Patrick Thean's Personal Blog

2023 Annual Planning Process: Brainstorming 20 Ways to Beat the Annual Targets

We were working on a CEO's plan for the next year when I noticed his team fidgeting and looking uncomfortable during our planning session...

Your Priority Areas for the Next Quarter: Effective Goal Examples

A new quarter is starting. It is time to discuss, prioritize and choose your top priorities for the new quarter. How do you do this? How do..

7 Keys to Mastering the Rockefeller Habits One Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)

I was in Jakarta speaking at Taipan 2013. We had the strongest showing at Taipan ever with 220 people! CEOs with their teams worked hard on.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Strategy Execution

Strategy vs Execution: Don't Confuse Strategic Thinking and Strategy Execution

It is easy to confuse your strategy and your 3-year strategic plan. I have seen somany leaders tell me that they have a great strategy...

How CEOs Succeed - Achieve a Top Valuation through Strategy Execution [Client Spotlight]

Congratulations to Jeff Berstein, and the ImageFIRST Team! Calera Capital, a private equity firm, acquired a majority share of ImageFIRST,..

3 Year Strategic Plan: How to Achieve your 3 Year Strategy

There are many views or definitions of strategy. Renowned Harvard Business School professor and strategy expert Michael Porter provided..

EO Edmonton Presentation

Thank you, EO Edmonton. I had a great afternoon with you. Attached is the PDF of the slides from today's SuperGreen Execution workshop.

How to Build a Great Company with a High Performance Culture

We had a wonderful Breakthrough Conference this year that helped hundreds of middle market managers and CEOs achieve breakthrough..

Creating KPIs: How to Create a KPI in 5 Simple Steps (Updated for 2020)

The common mistake many companies make is to start creating a bunch of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for their company. They start..

Why CEOs Fail and Why You Cannot Wait For The Right CEO To Save You

In 1999, CEO consultant Ram Charan and Fortune's Geoffrey Colvin wrote an article on why CEOs fail. They studied over 40 failed CEOs and..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Breakthrough Execution: What Top Performing Companies Do Differently

Sean K., one of our lucky Valentine's contest winners, asked, "What are the Top 3 characteristics of the companies you work with or study..

Culture is Key to Breakthrough Execution with Mergers and Acquisitions

How do you define success when buying a company? People buy companies for a number of reasons: to increase revenue growth, to acquire new..

4 Tips to Use Dashboards Well for Stronger Execution

Tip 1: Focus on the problem, not the people.

When Dutch Valley Food Distributors first used Red-Yellow-Green in their Weekly Team Meetings..

Topics: Strategy Execution

How Successful Leaders Set Goals to Finish the Year Strong [Video]

It’s time to plan your fourth quarter and finish the year strong! One of the reasons plans fail is due to poorly defined goals and..

Adjust Like Elon Musk and Tesla to Achieve Your Dreams and Goals

How badly do you want to achieve your goals? Many people quit too early, at the first sign of distress or the first pangs of pain. Tesla..

Topics: Strategy Execution

How CEOs Should Diagnose the Root Cause of Missed Growth Strategies

Jack asked me to review his execution plan. His team was missing their profit and revenue goals, and he wanted to figure out the..

No, Your Strategy Does Not Suck - You Just Have Too Many Good Ideas [Video]

“Patrick, my strategy sucks! I am not getting the results and growth that I want. What should I do?” I get this question quite often. On..

Getting Things Done and Dreams Executed

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I had the opportunity to spend some time with David Allen, author of Getting Things Done. David is the..

Topics: Strategy Execution

How to Set Clear Goals for Your Priorities

Priorities—not to be mistaken for KPIs —outline the work you plan on doing in a given amount of time in order to achieve your desired..

Topics: Strategy Execution

The Power of SMART Goals Made Simple [Video]

SMART goals provide clarity and can accelerate your success. Conversely, poorly written goals will waste time and resources and frustrate..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Rhythm: So Simple a 14-year-old Can Explain It (Video)

Last summer, Nicole, my 14-year-old daughter, walked into my home office and asked “Daddy, can I intern with you this summer?” I replied..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Annual Planning Tips (Annual Planning - 2017)

Happy New Year to our friends and customers! Here is to a great 2012.

As you begin your new year, here are a couple of ideas and..

