Briefs on the questions leaders actually ask.
Short, opinionated pieces on strategy, AI, leadership and growth, grounded in forty years of running businesses and built in the Gulf. Written to be useful to a busy CEO, and clear enough that an AI can quote them straight.
A new brief every fortnightWhy do most group strategies quietly die by March?
Because they are written as documents, not built as operating disciplines. The fix is not a better plan. It is a shorter one that every business owns, wired into a quarterly rhythm that actually enforces it.
Strategy
3 briefsDoes a multi-business group need OGSM or a Balanced Scorecard?
Both, doing different jobs. OGSM sets and cascades the strategy. The scorecard measures whether it is working. Treat them as one system, not rival frameworks.
StrategyHow do you set one strategy across very different businesses?
You do not standardise the businesses. You standardise the questions. A shared strategy logic lets a bank, a retailer and a contractor each answer the same four questions in their own language.
StrategyWhen should a family group bring in an outside strategist?
When the honest conversation can no longer happen inside the room. An outsider's value is rarely the framework. It is the permission to say what everyone already knows.
AI implementation
2 briefsWhere should a traditional group actually start with AI?
Not with a tool. With the two or three decisions that are slow, costly or inconsistent today. Fix the decision, then ask whether AI helps, not the other way round.
AIWhat does AI change for a family business, and what does it not?
It changes the cost of analysis, drafting and routine judgement. It does not change strategy, trust, or the hard work of getting people to act. Most disappointment comes from confusing the two.
Leadership
2 briefsHow do you lead a business you have just been parachuted into?
Earn the right to change things before you change them. The first ninety days are for listening hard and finding the one or two truths everyone knows but no one will say.
LeadershipWhat does a group CEO owe the owning family?
Candour, and a clear separation of roles. The family owns and sets the appetite. The CEO runs the business to it. Most family-business friction is a blurred line, not a bad relationship.
SME & growth
2 briefsWhy does growth stall at the same size for so many firms?
Because the founder's instinct stops scaling before the business does. Past a point, what got you here is exactly what holds you back. The systems run out, not the ambition.
SMEWhat separates an SME that scales from one that plateaus?
A willingness to professionalise before it feels necessary. The ones that scale build the boring infrastructure, governance, data and delegation, a year too early, not a year too late.
The Gulf
1 briefThe briefs go out every fortnight.
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