The Talent Stack: Differentiating Between Values, Abilities and Skills When Evaluating People

Let’s talk about talent.

More specifically, how to identify and assess people who are best suited to ‘click’ seamlessly with your corporate culture, deliver meaningful impact and results effectively and quickly. The Talent Stack is a powerful framework that helps focus your attention on the right people attributes and candidate qualifications, and in the right order of strategic priority.

I was first introduced to the concept of “Values, Abilities and Skills” by Ray Dalio during my time at Bridgewater. One of his (now famous) “Principles” was that we should look at people as having these three very different tiers of qualifications or attributes that should not be commingled together, with values being most important and skills the least.

The Strategy Checklist, Part 2: A Closer Look at Each Step of the Strategy Process

Let’s talk some more about strategic planning.

More specifically, the detailed steps comprising the end-to-end process of developing and executing a compelling and cohesive corporate strategy.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, I introduced The Strategy Checklist framework (see Figure 1). And in this article, I delve into each step of the process to demonstrate how it can be used by strategy executives and business leaders to orchestrate an end-to-end strategy process that connects a company’s values and vision with its strategic plan, and drives results that advance its long-term objectives.

The Growth Cube: A Practical Framework for Engineering Business Model Expansion

Let’s talk about growth.

More specifically, a practical framework (The Growth Cube) for developing a comprehensive growth strategy along three capability dimensions most relevant to realizing the full potential of a company’s business model: product portfolio, geographic presence, and vertical segment penetration.

Principal Axes: The Three Capability Dimensions That Propel Corporate Strategy

Let’s talk about strategy.

More specifically, corporate strategy as a functional discipline, the fundamental value it creates (or should create) for an organization and its people, and the capabilities it requires in order to succeed.

This article is the first in a series that looks at strategy pragmatically, from a business operator’s point of view, and explores some practical, proven recipes to create and utilize a corporate strategy function that drives meaningful value. It’s my humble contribution to introducing some standards, common frameworks and best practices for strategy as a functional discipline. In this piece, I focus on the fundamental purpose and value of strategy, and I introduce the 'Principal Axes' framework to showcase the capabilities that need to be in place to realize that purpose and value.