Scared of Strategy Choosing among the universe of possible options is scary. Every choice involves saying no to some possibility. But without clear choices, there is no strategy.

Your team defaults to the safest option when they don't know what you stand for. That's not a team problem. That's a strategy problem. beyondbetter.substack.com/p/scared-of-... #leadership #strategic_choices

Why Less REALLY Is More for Innovation - Amie Devero Believe it or not, brainstorming doesn't work and less is more in innovation. Here's the secret that the experts use to stoke creative fires.

The Economics of #Collaboration. Who gives, who takes on your team? Is it equitable? beyondbetter.io/economy-of-c...

Model a Human Strategy The greatest differentiator in today’s world is connection, context, judgment and empathy –not data, models or analysis.

Strategy consultants who fetishize analytical tools are paving their path to obsolescence. LLMs excel at analysis. Humans excel at reading context, building trust, and helping teams imagine futures that data alone could never reveal. open.substack.com/pub/beyondbe...? #AI #StrategyConsulting

Managing Your Time Time management is about much more than time. It's about spending your life on what matters to you. That includes your work, but also, everything else.

The chronic over-promiser builds their work life on delusion, not dishonesty. Your relationships, satisfaction, and actual productivity all depend on fixing this fundamental integrity gap. open.substack.com/pub/beyondbe... #startups #leadership

First, Ask Why - Amie Devero As leaders or employees, we do lots of things that may have no good reason. Before you do a thing, ask why. You'll be a more strategic leader and employee.

Future You Wants to Know Why? Your future self is the stranger you never consider; or not enough. beyondbetter.io/future-wants... #SelfRegulation

Integrity and Time: Part 3 of Managing Your Time Reducing overwhelm and increasing productivity is great. But there is more available: A life you love and a path to becoming the person you want to be.

When you keep promises to yourself, your calendar becomes a source of power instead of pressure. The rare delight of words matching reality creates freedom few people ever experience. #integrity #timemanagement beyondbetter.substack.com/p/integrity-...

Energy from the Future Whether explorers or entrepreneurs, the greatest source of energy and genius is the image of the distant new world we are creating. That's true for 12th century explorers and for the teams that bring your startup to life.

SpaceX didn't set out to build better rockets—they set out to inhabit Mars. Google didn't aim to improve search—they wanted to organize all human knowledge. The companies that create new categories start with impossibly ambitious destinations, not incremental improvements.

To The Trenches - Amie Devero Leadership - To The Trenches Leaders need to deeply understand their employees‘ and customers’ reality. It can’t be done from afar.

Bridging the gap between the corner office and the trenches is the key to real progress. Engage deeply with those who interact with your products and users daily. beyondbetter.io/to-the-trenches #leadership #management

Great Managers Are Made Not Born (redux) - Amie Devero Promoting a great employee to manager means taking her out of the role she is great at and giving her a job she is ill-equipped to handle. Yet. we do that.

Listening Charitably. How does your way of listening influence the assessments you make as a leader? beyondbetter.io/know-doesnt-...

Have a look at Contextuum.ai .

Have a look at contextuum.ai , the first ever strategy activation and comprehensive iteration platform. It's in beta. Free to try.

I very deliberately used the term activation instead of execution. Because execution is about doing projects. Activation is about making decisions in real time that are informed by the strategy, even if those decisions were never considered within the strategy. It is about cognitive integration.

Activating Strategy A great strategy comes to life when it acts as the context for everyone's decision making. Then it's activated!

You've invested weeks crafting your strategy. Your team spent five minutes in the all-hands learning about it. Six months later, they're making decisions based on convenience, not competitive advantage. The gap between strategy creation and activation is where most companies lose their edge.

Choose to Lose There are few bigger traps than the urge to win the current battle even if persisting costs us the war. Tactical retreat is wise—but very difficult to choose.

Tactical retreat sounds like admitting defeat. But the biggest strategic failures come from leaders who can't distinguish between the battles that matter and the ones that just feel important because they're happening right now. beyondbetter.substack.com/p/choose-to-... #leadership #Longtermstrategy

Self-Delusion - Amie Devero Uncategorized - Self-Delusion

Self-Delusion. Avoid falling prey to blaming it on the "evil twin" beyondbetter.io/self-delusion/

Strategic Inertia - Amie Devero Strategy - Strategic Inertia In general, quitting isn't smart. But often, NOT quitting is the biggest strategic mistake.

