Strategy

The Deep Democracy of Resistance

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Black and white photo of crowd with a RESIST sign visible above people's heads

Image: Sides Imagery on Pexels.

In the aftermath of the election, people have asked me: How can Deep Democracy help us in this moment?

Deep Democracy provides a lens through which to understand those who disagree with us and ourselves. It also gives us something critical: a roadmap to use as we move forward. First, some background on Deep Democracy. 

What is Deep Democracy?

The word Deep Democracy was coined by process-oriented psychologist Arnie Mindell, who wrote: “For organizations, communities, and nations to succeed today and survive tomorrow, they must be deeply democratic – that is, everyone and every feeling must be represented.”

Power of Purpose: How Solid Purpose Generates Strategic Strength

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Purpose is one of the most powerful tools organizations have to support strategy. A good purpose places a stake in the ground, declaring what the organization values. It provides flexibility and allows the organization to respond to shifts in the market and customer preferences.

Powerful Purpose Statements

Here’s an example of one powerful purpose:

To transform lives through inspired learning.

This statement is great because it provides both boundaries and flexibility. On the boundaries side, it clearly states that “learning” is the field in which the organization (University of Texas) plays. At the same time, it provides flexibility in how the University provides inspired learning.

100+ Tried & True Problem-Solving Tools

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Too many leaders choose the wrong tool for the problem at hand. Our infographic, “What’s Your Problem,” explains the four different types of problems leaders face. Once you’ve read it, you may be left thinking: OK, I know what kind of problem I have. What tool do I use?

In this post, we share over 100 tried-and-true problem-solving tools. These are effective and elegant methods that you can use to address the four types of problems.

Simple Problem-Solving Tools

SOP from UCLA.

Simple problems have easily seen cause and effect relationships. Your job is to assess the facts, categorize the facts, and then apply the appropriate best practice.

Tuning Your Change Strategy

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Six Ways to Influence Change - JPG

The fifth in the Tried & True Series: Trusted Models that Stand the Test of Time.

Improve likelihood of change success by 10%? Sounds good!

I’m a big fan of the work done by Grenny, Maxfield, and Shimberg on what makes change initiatives successful. According to their research, initiatives are ten times more likely to succeed when the change strategy includes at least four of six approaches.

The trick is to address both people’s motivation and their ability. It’s not enough to want to change. They also have to know how to change. And they can have all the knowledge in the world but, if they don’t want to change, they won’t.

Is your strategy stuck in the 20th century?

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