OK, I forgot to finish my story about my plane flight and the nice woman who was so poorly introduced to the Balanced Scorecard by her University. Well, it turns out that she did have some established goals in her department, and at the end of the year, she was evaluated on these goals as well as several other measures as part of her Balanced Scorecard review. She said "it would have been nice if they would have told me what they were measuring before they gave me the evaluation." I responded, in a very sophisticated manner, "Duh!"

So, I'm not much of a person to talk to people when I'm on an airplane. I guess I don't like to chit chat much, and what are the chances I'm ever going to see that person again. But I was on a plane last week, and the flight was delayed. The woman next to me was trying to meet her son back in Washington, DC for dinner. I told her she would miss the dinner as soon as I noticed the United purser whispering to an attendant from the gate. It turns out that we had to switch planes. My row-mate asked me what I did for a living, and I mumbled something about strategy consulting and the Balanced Scorecard. She said "Oh I hate that thing, the concept is so old!" Well that got my attention.

I have been asked about strategy review meetings on a more frequent basis. The most recent one was "Tell me about the best strategy review meeting you have seen. Why was it so good?" It got me thinking that there are multiple ways to conduct a strategy review meeting: Review objectives that are off track, review everything, review by theme, and review just one objective. In this blog, I'll focus on reviewing just one objective.

In the previous post of this series, we followed the microfinance institution as it went through the process of creating objectives for the strategy map and developing the corresponding measures and initiatives. Now that the strategy was in place, everyone in the organization was eager to begin achieving. This post will take a peek into the first strategy review meeting and provide a brief update on the microfinance institution's progress.

I have been asked about strategy review meetings on a more frequent basis. The most recent one was "Tell me about the best strategy review meeting you have seen. Why was it so good?" It got me thinking that there are multiple ways to conduct a strategy review meeting: Review objectives that are off track, review everything, review by theme, and review just one objective. In this blog, I'll focus on reviewing by theme.

In part two of this series, we followed the microfinance institution as it learned the importance of having an effective mission statement. After drafting and agreeing upon a mission statement, everyone leaned back in their chair and seemed to be content with what they had just done. Eventually, after a few minutes went by, one of the board members asked, "acum ce?" This is Romanian for "now what?"

Has your GPS ever failed you? You know that moment of panic when said robot voice tells you to "turn left...in...50 feet" onto a road closed for repairs? "OH NO – these directions LIED, my plans are shot to pieces, AND I'm going to be late that big meeting!" Strategic planning is not so different...

What is a mission statement? What makes a mission statement effective? How do you become mission-driven? These were just a few of the questions that the microfinance institution in Moldova found themselves asking as they began the Balanced Scorecard process.

City Newspaper in Rochester, New York, recently published an article about their soon-to-be-ex superintendent, Jean-Claude Brizard. As a native of Rochester, and someone who has had the privilege of working with Jean-Claude in the Rochester City School District, I wanted to highlight this article. I think it does an excellent job of laying out some of the challenges facing urban districts -- and urban superintendents -- today.

Dave Eggers had an op-ed in the New York Times this weekend entitled The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries. In it, he argues effectively for paying teachers more. And in theory, I agree. Why wouldn't we pay teachers more for doing a job that is critical to the future of our country? Aren't our children worth it?