To Reach the Summit You Need a Guide

  Do you have informal leaders in your organization?  Someone that can either pull a team together or tear it apart?  You probably already know who it is–the one employee who can persuade and...

Yes, here we are—that scary time of year! No, not Halloween, or Black Friday, or even the madness of the shopping…..it’s that dreaded fourth quarter of the year.  The time of year when you...

 Did you know that October is International Strategic Planning Month?  Not a widely celebrated event—I doubt even Hallmark has cards to mark this momentous occasion.  However, it is the time of year when most...

Summer is officially over.  Although the temperatures don’t yet reflect the change, we all know that cooler weather will happen.  As we approach fall and then winter, we make changes as well.  We prepare...

Operational Strategies holds sustainability as one of our most important core values. Sustainability means many different things to different people. At Operational Strategies we break sustainability into three distinct, yet highly connected categories: Operational...

Hiring a facilitator – or consultant or strategist or planner – can be a daunting experience. First, you have to know what want to accomplish.  Do you believe your business is stagnant? Do you...

It’s amazing to me that it is June already.  One-half of 2013 is nearly complete.  Summertime invokes memories of lazy days, of going swimming, playing with my friends, family vacations (are we there yet?),...

“A meeting is where minutes are taken and hours are wasted”  (James Kirk)  And sometimes we really just want to say “beam me up Scotty”. Nearly every business has meetings.  And, nearly every employee...

  No Growth Plan As a consultant, I meet with business owners in all stages of growth—from companies just starting to companies planning an exit strategy.  Nearly every one that I meet with has...

Strategic Planning is not just for the Board Room This past year, I’ve had to deal with the declining health of my parents, requiring them to be admitted to a nursing home/rehabilitation facility. Regrettably,...

“I believe Dr. de Bono’s work in teaching people to think may be the most important thing happening in the world today.” – George Gallup Six Thinking Hats® is a systematic thinking method developed...

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to see executives get caught up in daily operations at the expense of the overall organization.  These are the leaders who focus on being problem solvers instead of looking...

Too often, organizations that need business strategy consulting are the same ones that would never think of hiring a third party to help them. Huge corporations use business strategy consultants to assist with a wide array of programs....

Suspension bridges provide an excellent graphical representation of six characteristics common to successful organizations whether they are for-profit businesses, charitable entities or membership organizations. For centuries, people have built suspension bridges to cross otherwise...

Most businesses today, much like people in general honestly, are running in many different directions. Heck, I bet you even know folks that have multiple calendars and might actually have a cardiac arrest if...

It’s that time of year again – baseball fever! Sidebar: Congratulations to the USA Women FIFA World Cup Soccer team; what an amazing group of competitors…warriors really. The stories of how each player made...

I’ve been out of pocket for quite some time, dealing with issues surrounding my aging parents.  Although I am a business strategist with 26 years of healthcare experience, I still encountered many roadblocks and...

Budgets and metrics are two tools that can either be your friends or foes.  As the executive leader of your organization, you determine in which category they fall for  you and your company.  I’ll...

Being an executive leader requires learning lessons from not just personal experiences but also from other sources.  Sometimes life lessons are the most real!  Here is a business lesson learned by observing a professional...

IT HAPPENED AGAIN TODAY! It is like fingers on a chalkboard to me.  As a business strategy consultant, I get frustrated and annoyed at the overuse of the word ‘strategy’ in the business world. ...

Ladies and Gentlemen!  Your attention, please!  Today’s bout is for the heavy weight title of America’s Successful Enterprise.  In the near corner, wearing red trunks, is the Department of Labor, returning to activity as...

A big part of business strategy consulting is teaching the executive leadership about the planning process.  The three keystones to planning are creating a strategy, building a plan, and identifying and implementing accountability. Many...

I was recently asked by a medical practice manager how Operational Strategies differs from other management consulting companies.  It was a fair question and one that I could easily answer, but it led us...

Dictionary.com defines success as 1.”the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; and 2.”the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.”  As a business strategy consultant, I work with many consultants of...

We do business strategy consulting.  But what keeps us going client after client is the why we do it.  As a group, we enjoy teaching executive leadership and their companies how to think differently...

Like several million other folks, I watched the final miners being raised one-by-one from the Chilean mine after having been trapped there for over two months.  It was absolutely remarkable and inspiring to see...

Today I found myself using words with a friend that I usually reserve for clients:  “You have two choices–be intentional and deliberate or continue to play the victim.”  My friend works for a large...

