

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving
FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com
CEOs and business leaders, management consulting senior partners, ground-breaking professors, thought-provoking writers and journalists, record-setting athletes and coaches, and award-winning actors and celebrities discuss the key issues facing the business world and broader society.
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Get free access to our newsletter, Monday Morning at 8 am, along with sample episodes from our training programs on www.strategytraining.com. Go to https://www.firmsconsulting.com/promo.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 14, 2024 • 9min
423: Value chain mapping (Strategy Skills classics)
In this podcast, they discuss value chain mapping and its limitations. They emphasize the importance of understanding profit shifts and assigning probabilities. Factors like consumer spending, recession, legislation, and competitors can influence a sector. They caution against being too certain about predicting the future. The chapters cover good, bad, and incomplete value chain analyses, as well as the uncertainty and risk involved.

Feb 12, 2024 • 45min
422: Harvard grad and Cerebral data science team leader, Akshay Swaminathan, on winning with Data Science
Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 422, an interview with the author of Winning with Data Science: A Handbook for Business Leaders. This book is a compelling and comprehensive guide to data science, emphasizing its real-world business applications and focusing on how to collaborate productively with data science teams. The book follows the stories of Kamala and Steve, two professionals who need to collaborate with data science teams to achieve their business goals. Akshay Swaminathan is a data scientist who works on strengthening health systems. He earned a degree in Statistics from Harvard University and is an MD candidate and Knight- Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has more than forty peer-reviewed publications, and his work has been featured in the New York Times. He currently leads the data science team at Cerebral. Get Akshay's book here: https://rb.gy/tievb8 Winning with Data Science: A Handbook for Business Leaders Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Feb 7, 2024 • 48min
421: A Visionary Business Leader and Best Selling Author, Mark A. Mears. What's LOVE Got to Do With Leadership?
Mark A. Mears, best selling author and visionary business leader, discusses the importance of purposeful growth and legacy building. He emphasizes treating employees with respect, increasing engagement and productivity, and taking purposeful action as a leader. The conversation also touches on the challenges of leadership in sectors like electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. The chapter ends with a book recommendation and an invitation to visit the guest's website for self-assessment resources.

Feb 5, 2024 • 8min
420: What a strategy workshop will not give you at the end (Strategy Skills classics)
The podcast discusses the role of strategy workshops in narrowing down ideas and options, and the components of a visioning workshop. It also explores the methods used in strategy workshops, including interviews, benchmarks, case studies, and financial analysis, to identify and validate problems.

Jan 31, 2024 • 9min
419: The one thing every consulting case study must produce (Strategy Skills classics)
This podcast discusses the importance of case studies in decision-making. It emphasizes the power of a single slide in presenting key insights and provides tips on creating effective slides in consulting case studies.

10 snips
Jan 29, 2024 • 10min
418: The most important output in a consulting study | management consulting project | benefits case (Strategy Skills classics)
This podcast explores the importance of presenting a business case or benefits case in management consulting projects. It highlights the role of financial levers in driving profits and discusses how understanding potential benefits helps CEOs make informed decisions and implement organizational changes.

Jan 24, 2024 • 47min
417: A professor of global politics at University College London, Brian Klaas. FLUKE: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters
Brian Klaas, author of Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters, discusses the importance of embracing uncertainty and creating moments of serendipity. He explores the concept of optimization in strategy and the role of culture in decision-making. The podcast also highlights the impact of small disruptions in systems and the need for resilience.

6 snips
Jan 22, 2024 • 10min
416: Consulting workshop best practices (Strategy Skills classics)
In this episode, they discuss consulting workshop best practices, including setting a clear vision, tips for successful strategy workshops, and key factors that separate good workshop runners from average ones. They also talk about staying focused on workshop themes, using first principle analysis, creating simple slides, and pre-presenting to clients.

Jan 17, 2024 • 56min
415: If VCs & Gov. join forces we can solve society's biggest problems. With venture capitalist and lecturer at Stanford University, Arun Gupta
Arun Gupta, venture capitalist and lecturer at Stanford University, discusses how collaboration between Business, Government, and Society can address societal challenges. He emphasizes the need for customer empathy, bridging the gap in government and mission-oriented work, and connecting talent and innovation in government. The importance of trust, incentive systems, and innovation are also explored. The chapter concludes with information on additional resources for further exploration.

Jan 15, 2024 • 18min
414: How to resign from your job the right way (Strategy Skills classics)
Learn how to resign from your job with dignity and grace, avoiding bridges, being part of the inner circle, consequences of improper resignation, breach of trust, and maintaining professional relationships.


