6 Questions to Test Your Company’s Operational Resilience

Preparation for a crisis is just as crucial as the response. We recommend that leaders start with their organization’s people, processes, and technology. Here are six essential questions for leaders to ask as they evaluate the operational resilience of this triad:

  1. Are we sufficiently prepared for problems when they arise?
  2. Are there clear roles and responsibilities for business continuity?
  3. What are our risks involving automated software updates?
  4. Are

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7 Questions to Ask for a Successful Compensation Strategy

Here are the things to think through when you are building a compensation strategy.

  1. What Is Your Compensation Philosophy? Start with your compensation philosophy. Identify the principles and practices your organization uses to make compensation decisions:
    • Do you generally make offers at the midpoint of the market rate for that role, or is it usually higher or lower? Why?
    • What are the important considerations for how

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Designing a Leadership Development Process (Questions to Ask)

Here are some crucial things to think about when designing a leadership development process:

  • Is it on-going or a one-time training event? Leadership development, just like personal development, is a process and cannot be accomplished in one sitting.
  • Have you identified what your leaders must know and be able to do in order to be effective? A list of targeted skills and/or abilities (those popular competencies)

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Ecosystem Questions

Ecosystems and ecosystem thinking are the lens through which you should view important decisions about your value proposition, as well as about how to capture and deliver value. Below are questions you should ask. 

Value Proposition

  • Will ecosystems change where we should compete?
  • What unmet customer needs will be most promising?
  • What new customer segments might we serve?    

Value Capture

  • How can we benefit from value pool shifts?
  • Which costs will drive

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Technology and Data Questions

Too many companies suffer from data and technology investments that are siloed by function or business and not clearly connected to the company’s value creation strategy. To go beyond digital, you will need to make a priority of your data and technology strategy and be able to clearly and tangibly demonstrate how it directly enables your company’s place in the world and your plan for … [ Read more ]

One-on-one Meeting Assessment Questions for Managers

In a percentage answer, in your 1:1s, how often do you…    

  1. Schedule 1:1s in advance on a recurring basis?     
  2. Have an agenda for your 1:1s?    
  3. Involve your direct report(s) in the creation of that agenda?    
  4. Review notes from the previous 1:1 before your next 1:1?    
  5. Promptly reschedule canceled 1:1s?    
  6. Start 1:1s positively?    
  7. Show up on time?    
  8. Start with topics provided by your direct report(s)?    
  9. Briefly revisit action items from the previous 1:1?    
  10. Actively listen to

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6 Questions to Evaluate How You Spend Your Time

  1. When did you last review how you allocate your time?
  2. How much time do you spend a week actively reflecting on your strategy and priorities?
  3. Structured versus open: How much of your calendar is unplanned?
  4. Drumbeat versus flow: How much of your calendar doesn’t follow a set routine?
  5. Operator versus counselor: How much time do you spend problem solving with teams (rather than attending business update and review meetings)?
  6. Ambassador

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4 Guiding Questions for an Innovation Culture

BCG has identified four aspects of innovation culture on which companies often focus: what successes you celebrate, how you create, how you lead, and how you team. Importantly, these aspects either add—or destroy—value, depending on how your teams work together. Each aspect, when framed as a question, can help you determine what route to pursue to bolster your company’s innovation culture.

  1. What do you celebrate? What

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