Earlier this week while I was sitting in downtown Austin, I witnessed a bizarre and unfortunate accident.  The driver of an 18-wheeler, making a right turn, did not see the car sitting in the...

Anybody who knows me knows that I can talk.  I often laugh that I am still making up for lost time.  You see, I had a speech impediment as a child that prevented me...

It is not uncommon for a management consultant to identify inefficiencies during a client’s operations assessment.  However, lately I have met with several companies that have identified their own inefficiencies and chosen not to...

In recent weeks,  I have been reminded that medical practice management is not so different from businesses in other industries.  For example, those of us with a history of healthcare management have either said...

When did you stop thinking like a child and turn into an adult?  When did you set aside wonder, play, imagination, and innocence to put on the drab attributes of ‘responsible’ activity?  Was there...

As a business strategy consultant, it is no surprise that I frequently receive questions about how someone learns to be strategic.  There’s no big mystery.  It is just about getting in the habit of...

Today, I had the good fortune of meeting with a colleague who uses an approach to business strategy consulting very similar to my own.  It was fun to compare war stories and experiences about...

I have always been fascinated with the human brain.  I enjoy reading research studies about it in relation to the workplace.   I admit it; I actually enjoy leadership workshops dedicated to the subject! I...

As a business strategy consultant, I am paid to think.  I offer my clients an objective viewpoint of their business and help them think differently about their company. I help them design strategy, implement...

It is the time of year when executive leaders begin planning for the next year’s business and corporate growth.  Sometimes we do this through retreats, leadership workshops, or team building exercises.  As part of...

As a business strategy consultant, I have seen many organizations violate the trust of their employees by not having documented procedures.  It isn’t enough to tell someone your expectations.  You must document them for...

I have never understood the phenomena of executive leadership that do not listen to their employees.  Frequently, I go to a client’s site to perform an operations assessment and discover that the leadership really...

This is part two of Tips for a Requirement Analysis.  In this article, I am addressing the people component of your system implementation.  Remember, these tips can be used for manual and electronic system...

As a business strategy consultant, I have seen many organizations spend lots of money and time choosing information management systems but very little time proactively identifying the long term impact of those systems on...

I confess – I am a multitasker.  I have read many articles about the research of multitasking and yet I continue to do it.  Truth to be told – I even tell my clients...

One of the hardest things for hospital personnel to deal with is a disaster that affects the whole town.  Often I still have flashbacks to a time when there was a chemical spill at...

Last fall, I arrived at a client hospital site and felt as though I had fallen into the land of Winnie the Pooh.  The manager of the department seemed to focus only on patient...

Several years ago I received a phone call from an executive leader who was desperately seeking answers after he discovered his partner had embezzled thousands of dollars from his company.  He wanted to make...

Recently I saw a tee-shirt on a man who was jogging down the street all by himself.  The front of the shirt was printed with the phrase, “I must hurry and catch the others.” ...

Many years ago my ex-husband and I were building a home.  It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was our first home, and we were excited.  I was in hospital risk management at that time...

During a recent business development meeting, my colleagues and I were discussing the reading habits of successful people.  This particular conversation was sparked by one of the members sharing his experience of recently visiting...

Regardless of your position on healthcare reform, recent legislation will change the way we operate our businesses.  Small companies will have to determine whether they want to grow and thereby become responsible for additional...

I have two dogs—Brownie and Linus. Brownie is a three year old dachshund and Linus is a two year old Chiweenie.  They are good friends, but make no mistake—they plot to prevent each other...

There was recently a news story about a Canadian-born woman who is now a US citizen and how she has endured multiple instances of being handcuffed, arrested, and interrogated—on at least one occasion in...

I was listening to a news broadcast this morning about the importance of getting an annual physical exam.  The doctor discussed the need to check the routine stuff, adult vaccinations, blood tests, etc. But...

It is my belief that a true leader will never ask his followers to do something he wouldn’t be willing to do himself. In the first Shrek movie, Lord Farquaad offers a fabulous reward...

Today, I was reminded of the most valuable lesson I learned as a young executive in a rural hospital in Texas.  It had become necessary to terminate one of the middle managers for lack...

Recently I was contacted by a local company to discuss a proposal for business process improvement.  In a very limited discovery stage, I determined the CEO of the company did not have a vision...

David Allen said “You can do anything – but not everything.”  In strategic planning, I call the actual document “the yes, no, not yet document”. Once you have documented the plan into an actionable...

