Mike Najarian PMP’s Post

I am appealing to the IT Executive that requires help in executing strategic growth initiatives. It's what I do. I get things done. Someone once asked me to describe project challenges I face when brought in to identify and solve corporate IT and business problems. My answer simply put is that I am thrown into the middle of a massive forest fire with a garden hose. My mission is to extinguish the flames and rebuild. I call it controlled chaos. My projects are often complex with many moving parts. What problems can I solve for you?

I am appealing to the IT Executive that requires help in executing strategic growth initiatives. It's what I do. Someone once asked me to describe project challenges I face when brought in to identify and solve corporate IT and business problems. My answer simply put is that I am thrown into the middle of a massive forest fire with a garden hose. My mission is to extinguish the flames and rebuild. I call it controlled chaos. My projects are often complex with many moving parts. What problems can I solve for you?

♟️ Strategic Procrastination There is a paradox in planning, where the most crucial decisions often need to be made early when you possess the least amount of information. 👉 “Strategic Procrastination” thus can be a counterintuitive yet effective strategy. Here's how it can work for you: 1️⃣ Preparation is Key: Begin by mapping out the decisions you'll need to make and understanding their interconnections. This process lays the groundwork for informed decision-making. 2️⃣ Strategic Delay: Procrastinate, but do it wisely. Postpone pivotal decisions until the latest feasible moment. This allows you to incorporate high-quality learnings and insights, enriching your decision-making process. 3️⃣ Avoid Over-analysis: Beware of falling into the trap of 'analysis paralysis.' Aim for a sweet spot where your information is about 60-80% complete, and then confidently make your decision.

Oftentimes our clients have found themselves stuck making a default decision rather than a contemplated decision. They are two different approaches that lead to two distinctly different outcomes. ➡ Contemplated Decision:  A contemplated decision is a deliberate and conscious choice made after careful consideration of available options, consequences, and relevant information. It involves actively weighing the pros and cons of each option, gathering information, seeking advice, and sometimes even conducting research to make an informed choice. These decisions often take more time and effort to reach but are generally considered to be well-thought-out and intentional.  ➡ Default Decision:  A default decision, on the other hand, is a choice that is made by default or without much active thought or consideration. It is often the outcome that occurs when a decision-maker fails to make an intentional choice. Default decisions can result from inertia, habit, or a lack of motivation to engage in a more thorough decision-making process. Our clients rave about the intentionality behind our contemplative approach to decision-making. We’ve been fortunate to have our eyes on a multitude of projects and perspectives throughout our career, so we put that know-how to work for you, guiding you to a contemplative approach to decision-making without it feeling like it’s a lot of work. #Ownersrepresentative #processexpertise #masterplanning  #resourcemanagement #envisagesolution #projectdevelopment 

Are you struggling with strategic thinking and execution? Look no further than strategic planning! Prioritization, resource capacity planning, operations optimization, and aligning all employees and stakeholders toward the same goals are key components of strategic planning. It reaffirms your direction and measures success. #StrategicPlanning #BusinessStrategy #GoalSetting Strategic planning is essential for assessing your business's current situation and identifying areas that need improvement. It provides a roadmap for achieving your goals and keeps you focused on decision-making aligned with those goals. Don't let a lack of strategy hold you back. Start planning today!

Strategic frameworks are a dime a dozen. Pick one that fits with your organization and then relentlessly develop the discipline to actually execute and stick with your chosen path. Constancy of purpose applies here.

What makes for effective strategic planning? Start with an objective assessment of the business results and your team's performance. It is tempting to dive in and start deciding how to improve areas but resist that urge. The outcome here is an honest evaluation of how things are going - not what to do about them yet. Next, identify problems related to the current state. The same temptation exists during this process. You're not problem solving yet. There should be debate whether a given problem is causal or the result of a deeper seeded issue. The outcome here is a list of problems facing your business results and team operations. The crux of strategic planning is alignment. After listing all the problems, you are going to want to address them all. Instead, what is required is a robust discussion to prioritize the problems. It is difficult but imperative to make explicit decisions about which problems. You need to figure out the inevitable trade-offs to resources and results when you choose not to address lower priority problems. The outcome is a small list of prioritized problems and commitment to focus on those, and those alone with full confidence in why you're saying no to the other things. The failure of strategic planning is thinking the goal is to come up with a specific plan to achieve results. Effective planning is about clear, committed alignment on what problem to solve. That clarity is then used to provide context and empower your teams to figure out how to solve for it. #StrategicPlanning #BusinessStrategy #TeamAlignment #Empowerment

Good advise from the experts!

It’s interesting reflecting on those 3 ways in personal decision making and then when you are delivering infrastructure projects! So much to learn from- the environment of uncertainty / managing risk, performance of projects and forecasting. Think about it!

“𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹.” ― 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 Unpacking a few ideas on some of the common reasons why strategy fails. This has been particularly relevant for me working on recent projects, some of which I reflect positively on in terms of approach, and others not so much. Jenga came to mind. Much like the game of Jenga, strategic management involves a methodical deconstruction and reconstruction process. Each move, each block removed or added, can tip the balance. In Jenga and strategic management there are a number of important elements: ⚖ 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀): Just as you analyze the Jenga tower to identify stable blocks, strategic analysis illuminates a clear path forward. 📝 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 (𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻): Formulating a strategy is much like planning how you'll delicately extract and place each Jenga block to maintain stability. 🛠 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻): Implementing a strategy is about executing your moves with precision, ensuring that each step aligns with the blueprint. 🔍 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 (𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴): As you carefully observe the tower for any wobbles, strategic control and monitoring ensure your plan is on track and adjustments are made when needed. In both the game and strategic management, each move matters. I would love to hear your experiences of how you've balanced your strategic 'blocks' - what moves were game-changers, and how did you prevent the 'tower' from collapsing?