Taking stock...

The rural LWOE HQ has been increasingly surrounded by shades of auburn and gold as autumn has gently crept up on us. Though today was the first day of serious autumnal weather - bucketing down for hours...

Yet this little chap isn't a country critter; he was hanging out near London's Old Street tube station when I was on a trip to the city. It was a fairly bleak day and I assume he was starting to batten down the hatches (or whatever the squirrel equivalent might be...) in anticipation of winter.

A wise move, I reckon.

This has been a crazy, brilliant year at VI, but by the time I'm pulling on pullovers, I realise I'm  already starting to wonder about what the new year will bring. This activist strategy has it's advantages but first, I'm trying to find some space in the diary for a few moments of reflection.  

Like our clients, VI faces increasingly turbulent, uncertain environments, and I am becoming a strong advocate of developing reflexive thinking as one method for finding our way through to resilient and sustainable performance.  If we can start to understand how we 'see' the strategic space then we can understand more of our blind spots and habitual patterns - both of which critically impact our ability to think clearly and act effectively. 

The trick in much of this seems to be that, for the particularly task orientated of us, taking time to think reflexively, thinking about how we think, doesn't feel like work and can seem self-indulgent.  'Just thinking' isn't enough and we should be 'doing' something.

But over the coming months, as the cold, wet weather becomes a more frequent part of our day to day lives, take some time to hole-up and consider how the way you have been thinking has served you. Developing your reflexive capability will test and ground your process while  helping you set effective strategies for the future. 

Be more squirrel.

It's a key strategic move....