Andrea Olson

Innovation doesn't come from more experts in the room. It comes from the people you're not listening to.

Most performance reviews measure outcomes, not outlooks. That's exactly why they fail. If you want real results, stop grading employees on perfection and start evaluating how they think, adapt and drive strategy forward.

Well-intentioned fixes like reorgs and mission rewrites often backfire. Here's how leaders can avoid making improvements that make things worse.

Your strategy isn't stuck because of change resistance, poor communication or a bad plan. It's stuck because of persistent myths.

Companies love to roll out refreshed strategies and shiny new mission statements — but if nothing really changes on the ground, what's the point?

Bullet points fade. Stories stick. If you want your message to land, not just get heard, use these five proven storytelling frameworks to turn dry content into something people actually remember.

Teams aren't paralyzed by change — they're paralyzed by leaders who won't make a decision. When clarity is replaced with hesitation, even the best teams stall out, waiting for someone to step up and lead.

Executives performing strategic leadership without substance create cynicism, waste resources and undermine organizational effectiveness.

This aspirational statement is more damaging to customer satisfaction and loyalty than you think.

"Idea Bombing" happens when leaders constantly disrupt team priorities with new ideas, causing chaos and hindering productivity. To prevent it, leaders should prioritize transparently, create decision-making buffers, and build a culture focused on execution.

What leaders think they know can cause narrowed thinking, limiting the ability to solve complex problems.

Thomas Edison did not invent the lightbulb. Many people believe he did due to successful branding and narrative-building.

Successful strategy implementation hinges not on perfect plans, but on leaders addressing the hidden psychological and cultural barriers within their organization that often sabotage execution.

When we're trying to reach a goal, we lose sight of the fact that we need to make tradeoffs. Goals aren't as simple as a proclamation — they are part of a bigger strategy.

Traditional mission statements focus on the company, not the customer. To create a more customer-centric organization, start with changing your mission statement by giving it an external focus.

Instead of examining all the options and offerings to add, consider what you should remove, redesign, and eliminate.

The customer experience boils down to behaviors, mindset and organizational culture.

If you believe your organization is unique because you focus on quality, service or customer success, be prepared to have your marketing messages ignored.

Exceptional service goes beyond superficial platitudes and basic hospitality.

Companies spend big budgets on promoting products, but sales come from focusing on what really drives decisions.

Organizations can't succeed if they don't know what success means

In business, we rely on formulas to guarantee future success. However, formulas have flaws.

Change consistently breeds organizational anxiety. Instead of fighting this resistance, you need to learn how to embrace it.

Working managers often have to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to get the work done. However, this behavior doesn't actually help productivity or organizational growth.

It is essential to know the who, where and why before putting the strategic pen to paper.

The problem isn't your team or your processes.

Positioning has become a lost art in recent years. Brought to the forefront back in 2001, this approach to differentiation is in desperate need of a comeback.

Immersing yourself in another company could spark new ideas for your own. Here's how to get started.