Owen Morris Partnership

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Blog

Strategic planning

How to do strategy better: switch from a ‘planning’ mindset to more of a creative, open and agile mindset

Since business strategy was conceived in the 1960s, it has been rather stuck in a mechanistic, analytically-based groove. The accepted process has been very much about valuing data, applying various analytical tools, trying to predict the future, and then drafting Read more…

By Mike Owen, 2 months2022-04-30 ago
Leadership

Making Purpose work: how to connect individual purpose with organisational purpose for better leadership performance

The recent pandemic has caused many people all over the world to reflect on their lives, their wellbeing, what their purpose in life is and what they want from their jobs. At the same time, employers have not only widely Read more…

By Mike Owen, 4 months2022-02-13 ago
Decision making & problem solving

Using groups for decision-making: the key risks and challenges for leaders and how to deal with them

Human brains are quite inefficient cognitive machines. All of us regularly fail to see things accurately around us, we make poor assumptions, we misremember facts, we give in to cognitive biases, and we often make decisions based on emotional whims, Read more…

By Mike Owen, 5 months2022-01-17 ago
Executive & group facilitation

12 benefits of hiring an external strategy facilitator for a Board or strategic planning meeting/away-day.

Here are a dozen reasons for hiring a professional, external strategy facilitator, rather than using an internal staff member or Board member to take on the role: 1) Independence: An external facilitator will bring a detached, ‘outside-in’ perspective. In contrast, Read more…

By Mike Owen, 7 months2021-12-06 ago
Thinking

What does it mean to be an independent thinker? The key qualities and skills needed by leaders today.

Do you consider yourself to be a strong, independent thinker ? Are you proud you can formulate your own thoughts and make decisions on your own ? Certainly, the idea of thinking for oneself is often seen as a valuable Read more…

By Mike Owen, 9 months2021-10-09 ago
Groups and teams

Making the most of ‘cognitively-diverse’ teams: how and why they perform better.

In today’s world, most challenges and problems need the work of a team, rather than just an individual working alone. The key ingredient is the ‘collective intelligence’ of the group as a whole, which can usually deal much better with Read more…

By Mike Owen, 10 months2021-08-22 ago
Decision making & problem solving

10 ‘bias-busting’ questions to ask your team before you decide on their strategic review, big idea, or major proposal

Most leaders today are aware how ‘cognitive biases’ (e.g. ignoring some new evidence because it contradicts an existing belief you hold) can distort organisational decision-making. The difficulty is that biases are mostly unconscious things and so it can be very Read more…

By Mike Owen, 11 months2021-07-18 ago
Charities and non-profits

Effective strategic leadership for a charity or not-for-profit Board: nine essentials to get right

Strategic leadership is a key responsibility for any board of directors, but in charities and other non-profits it can often be quite a weakness, unfortunately. A key issue is that at very many charities trustees often have limited knowledge of Read more…

By Mike Owen, 1 year2021-06-19 ago
Leadership

Start managing your ‘organisational health’ as rigorously as your financial performance

In today’s fast-changing world where there is often pressure to get results faster, it is tempting for leaders to focus their thinking on the short-term and define goals and projects that will deliver results quickly. Indeed, the move in recent Read more…