by Robert Bradford | Jul 1, 2026 | Strategic Thinking
One of the most useful tools for good strategy analysis is systems thinking. Some people think this means you have to treat your business like a computer program, but really it’s simply a way to think through all of the connections that affect your business and how...
by Robert Bradford | Jul 1, 2026 | Strategic Thinking
As you may know from Simplified Strategic Planning, strategy is the course or direction of an enterprise. In business, this revolves around three basic questions: What do we sell? To whom do we sell it? How do we beat – or better yet, avoid – competition? Strategic...
by Robert Bradford | Jul 1, 2026 | Strategic Planning
By Robert W. Bradford Estimates are, simply put, numerical assumptions. In strategic planning, we must deal with a variety of estimates. Some of these estimates are partially under our control (such as our sales number for the coming year) and some of them are...
by Robert Bradford | Jul 1, 2026 | Competitive Strategy
Customer preference is the currency that most of us in business seek. But what do we know about customer preferences – and how can we manage them, strategically? Most of us have a real blind spot when it comes to actually thinking like a customer and finding ways to...
by Robert Bradford | Jul 1, 2026 | Competitive Strategy
Events threaten us strategically for three reasons: They threaten our customers, they threaten displacement of our products or services, or they threaten our competitive position. Each of these types of threats contains an opportunity for innovation hidden within....
