Our Top 10 Blog Posts of 2017

As we come to the close of 2017, it is a time to reflect and assess. It is also an excellent time to catch on up that reading you have wanted to do all along. To help you catch up on the most popular blogs on my site, I am sharing a list of our top 10 blog posts of 2017. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as our regular site visitors did

1. Why P&G Should roll out a red carpet for Nelson Peltz

P&G and Nelson Peltz faced off each other in a proxy battle in 2017. Peltz’s company acquired a substantial stake in P&G and asked for a board seat. Management declined the request. This led to a very public proxy fight which ended up with a recount, and eventually Nelson Peltz getting a board seat.

In this blog, I analyzed the situation of P&G and made a case that P&G should not fight Peltz and instead should roll out a red carpet for him. I also disclosed that I was voting for Peltz and against the management. This blog was so popular that it rose to among the most read posts very quickly.

2. The Art of Argument: Powerful Lessons You can Learn from P&G Vs. Peltz Proxy Battle

I was carefully watching the P&G – Peltz proxy fight unfold in the media. It was an excellent opportunity to analyze how the two parties made their case to the shareholders. In this blog, I deconstructed the arguments that both P&G and Peltz made and explained their pros and cons. This post distilled some powerful lessons on making a case. But it also goes beyond the structure of the argument to audience analysis.

3. P&G, Peltz, and the Future of American Exceptionalism

In the third and the final article on P&G Vs. Peltz proxy fight, I decided to draw some lessons from another proxy fight from history books. In this article, I shared the case of T. Boone Pickens and his fight with Kyoto manufacturing in Japan. The analysis shows that due to a massive change at the heart of corporate governance in the US, American exceptionalism may be under threat.

4. How to Become a Strategist?

If you are in the world of business, you need to know the essence of being a business strategist. You can be a strategist even as a finance manager, or a marketing manager or an IT manager. By developing the skills of a strategist, you can become a more impactful business leader.

This blog post is a distilled version a  strategy course I have been teaching MBA/EMBA students and business managers for over a decade. It gives you an excellent overview of the various aspects of becoming a strategist. This blog and the linked 12 lessons in strategy led to the creation an online course titled “Becoming a Strategist.” Today, you can enjoy this program in two versions –  An Introduction to Becoming A Strategist and Becoming a Strategist – Advanced. Check them out at our recently launched online academy.

5. How to deal with ambiguity?

Business life is marked by highly ambiguous situations. Ambiguous situations can overwhelm junior and senior managers alike. Learn the four drivers of ambiguity in business and tips on dealing with it. This skill can help you manage bigger roles and climb the corporate ladder faster. The article gives you some powerful pointers in understanding and dealing with ambiguity.

6.  Five types of emergent innovation strategies

Where do innovation strategies come from? At least a lot of them are emergent strategies. Do you know the five types of emergent innovation strategies? Find out what they are and when they fail. The blog shared pros and cons of five kinds of emergent strategies found in organizations.

7. Five benefits of a deliberate innovation strategy

Did you know that many firms use an emergent innovation strategy? Many emergent innovation strategies come about on a regular basis. Often such emergent strategies are helpful because they use the deep wisdom of firms. But there are significant limitations to emergent strategies. This article shows you the five key benefits you stand to reap if you design a deliberate innovation strategy instead of relying on emergent strategies.

8. Ten books that shaped my thinking on management

In this blog, I stepped back and reflected on the books that have created my worldview on business management. It made me realize that most of those books were serious works of management scholars. In this article, I share the top ten books that shaped my thinking on management and strategy. Each of these books is worth its weight in gold for me.

9. The essence of a strategist

Being a competent strategist will make you a better manager and leader. In this prelude to an audio lesson on strategy, I reflected on what it means to be a strategist. What are the three key skills needed for you to become a strategist? It also points to a fascinating story of how New York Police Chief William Bratton turned around New York City. It is a story of a strategist in action that teaches the key skills of a strategist.

10. How to introduce yourself?

We all introduce ourselves frequently, but have you ever stepped back to think if your introduction is the right one? There are effective and ineffective ways to present yourself. This article explains how to build a successful introduction and what to consider when crafting one.

I hope you will enjoy these most popular blogs in 2017 as you spend time planning for 2018. Wish you a happy new year!