Strategy & Tactics
4/7/17
Who’s coming to your next meeting? Flame throwers, feral cats and posers
We all know that anxiety and stress can bring out the worst in people. They go to extremes in behavior as they attempt to navigate unknowns and exacerbating risks. An inability to cope leads to three behaviors. The flame thrower – this person may initially show up as the conversation dominator who simply must have […]
By Karla RainesRead More
3/31/17
Moving from customers to patrons
One of the most important drivers of long-term success for nonprofit organizations is having a solid financial model. It’s often one of the primarily areas of focus when Corona assists organizations in the development of a strategic plan. Typically, some combination of unearned income (such as grants or donations) and earned income (such as goods […]
By Matt HerndonRead More
3/29/17
Welcome to the consumer era: When engagement drives change
It’s inescapable. Every day I see more and more examples of it. Consumer behavior is at the core of sweeping industry change. Too often we get caught up in thinking about technology as the disruptor and forget that people are at the heart of the transformations all around us. Here are four examples from this […]
By Karla RainesRead More
3/13/17
From engaging to capturing – rethinking business models that stick
As a strategist, I’m frequently looking over the horizon to see what’s next. At other times, you’ll see me scanning side-to-side looking for forces that may be coming together in new or unexpected ways. Sometimes hindsight puts much of it into perspective. Looking back at 2008 it occurs me that I was well ahead of […]
By Karla RainesRead More
12/22/16
Does This Survey Make Sense?
It’s pretty common for Corona to combine qualitative and quantitative research in a lot of our projects. We will often use qualitative work to inform what we need to ask about in qualitative phases of the research, or use qualitative research to better understand the nuances of what we learned in the quantitative phase. But […]
By Mollie BoettcherRead More
10/19/16
Strategy in an era of unpredictability
The strategic planning process that is used by many today was created decades ago during a more predictable time. By nature, the process is based on an underlying assumption, namely that changes and trends in the external environment can be predicted with some certainty. So, what about changes that can’t be predicted? Or are unprecedented […]
By Karla RainesRead More
6/10/16
Shhhhhhhh!! Did you know there are three secrets to strategic success?
I’m often asked, “How can we ensure our strategic plan doesn’t sit on a shelf?” The question typically arises as executives and boards consider how best to approach the planning process – and which consultant can facilitate a successful outcome. By its very nature, a strategic planning process raises expectations and anxiety. And no plan […]
By Karla RainesRead More
3/22/16
Making improvements through A/B testing
Did you know that when you visit Amazon.com the homepage you see may be different than the one someone else sees, even beyond the normal personalized recommendations? It’s been widely reported how Amazon is continually tweaking their homepage by running experiments, or A/B tests (sometimes referred to as split tests), to tease out what makes a […]
By David KennedyRead More
3/9/16
Where are we now? The new next era nonprofit
I spent the other afternoon sitting around a large table chatting with professionals from across the sector about leadership, and the competencies that an effective leader will need in 2025. As we were chatting about today’s realities – and the social, political, technical and economic factors affecting nonprofits – it struck me that we’ve been here […]
By Karla RainesRead More
12/10/15
Reluctance: the antithesis of leadership
All too often strategic success is stymied by reluctant leadership. Reluctance can be seen in behaviors small and large. In essence it’s a failure to act. That action may be as simple as stepping up to fill a gap. Those small misses create a culture of excuses, shrugged shoulders, and not heeding the call for […]
By Karla RainesRead More