Ed and Ron reflected on the lessons from the two-day workshop, The Post-Professional Society, they led in Niagara Falls for Strategic Leadership Association. If you are interested in joining this organization check them out.

We discussed the Question Formulation Technique exercise, developed by The Right Question Institute, and how powerful it is to think in questions rather than brainstorming ideas.

There’s much less anxiety; good questions can come from anyone; and everyone tends to agree on what a great question is, as opposed to an idea that can be challenged.

We also discussed the books: A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, and Kevin Kelly’s latest book, The Inevitable, where he lists his eight types of Generative Value.

Here is a copy of the slide deck we used with the topics discussed above.

Reflections on the post professional society from Ed Kless

Listener Email

We received the following email from Mark, who suggests a topic we will address in a future show:

I'm working here in my office today listening to you and Ed in the background.Just finished your conversation with Thomas Sowell--wow, outstanding.

As a CFO, my biggest frustration is the 25 flavors of strategic planning. Too much, too many connect-the-dots, too unproductive. So the brainstorm is to have a show about building off-site planning (if any) about what the customer values most. One of my clients is going through Verne Harnish's Scaling Up. One is going through Wickman's E.O.S. But the focus is on internal factors, not what matters to the customer.

I would love to hear your perspective on planning (short, mid, long-term). And just for fun, pick up Stacy Barr's book on Performance Measurement as an example of how these strategy planning processes are too extreme.

Thankfully, Dan Sullivan of the Strategic Coach (I'm in year 4) gets this right through his lingo - Front Stage, Back Stage. So he's making sure our planning is always with the customer and what they value at top of mind.

One last comment. I read the Firm of the Future back in 2004 thanks to a recommendation by Gary Boomer. It ranks right up there with The Goal. Keep writing!! You guys rock. Mark

Thanks, Mark, we think you and all our listeners ROCK!