An Order of Perspective With A Side Of Innovation

How do you re-energize strategic meetings that seems to fall flat, or worse- are too complacent with everyone simply nodding their heads in agreement?

Companies that have been successful in building a dynamic team of members in alignment with the organization’s core values and purpose, could eventually run the risk of lack of perspective.  When all your cooks are preparing the same recipe, who do you get to taste test it?  How do you know when you need to add a little more spice?

Every so often, companies need to invite an industry expert to dinner.  You set out your best china- your company structure, your differentiators.  They bring the wine- their expertise and experiences, and you sit down to a meal.  The result is not only an opportunity to measure your organization’s role within the industry, but as often happens during good conversation over a meal- you find yourself engaged in thought provoking topics.

Having an industry expert present at an occasional strategic meeting provides an energetic perspective that solidifies into action plans.  Participants in the strategic meeting should come prepared with questions and a basic agenda.  The invited expert should be provided with key points to address prior to the meeting.  Some possible ideas include:

• What do you believe are pain points for (key members) in our industry?
• What type of growth have you witnessed in the industry?
• What are the best practices you see being used collectively in the industry or by the competition?
• What are the latest industry trends?

Having a dialogue with an industry expert within the structure of a strategic meeting, is an invaluable tool to have an impartial observer qualify and possibly direct your organization’s strategic objectives and initiatives.