Skate to Where the Puck is Going During Annual Planning (Annual Planning - 2017)

We are getting into Q4. It is a good time to begin thinking about what the plan for the next year is going to be. Consider how you will..

Budget for Leadership Development in Your Annual Planning Process (Annual Planning - 2017)

John Maxwell's Law #1 is the Law of the Leadership Lid (in his book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership"). This law states that a..

Annual Planning Webcast Q&A (Annual Planning - 2017)

Thank you to everyone for attending my webcast on Friday. I have received feedback that it was very helpful as everyone starts to get..

Visualize a Great Year During Your Annual Planning Session (Annual Planning - 2017)

I visited Disney World 30 years ago when Epcot was new. I was still in college and was traveling with a couple of friends. The Disney..

Don't Confuse Strategic Thinking And Execution Planning (Annual Planning - 2017)

It is easy to confuse your strategy and your strategic plan. I have seen so many leaders tell me that they have a strategy. Yet, when..

Rhythm Client Achieved $1.4 Billion Valuation

Yesterday was a big day for Michael Praeger, CEO of AvidXchange. No… Sorry, it was a huge day! Yesterday, Michael had press conference at..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Coming Soon - Predictable Results

We had many exciting moments on the first day of our Breakthrough Conference yesterday. And, I was so happy to end it with a story from one..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Our First Breakthrough Execution Conference

For the past five years, we've been dreaming of hosting a conference. This week our dream came true, and it was better than anything I..

How Rhythm Helps You to Control Execution and Stay Focused

The job description of a CEO seems endless. He or she is responsible for the company’s vision, strategy, people, recruiting, product or..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Rhythm Now: Focus on What Needs Attention

Have you ever had a day where you felt so busy, but had no clue where to start or what to focus on first? Many of us struggle with taking..

Topics: Strategy Execution

How to Use A Culture of Execution as a Competitive Advantage

AvidXchange, a long time Rhythm client, recently told me a story about how their culture made the difference in accelerating sales. A..

Vote for Rhythm!

We are honored to share with you that the Rhythm book has been nominated for the Small Business Book Awards in the management category. The..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Introducing the First-Ever Breakthrough Execution Conference

“Hey, we should have a conference for our Rhythm users. You know, a user conference,” I suggested. Ryan replied, “Yes, that would be a lot..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Breakthrough Execution - 4 Steps to Executing a Successful Quarter

I recently facilitated a client’s quarterly planning session. They really do a great job, having the discipline to spend two days planning..

Celebrate Your Victories and Bright Spots - It’s a 20 Mile March

It’s the end of the year. We are finishing up this year and preparing for the next year. Are you a glass half full person or a glass half..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Breakthrough Execution - How to Inspire Your Team to Deliver Great Execution

I was recently in Brunnen, Switzerland, facilitating an annual planning session for Veeam Software. Veeam is a hyper-growth software..

Time to De-Suck Your Social Media Rhythm and Get Inbound Leads

I had a great time at Hubspot's Inbound Conference. Hubspot says that they have a revolution going as they lead many people to shift from..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Oops, We Goofed! Execute A 4 Step Customer Retention Process

I am in Boston at Hubspot’s Inbound 2014 conference. It’s been a long day and I’ve got to get back to my hotel. Instead of hailing a taxi,..

Is It Crazy to Rebrand and Launch a Product at the Same Time?

Actually... No, it is not. It sounded crazy at first, but we began to realize that many of the things we needed to do for rebranding were..

Topics: Strategy Execution

5 Tips to Retain Customers When You Rebrand

We are well on our way to owning the word “Rhythm” in our market. Our software is Rhythm, our blog is Rhythm Blog, and our book is also..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Introducing Rhythm Systems: Rebranding to Achieve Focus

For the last 6 years, our team has worked hard with Rhythm software and coaching to help many companies execute well and achieve..

Topics: Strategy Execution

How’s Your Quarterly Plan Coming Along? Pay Attention This Week!

Are you ready for weeks 4, 5 and 6? With more than 100,000+ priorities planned and executed in Rhythm, we’ve begun to apply Rhythm research..

Execution Newsflash! 5 Tips to Help You Pay Special Attention During Weeks 4, 5, and 6

Every quarter is made up of 13 weeks. To be successful, run it like a 13-Week Race. So how is your 13-Week Race coming along? We are about..

