KNUCKLEHEAD STRATEGIST
We’re here for those leaders who craft and carry out strategy.
We address the critical interface between a company’s business strategy and the capability of that organization to scout for the right talent in the “game breaker” positions to execute it successfully.
Unlike other firms, we leverage key success factors derived from over 20 years researching the player development systems of championship sports teams.
After years of frustration working with traditional and overly complex succession management approaches, we sought out a framework for aligning strategy with talent by turning to sports.
Our research supported the notion that championship sports teams use scouting approaches transferable to business.
Our framework is a powerful integrating mechanism that distills the essence of a company’s philosophy and objectives into a clear strategy capabilities process.
Using our CHAMPS framework results in creating a scout centric organization.
Talking talent when you talk strategy results in fewer missed opportunities – more wins fewer losses.
Clients include …
Market driven organizations such as American Airlines, DST Output, Wells Fargo Insurance Services, Motorola, NIKE, Applied Materials, The Cooper Companies, will tell you we’ve helped them see strategy in terms of talent capabilities.
We challenge conventional wisdom regarding strategy.
We believe …
There’s a better way to define and measure strategy capabilities, replacing overly complex, time intensive and perfunctory ways of aligning talent with strategy
Building a scout centric organization will reduce the risk of making bad picks thereby improving the likelihood of achieving strategy objectives
Talent evaluation is key. It’s more than interviewing, instruments and tools. We believe the best instrument of evaluation is YOU — leaders need to learn how to become better talent evaluators.
We value …
Being more contrarian! Not for the sake of being provocative, but because it’s a key ingredient in the formula for being a scout. Go beyond conventional and, at times, flawed thinking. “The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.” (Christopher Hitchens)
A belief in recovering knuckleheads. Accept the fact we’re all, at times knuckleheads – stuck in old ways of thinking. We make bad choices; it’s not the end of the world. It’s not that we’re dumb, ill intended or possessed by the devil. The good news is it’s a curable condition if you change how you see talent in terms of strategy capabilities and knowing your talent
Exercising your Imagination. In a word, scouting is imagining. It’s that simple. The more you can recapture the sense of imagining like a kid, the better you’ll be able to project a prospect into a game breaker position.
We advocate …
Helping leaders think talent when they think strategy
Adopting a simple straightforward proven talent evaluation process
Reducing the risk of 7 out of 10 strategies going south.