I’ve met some executive leaders that amaze me by what they obviously didn’t learn on the way up the ladder of “success”.  When you are in any position of leadership, it is no longer...

When I was a hospital risk manager, I learned early that it is easier to defend an organization when people are consistent with their behaviors.  Even if it meant they were consistently wrong, it...

This past week I attended three unrelated forums that ultimately identified key communication skills used by successful leaders. From these discussions, I am reminded that sometimes it isn’t what we say so much as...

It’s common for us to hear today that management consultants, advertisers, and marketing people describe their services or products as ‘effective.’  But if you are in business, can you really afford just to be...

Right now the U.S. Senate is considering the House amendment to H.R.4213.  This bill is an attempt to close some of the loopholes created by ARRA, the stimulus package.  It includes many provisions, including...

The Value of an Operational Assessment? Recently a business owner asked me what is the purpose of an operational assessment and why would he need one.  The short answer is that an operational assessment...

I recently had a new experience. Let’s call it a professional growth opportunity.  In the past year or two, I began attending some formal networking groups where I actually had to initiate conversation, make...

It is not uncommon for leaders to make communication errors, and they usually have skilled people on staff to “fix” their blunders.  Joe Biden, our Vice President, has a tendency to say too much...

In today’s market, many leaders recognize their team is a vital, required component for gaining a competitive edge. Unfortunately they often sincerely have little idea how to create an environment to nurture an effective...

The strategy of informal leadership can be a key strategy in your success as a business, and in implementing new plans, processes, or products.  Let’s take a look at some tried and true techniques...

Congress adjourned for the holiday weekend without deciding on Medicare Physician Payments legislation, which means that as of June 1, 2010, physicians will be taking a 21.3% pay cut for each Medicare patient they...

The government has given the health care sector three major initiatives to be implemented within the same five year period – the HI TECH Act, Health Care Reform, and ICD10 migration.  In reality, these...

My husband is a traveling IT consultant and is a frequent flier on Southwest Airlines. Many times the flight attendants make flights more bearable with their sense of humor. Recently one told the passengers...

I was recently asked, “what is the difference between a strategist, a consultant, and a coach?”  Although this is only my opinion, I’d like to share my response. A strategist is a person who...

I recently met with a colleague that defines training as ‘teaching repetitive tasks’ and education as ‘teaching someone to design.’ This is perfect! Too many times we administrators expect managers to ‘train’ end users...

Being strategic means thinking intentionally and deliberately about your organization. That includes considering the impacts of any system change. Unfortunately, management consultants are usually called in as a reactive response when a system implementation...

Strategic planning is the first step in any business long-term plan.  It’s the stage when the key players come together to discuss, brainstorm, and kick around new ideas and directions that can help a company...

Pre-Implementation Vendor management is a demanding part of the entire business software implementation planning process and should be delegated to someone within the organization who understands the overall plan. This person will manage the...

System selection is the second step of a system change or implementation. The first, of course, is conducting a thorough requirements analysis (See ‘10 Tips for a Requirements Analysis’). Each candidate system...

Many business professionals recognize the duty for planning but don’t necessarily embrace the habit. Strategic thinking or planning isn’t just for business plans and financial investors. It should be a routine part of your...

We help Austin’s leaders create useful, intelligent plans and make them actionable through accountability. Our multidisciplinary team uses innovative techniques and tools based on our PILLAR© Methodology to help you and your team build...

An Objective Approach to Business Process Improvement  A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: LEADERSHIP, OPERATIONS, AND ITS COMMITMENT TO AUTHENTIC SUSTAINABILITY Pursuing Operational Excellence ensures that you...

Ensure long term success through financial, environmental and social sustainability A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: LEADERSHIP, OPERATIONS, AND ITS COMMITMENT TO AUTHENTIC SUSTAINABILITY Practicing Authentic Sustainability...

Regain objectivity by leveraging internal business intelligence A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY IS ONLY AS STRONG AS THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: LEADERSHIP, OPERATIONS, AND ITS COMMITMENT TO AUTHENTIC SUSTAINABILITY Redefining Leadership provides the opportunity to...

By having a core group of consultants in combination with a broad network of specialists available for projects as necessary, we have access to expertise in a range of businesses from small business ventures...

As board members, cofounders, and consultants serving a wide variety of nonprofits, we understand the unique challenges that mission driven organizations face. Senior leadership may struggle with employee engagement, fundraising and revenue creation, communicating...