Finding "product market fit" is the story we tell to explain why we have no strategy. And with no explicit strategy, how can we identify failure? Or find success? #strategy #startups beyondbetter.io/inertia

Back from the Future - Amie Devero Uncategorized - Back from the Future

No Secrets Go Public. The best way to keep your promises to yourself is to blab about it so other people have high expectations. Making goals real starts with this. beyondbetter.io/no-secrets-g...

Video-Use Your Time to Fulfill Your 2019 Goals - Amie Devero - Video-Use Your Time to Fulfill Your 2019 Goals

Personal Power Run Amok. Do you have an emotion Edward Scissorhands running around your team? beyondbetter.io/personal-pow...

Subtraction in Action - Amie Devero Strategy - Subtraction in Action Wanting to reduce the number of strategic projects is understandable. Actually culling the list is harder. Here's how.

Are all 30 projects truly strategic, or are they just business as usual? Distinguish the essential from the routine for real impact. #startups #leadership beyondbetter.io/subtraction-...

Empty Promises - Amie Devero - Empty Promises

Looking for some audio entertainment for your downtime --or while jogging? Try these awesome #podcasts! beyondbetter.io/favorite-thi...

The Reliability Game - Amie Devero Most organizations struggle with reliability --either between individuals or as a whole. It is kryptonite and undermines results.

Get in the #Habit. Accomplishing big goals requires new behaviors and routines-- that means building new habits. Here are some strategies to succeed. beyondbetter.io/get-in-the-h...

The Defense Against Uncertainty - Amie Devero In the midst of massive uncertainty, you have the power to craft an island of dependability for yourself and those around you.

Uncertainty seems to be inescapable right now. But, you have in your control a means to create dependability nonetheless. Integrity Trumps #Uncertainty! #leadership beyondbetter.io/the-defense-...

The Mechanics of Managing Your Time: Part 2 of 3 Your to-do list represents promises. It takes a robust system to keep your word about so much. But there's a bonus: Greater productivity and lower anxiety.

Chronic overwhelm isn't a scheduling problem—it's a symptom of misalignment between how we imagine ourselves and how we actually live. #timemanagement #productivity beyondbetter.substack.com/p/the-mechan...

Wicked Strategy Game-changing strategy is never certain since it applies to the unknown future. Feedback may be slow, and its meaning unclear. So, how can you learn fast enough to fix it?

Game-changing strategies require operating in the fog of delayed, ambiguous feedback. The temptation is to gather more data, but information abundance doesn't cure the core problem. What matters is building organizational capacity to learn effectively from unclear signals. #leadership #strategy

Which You Is the Real You? - Amie Devero - Which You Is the Real You?

Why do companies cling to outdated strategies? Oddly, it can be something as silly as nostalgia. Nostalgia for a gloried past. #strategy #startups beyondbetter.io/inertia

Zeitgeist Inflection - Amie Devero Strategy - Zeitgeist Inflection In strategy, change matters. But how do you prepare for changes that come from subtle shifts in customer goals?

Sometimes, the biggest threat to your strategy is what you don't see. You know the macroeconomics --but do you know how your customers' job to be done has transformed? beyondbetter.io/zeitgeist/ #strategy #JTBD #startups

Which Hard Problem? There are lots of hard problems to solve. But choosing the right one to tackle during a strategic quagmire is hard. You need a wide-angle lens and a microscope.

The most dangerous strategic mistake isn't picking the wrong problem to solve. It's trying to solve several hard problems at once when you're facing an existential threat. Focus becomes survival. #strategy #startups open.substack.com/pub/beyondbe...?

Bigger May Not Be Better - Amie Devero Uncategorized - Bigger May Not Be Better

Making Big Changes Stick. Making a big change in your behavior can be challenging. But there are some strategies that help a lot. beyondbetter.io/just-time-ne...

Your Feelings Don't Matter - Amie Devero Thinking you have to be in the "right mood" is a fallacy that kills effectiveness and fosters procrastination. Learn why and how to overcome it.

Giving and Receiving Great #Feedback. All feedback is not alike. How can you crack the code for yours? beyondbetter.io/giving-and-r...