Going Back and Giving Back

I was invited to speak on Rhythm and goal setting at Cornell University’s Engineering Leadership Certification class last week. It was..

Topics: Strategy Execution

4 Pitfalls That Slow Down Execution and How to Fix Them

How do you know if your company is set up for great execution? Most people would say that they want an environment that allows and..

Thank You!

I wanted to pause for a bit and thank our friends and customers for helping to launch my new book, Rhythm - How to Achieve Breakthrough..

Topics: Strategy Execution

What Can an Amazing Winning Olympic Crew Team Teach You About Execution?

I was researching stories of great execution for my book Rhythm: How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth. I came..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Rhythm Blog by Patrick Thean – Launching Rhythm: How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth

These are very exciting days at Rhythm Systems. We are changing this blog from "Patrick Thean's Blog" to "Rhythm Blog - by Patrick." Over..

The Power Of Writing A Book: The Author Learns The Most!

I thought it took me three years to write my new book, Rhythm - How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth, until I..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Rhythm - How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth

All companies that reach out to Rhythm Systems to explore how we might help them have one thing in common. They believe that they need to..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Lessons on Execution: What Happens When You Ask an Entrepreneur to Run a University?

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Stephen Spinelli at Philadelphia University (PhilaU) where Dr. Spinelli serves as the..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Is Your Team Building Skills to Manage a Company Twice the Size of Your Current Company?

Life was great. I was experiencing explosive growth. It felt like we were on a rocket going to the moon! Everything felt great. Then one..

Execute Strongly by Being Accountable. Use Dashboards on a Weekly Do Rhythm

Guest Satisfaction Scores. Hotels live and die by them. Hotel management and operating companies like White Lodging even more so. Dave..

Are You Making the Right Adjustments to Achieve Your Goals?

I have helped numerous companies with their execution plans over the years. One pattern shows itself almost every time. The original..

Sharpen Your Saw by Going Fishing

Stephen Covey's 7th habit is to "sharpen the saw." This habit is about rejuvenating yourself and your teams. It's about working on being..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Great Execution Requires Persistence

I was walking towards my gate at the Charlotte airport, and I heard a young boy ask his dad, "Dad, look! Cinnamon buns! Can I have one?"..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Visualize a Great Year During Your Annual Planning Session

I visited Disney World 30 years ago when Epcot was new. I was still in college and was traveling with a couple of friends. The Disney..

Budget for Leadership Development in Your Annual Planning Process

John Maxwell's Law #1 is the Law of the Leadership Lid (in his book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership"). This law states that a..

Skate to Where the Puck is Going During Annual Planning

We are getting into Q4. It is a good time to begin thinking about what the plan for the next year is going to be. Consider how you will..

Business Execution - Adjustments to Consider For Your Summer Quarter

August just started - the second month of your summer quarter. Summer can be a little unpredictable and can easily mess up your business..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Business Execution - Getting Focused!

It takes discipline to focus. Many of us might fool ourselves into thinking we are focused. Here are some signs that you may not be as..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Business Execution: Great Meetings - Begin with the End In Mind

Meetings are a necessary part of business execution. Often times, the quality of your meetings and the timing of your meetings have great..

Remembering Stephen Covey - Thank you for your 7 Habits

Stephen Covey passed away this week on July 16th, 2012. I was very sad to hear of his passing. Hewas one of the great all time authors...

Business Execution: Build an MVP (Minimal Viable Product)

Avidxchange is a software company working hard to provide the best ePayment (electronic payment) service to mid market companies. Their..

Topics: Strategy Execution

What's Your 20 Mile March? Do You Have Great Business Execution?

It was great to catch Jim Collins at the last Leadership Summit in Atlanta. Jim connected the dots of how his four books (Built To Last, ..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Key Learnings from the Entrepreneurial Masters Program in real-time

I am back at the MIT Endicott House in Dedham, MA, chairing year 2 of EO's EMP (Entrepreneurial Masters Program) this week. This is one..

Topics: Strategy Execution

UBA Breakout Session - Make the Right Adjustments in Your Weekly Meeting to Win

After my keynote session yesterday in Chicago at UBA's (United Benefit Advisors) 2012 Spring Meeting, we continued into a breakout..

UBA Keynote - Differentiate, Execute, Win

I had a great keynote session today in Chicago at UBA's (United Benefit Advisors) 2012 Spring Meeting. Thank you for the warm welcome! ..

