First off – we’re big fans of Henry Mintzberg – he’s a mandatory part of the syllabus for everyone in our workshops.
“But surely we have enough cold love in our economies. So please a little more attention to Peterianism, with or without Porterianism.” Have a read and tell us what you think: http://www.mintzberg.org/blog/porterian-and-peterian-performance
We adapt some traditional models like Porter’s 5 forces into a future vision context – our methodology chart activates what Henry Mintzberg refers to as Peterianism with Porteranism.
In our experiential workshops we focus on Horizon 1 business improvement activities that align with Porter’s view of strategy as competitive advantage. The difference is, we’d like to think that we do it with “soul” not the cold love of our typical economies bemoaned by Mintzberg. We do it by engaging front line staff and their benchtime – in continuous improvement, in small teams, interactions with diverse functions/stakeholders and with an alignment to a future vision – in essence organizational excellence.
You still have to chop wood and haul water – but with a smirk – because you know why you’re doing it and how you’re transitioning to a new world. It’s like that quote about teaching people to long for the immensity of the sea – to look to the horizon – all the little assigned tasks will just automatically happen and will be continually improved on.