Strategic Impact

Mission Driven Performance Conference - Balanced Scorecards for the Public Sector

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:11:00 -0500

It is hard not to get excited about the Mission-Driven Performance Summit that starts tomorrow in Washington, DC. Drs. Norton and Kaplan are great key notes when it comes to understanding and applying leading edge thinking around the topic of strate... [More]

The Strategy-Focused District: Driving Transformation at Atlanta Public Schools

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:28:00 -0500

Ten years ago, the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) had low and declining student achievement, demoralized teachers, crumbling buildings, high turnover among superintendents (average tenure of two years) and disaffected parents pulling their children... [More]

Preparing for your Strategy Review Meeting with the Balanced Scorecard

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:02:00 -0500

This post continues my thinking on running a successful Balanced Scorecard strategy review meeting. Remember, this review meeting happens quarterly and is focused on strategic issues and not operational information. To set the table for this review... [More]

ClearPoint Strategy Winter '10 Release

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:41:00 -0500

On January 15th we will be releasing the newest features of ClearPoint Strategy, the performance management software. We are calling this release Winter '10 (since it is 2010 and winter time). You can learn about the new features in detail at the C... [More]

Ascendant is Hiring!

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:53:00 -0500

Ascendant Strategy Management Group is looking for a associate consultant in the Washington, DC area to support our rapidly growing public sector practice. As an associate consultant (entry-level) with Ascendant, you'll get a chance to participate ac... [More]

A Tale of Two Cities: Washington, DC and Atlanta, GA

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:30:00 -0500

The Washington, DC school reform effort has been getting a lot of press recently. I think the teachers and administrators in Washington deserve a lot of credit for the advances they've made so far, but I think to really reform the district they have... [More]

The Balanced Scorecard Strategy Review Meeting

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:20:00 -0500

In my previous post, I discussed the easy part of building a scorecard and left us thinking about the hard part of managing with the scorecard. I tried to distinguish between the process of creating objectives and measures with doing something about... [More]

Fixing Charitable Giving

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:19:00 -0500

Pablo Eisenberg rightly points out the crisis facing charitable giving today in today's Wall Street Journal Report. He uses the better of a full page of print to outline his recommendations for how foundations and others can make a difference for no... [More]

Managing with the Balanced Scorecard

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:21:00 -0500

Building a Balanced Scorecard is fun. We have been helping organizations determine what their strategy map, measures, and initiatives are for over 10 years. The process and the product are both enjoyable. Imagine spending time waxing on about your... [More]

Connecting Mission and Strategy

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:21:00 -0500

A few years ago, V. Kasturi Rangan from Harvard Business School argued that nonprofits need to have more than just a lofty mission to survive. In his article, entitled "Lofty Missions, Down-to-Earth Plans," he argued that nonprofits need a systemati... [More]

When times are tough, you should increase your focus on strategy

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:18:00 -0500

I was perusing an article from the Nonprofit Times published back in November of last year, Layoffs Hitting Nonprofits Despite Need Increasing. The article of course focused on the fact that in an economic crisis, the need for social service nonprof... [More]

Venture Philanthropy

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:54:00 -0500

The Wall Street Journal weekend edition last weekend covered Eli Broad and his philanthropy. If you don't know, Mr. Broad is retired from for-profit jobs where he founded two Fortune 500 companies. He lives in Los Angeles and manages a foundation w... [More]

Nonprofit Coordinating Committee - Workshop

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:21:00 -0500

On Tuesday of this week, I facilitated a 2.5 hour session called measuring and managing your strategy. I had a choice. I could teach to a case, and get participants from 30 organizations to all work on the same material, or I could ask them to buil... [More]

High commitment drives performance

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:51:00 -0500

I read an interesting article in the Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge website. It is essentially a book review of esteemed professor Michael Beer. His new book is called High Commitment High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organizat... [More]

InsideNGO - 2009 Annual Meeting - Update

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:30:00 -0500

Yesterday, InsideNGO kicked off their week-long annual meeting in Washington, DC. The first few days focus on Finance, Grants, Contracts, and Personal/Professional Development. The next few days focuses on Human Resources. Ascendant and one of our... [More]