Mastering the complex sale - Taipan Masterclass 2012

Jeff Thull, author of Mastering the Complex Sale, was my guest speaker at the Taipan Masterclass 2012 in Manila Philippines. I first..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Taipan Masterclass 2012 - Business Execution with Topgrading

I just came back from speaking at the Taipan Masterclass 2012, held in Manila Philippines. We had a blast! My hosts in Manila were such..

Business Execution: A Disciplined Meeting Rhythm

Greg Slamowitz, a long time client, has done a great job implementing a strong and disciplined meeting rhythm that works well for his..

Rhythm Mobile for the iPad Released, Complements Rhythm Online

Rhythm Mobile for the iPad was just released a few weeks ago. We just made business execution mobile for our customers. I am thrilled..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Get Aligned! Don't let Elephants Derail Your Business Execution!

Q2 has already started. We should all be off and running on our 13 week race. Strong business execution needs a good rhythm. I like to..

Leadership for Strong Business Execution

Leadership is often one of the surprising missing elements in business execution. You can have the best ideas and a strong desire to..

Picking A KPI That Motivates Your Team (Video)

Krister Ungerboeck, CEO of Ungerboeck Software shared his learning with me on using KPIs recently "We're often faced with priorities where..

Business Execution: Are You Looking At Your Competition Correctly?

It is important to know who your competitors are. Without clear vision of your competitors, how will you design strategies that make you..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Your Last Touch With Your Customer Is The Most Important One

I just got off a wonderful cruise. My family played for a week and I wrote for a week. It's what I needed to get into the zone to birth ..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Is Your Business Execution "SMART"?

I was with a client, trying to accelerate his business execution and create a habit to be sure his priorities were not random but they..

Strong Core Values Drive Great Business Execution

Great companies have great business execution in part because they have strong core values. If you are motivated by Tiffany's post "8..

Is Your Execution Connected to Your Strategy?

How do you know if your execution is connected to your strategy? Do you have 3 key winning moves in your company strategy that you are..

Are Your Decisions Tough To Make? Or Merely Tough To Execute On?

Many of us often struggle with making decisions. The tough decisions. I have found that there actually are only a few decisions that..

Focus On Learnings And Decisions In All Your Meetings

Meetings are very expensive. Especially executive team meetings. Here is a quick tip to get the most value out of your meetings. Focus..

Build A Depth Chart For Your Key Execution Seats

NFL teams have a depth chart for their positions. If the starting quarterback is lost to injury, the backup takes over. If the backup is..

New Year Resolution: A Better Version of Yourself

Daniel Pink's book Drive talks about what really motivates people. His research shows that people are motivated by these 3 things:..

Annual Planning Tips

Happy New Year to our friends and customers! Here is to a great 2012.

As you begin your new year, here are a couple of ideas and..

Netflix - A Lesson in Mis-Alignment

It is critical to have a clear execution plan aligned with your strategy. Proof of alignment (or not) can be seen by your actions:

Continuing On Daniel Pink's 3 Things: Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose

Last time I wrote about Dan Pink's three things: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. Let's talk about Autonomy!

Do You Have A High Performance Team?

I recently heard Daniel Pink, author of Drive, speak at the Fortune Growth Summit. Pink shared how the best way to motivate your team is..

Title: Ingram Micro VTN Keynote Oct 18, 11.

I had a fantastic time at the Venture Tech Network conference in Las Vegas.

Topics: Strategy Execution

Annual Planning Webcast Q&A

Thank you to everyone for attending my webcast on Friday. I have received feedback that it was very helpful as everyone starts to get..

When And How Do I Know I Can Fire With Minimal Business Impact?

Jack Welch, was the CEO of GE that made Topgrading famous. He hired Brad Smart and they worked together to hire the top guys at G.E. He..

MIT EMP2013 Unstuck Coaching Session Slides

"Here are the slides that we used in our MIT EMP Unstuck coaching call this week. Finish off 2011 Strong!"

Topics: Strategy Execution

How To Execute With Autonomy

Daniel Pink, author of the best selling book Drive, shared his insights on how we are really motivated on more complex things. The key, he..

How To Use Critical Numbers To Move Big Rocks

I am going to be sharing about how to use Critical Numbers to move big rocks and achieve great things with your team. It is so important to..

