produce...

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The importance of framing to strategic planning

Phimation Strategy Group

Jan 18, 2019
2 min

The importance of framing to strategic planning

Are you in growth mode, or survival mode? I have some clients who are growing, some who are hanging on – and some who are transitioning f...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Dec 1, 2018
3 min

Is the answer in the room?

One of the precepts of the EOS program is, “The answer is in the room.” It’s a phrase that’s used to emphasize the importance of discuss...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Oct 30, 2018
2 min

The challenges of marketing’s ROI

In my work as a fractional CMO, I am often helping small businesses navigate the transition from sales-driven revenue to marketing-driven...

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Prioritizing priorities – making your strategy better

Phimation Strategy Group

Sep 24, 2018
2 min

Prioritizing priorities – making your strategy better

What do I mean by prioritizing your priorities? Why is it important? Why is it hard? It’s fairly easy for any business to come up with ...

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Phimation Strategy Group

May 13, 2018
2 min

“How do you hire?” “We suck”

I got to spend a couple hours talking about hiring last week with Miche Rayment, who runs The Hire Effect and wrote a book by the same na...

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Phimation Strategy Group

Apr 13, 2018
2 min

The High-Potential Talent Stack

I recently gave a webinar for the SPARK.grow program on high-potential employees – how companies can identify, foster, and be attractive ...

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