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David Thiel

166 Followers

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Mar 15, 2022

Mission and Vision: What’s the Difference?

Both are critical, each is different. — There is a lot of misinformation out there about these two key components of strategic planning. A quick search on the web reveals countless articles, blogs, and even YouTubes and TikToks that discuss the topic. The problem is that most of these articles are written to generate advertising traffic rather…

Strategy

6 min read

Mission and Vision: What’s the Difference?
Mission and Vision: What’s the Difference?
Strategy

6 min read


Feb 22, 2022

Four Essential Roles for Better Decision-Making

Four key roles support a good decision-making process, and should be patterned into your organization. Speaking (extremely) generally, in my work with independent schools and colleges, some employees (mostly faculty) often ask for more influence on decision-making, while others (mostly staff) often express a desire to be better informed of decisions that affect them. In some ways, these two groups represent the poles of “participatory…

Decision Making

4 min read

Four Essential Roles for Better Decision-Making
Four Essential Roles for Better Decision-Making
Decision Making

4 min read


Dec 22, 2021

Decisions: A Bi-Modal Spectrum of Decision Types

Decision-making is the most important “system” in your organization. Design that system carefully. — Consistently good decision-making is huge source of competitive advantage. While some organizations explain positive patterns of decision-making as “part of their culture,” if you dig deep enough, you’ll find a key leader or influencer who promotes clear decision process as an article of faith. …

Decision Making

3 min read

Decisions: A Bi-Modal Spectrum of Decision Types
Decisions: A Bi-Modal Spectrum of Decision Types
Decision Making

3 min read


Dec 13, 2021

Happy with this, especially having read your first 4...
5
1

Evert de Ruiter

Glad to hear it.

Glad to hear it. Leadership on the Line is one of those books people are referring to all the time but it's hard to notice the reference. The central concept is about recognizing the difference between "technical" and "adaptive" challenges. Enjoy!

1 min read

1 min read


Dec 9, 2021

Three Secrets of Design Feedback

Use these tips to find openness, objectivity, and trust in talent. — Anyone who has ever done design work for pay will tell you that there are two universal truths, always in play: 1) Everyone agrees that design by committee is bad. 2) Everyone wants to be on the committee. Managing this head/heart conflict is often the principle complexity of designer/client relations……

Design Process

2 min read

Design Process

2 min read


Dec 3, 2021

The Right Question

The first step in strategic decision-making is to focus on the right task. — Early in my career I was lucky to have clients who taught me a lot. Here’s a recollection of one lesson. It was 1998 or so, and my firm was the agency of record for Wegmans Food Markets internet work. We were working on a system for online ordering and…

Problem Solving

2 min read

The Right Question
The Right Question
Problem Solving

2 min read


Nov 30, 2021

Quicken the Pace of Planning at Schools and Colleges

A Unified Planning Framework for Culture, Strategy, and Brand — At many non-profit institutions, particularly educational institutions, strategic plans show a preference for addition over consolidation—for expansion over alignment. This programmatic and operational accretion drives steady increases in budgets and staffing, and concomitant growth in goals for endowments and annual philanthropic support.

Strategic Planning

4 min read

Three Elements of Organizational Alignment for Schools and Non-
Three Elements of Organizational Alignment for Schools and Non-
Strategic Planning

4 min read


Nov 28, 2021

Five Books for Developing Systems Thinking

See horizontal connections across operations, and learn how human factors contribute to success or failure. — Systems Thinking is critical for effective strategy, communications, and creative planning. But what makes a good systems thinker? Most talented systems thinkers I know are generalists — and I have long remarked that folks who spend meaningful time in personal hobbies seem to bring perspective and valuable divergent thinking to…

Systems Thinking

4 min read

Five Books for Developing Systems Thinking
Five Books for Developing Systems Thinking
Systems Thinking

4 min read


Mar 27, 2018

All Hail the Memorandum

Purpose-built document formats in office communication can aid organizational alignment. — In olden times, the Memorandum was the mainstay of organizational communication. It was a way to document something that needed to be shared and remembered; its format held just enough formality to garner attention, but not so much that it felt arduous or overwhelming to produce or receive. In the…

Productivity

4 min read

All Hail the Memorandum
All Hail the Memorandum
Productivity

4 min read


Mar 17, 2018

Three Design Rules (and One Paradox)

Laziness, Novelty, and Fear of Loss are Powerful Motivators for Humans. — As a designer, I can rely on a single assumption to guide most of my work: humans are lazy. (This is ‘trumpian shorthand’ for “people tend to maximize benefit and minimize effort around self-interest.) Whether I am enticing them with advertising, seeking to change their mind with a new mental…

Design

3 min read

Three Design Rules (and One Paradox)
Three Design Rules (and One Paradox)
Design

3 min read

David Thiel

David Thiel

166 Followers

Strategy and communications for schools.

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