Execution Best Practice - The Power Of Using A Daily Question

A client recently shared how amazingly well the daily question worked for them. Their daily question this quarter is "How do I show my..

Fire To Protect Your Core Values

So you have an employee who really does not live your core values … he or she just does not seem to fit in. You have discussed with him.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

Got Rhythm? Ford (Alan Mulally) Certainly Does!

Rhythm. Execution Rhythm. Rhythm builds momentum. When you have momentum, it is much easier build on your momentum and succeed... Read More

Topics: KPIs & Dashboards, Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

Xchange Americas Session Slides Aug 12, 2011

Thanks for a great time in Denver. Here are my slides for today's keynote.

Topics: Strategy Execution

Dig A Little Deeper And Solve The Root Cause, Not Just The Symptoms

Sometimes you just have to dig a little deeper for the answer. Too often, when faced with a problem, we find a solution quickly, and.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Strategy Execution

DO It Today... Not Tomorrow

Let's do it tomorrow.... Let's deal with it in our weekly status meeting tomorrow... Let's wait for his/her approval... These are all..

Using A Start Stop Keep Tool To Make Your Mid Year Adjustments

After our webcast on Mid Year adjustments, I received a couple more questions regarding using the SSK tool. Thought I would share them on.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Annual & Quarterly Planning, Strategy Execution

2X People Plan

I received some questions via email after the webcast regarding the 2X People Plan tool. Here are some questions and my thoughts on it...

The Power Of Executing On Customer Service With Speed

Speed... Speed... Speed. Reacting quickly to a customer's need or issue can transform a customer issue into customer delight. Especially..

The Power Of Knowing Your Critical Question

I am in Singapore, enjoying great food and catching up with great friends. One of my friends has a successful education and consulting..

How Do You Say NO To The Wrong Things?

It takes courage, and it takes the support and backing of your team as well as your manager or partner.

Courage... does not come from thin..

EO/MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program

Wow it's been a busy few weeks... After welcoming the new class of Giants at the EO / MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program (EMP), I zipped..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Wau Movil Session Slides

Please feel free to download this PDF of the slides that i used in our discussion.

Thanks!

Download Wau Movil Coaching 5-24-11

Topics: Strategy Execution

ROP Tip #2 - Measure Output Not Hours

Are you focused on how many hours your team is working or how much output and value they deliver? The true measurement of ROP is about how.. Read More

Topics: Strategies for Growth, Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

Schwab National Summit - Building And Executing Your Strategic Plan 5/19/11

Thank you for coming to my session at the Schwab National Summit. Here is a PDF of the slides I used for you to download and review.

..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Help Your Management Team Change... You Will Need A Lot Of Mangoes

Transformation. How does a company successfully execute and navigate through changes? What should the CEO do? How should the board.. Read More

Topics: Strategy Execution, Accountable Leaders & Teams

Do Less And Get More Done! Look For "Minor Majors"

Simplify! Do less and get more done! That seems rather difficult to achieve... doing less while getting more done. Life has gotten more..

How To Test That You Have A Strong Execution Plan For The New Quarter

Q2 just began. Hopefully we have all gotten our Q2 plans done and are ready for a great quarter. I always suggest that we QA our plans..

Speaking At The AceTech Annual Whistler Symposium Today

Whistler is beautiful! Snow... yet not too cold. Speaking at Acetech today on SuperGreen execution. How to build a strong execution..

Topics: Strategy Execution

Having Trouble Building Habits? Get Into A Rhythm!

It takes time, energy and focus to create habits. We have all tried at some point to create a new habit and realized unfortunately that..

Thank you, EO Edmonton. I had a great afternoon with you. Attached is the PDF of the slides from today's SuperGreen Execution workshop.

Tip 1: Focus on the problem, not the people.

Please feel free to download this PDF of the slides that i used in our discussion.

Thank you for coming to my session at the Schwab National Summit. Here is a PDF of the slides I used for you to download and review.

Simplify! Do less and get more done! That seems rather difficult to achieve... doing less while getting more done. Life has gotten more..

Q2 just began. Hopefully we have all gotten our Q2 plans done and are ready for a great quarter. I always suggest that we QA our plans..

Whistler is beautiful! Snow... yet not too cold. Speaking at Acetech today on SuperGreen execution. How to build a strong execution..

When you go to a gas station to fuel up your car, you have a choice of fuel quality based on octane level ratings. You might have a..