The LookUP List: The Big Reset
5 things to check out, an update, and some ways to go deeper
Are you looking to create a Big Reset? Well, you need to have your antennae out, looking for some fresh inspiration and new perspectives.
And there’s a lot out there.
In this month’s LookUP List, we’ll give you a diverse list of things to read, think about and do during the course of the month.
We’ll also share some updates on what we’ve been doing at LookUP, and for those who want to go deeper, we’ll give you a reading list to dive into.
If you want to find out more about what we mean by a Big Reset and why it’s hard, look here; if you want to explore our Big Reset Framework you can do that here.
OK, let’s go!
The List:
1. Read these: to be the strategic thinker who gets things done
In the literature about Big Resets, there’s quite a sharp division between those who write about making the right decisions, and those who talk about how to execute them successfully. We think that crossing that chasm is crucial!
Probably the sharpest of the classic ‘strategy canon’ is Richard Rumelt’s ‘Good Strategy / Bad Strategy’, precisely because its author is only concerned with strategy that shapes actions and manifests itself in the real world. It’s smart, concise, and useful.
It’s well accompanied by ‘How Big Things get Done’, which is pretty much a manifesto for taking the thinking process much deeper into the doing process, to maximise your chances of success.
But don’t read one or the other, read both! here and here
2. Visit this: to make your budget narratives more cosmic
Sometimes your Annual Planning demands a request for more budget, spent differently. If you want the very best of the genre, you’ll want to take a look at JFK’s famous Rice speech in September 1962, which was mainly an appeal for increased scientific spending, cloaked in an examination of the Cold War and the idea of America.
To explore where that speech led, in the company of Tom Hanks, check out the Moonwalkers at the Lightroom and in other locations around the world.
3. Set up one of these: your Personal Board
As we mentioned in our main newsletter this week, if you, or your Plan, need support to stay on track, a Personal Board of Directors may be right for you. Read about it here, and then try it! If you want to go deeper into the concept, there’s also a good HBR piece here…
If what you really want is just effective consensus your plan, you might want to dig into the Japanese concept of Nemawashi, as expressed in the Toyota Way here - it literally means ‘digging around the roots’, as you would when preparing to transport a tree. Wise and effective!
4. Use this: The Diagrams Book
Now entering its 10th Anniversary Edition, Kevin Duncan’s brilliantly useful book will help you find all kinds of different ways to express your Vision or your Levers in ways that are intuitive, easy to follow, and easy to remember.
There’s only so many shapes, and every one has a meaning. Get stuck in here!
There’s also a cracking Substack on charts and diagrams here, a great little rabbit-hole for people who like the effective presentation of information!
5. Join this: the Doughnut Economics Action Lab
If you are struggling with reconciling sustainability with your need for growth / stuff then Doughnut Economics is the read for you. And if you want to take that one step further then you can join the Doughnut Economics Action Lab. Join it here!
At 10am on Thursday 25th April we’ll be hosting our virtual LookUP Live Session.
In this session, we’ll be helping you to turn your Annual Plan into a Big Reset.
You bring the challenge, we bring the guidance and inspiration.
This is for paid subscribers only - for only £10 this month you’ll get access to this event alongside our Big Reset Framework, and a host of other exclusive content. Sign up today, and we’ll be in touch with more details.
LookUP News:
We are only one month into our Substack, but already we have hundreds of subscribers. Thanks so much! If you’ve read something interesting, please do share it.
This month, we’ve run StoryTelling sessions with all kinds of different teams: Personal Brand StoryTelling with a group of super-senior women in business, pitch StoryTelling sessions for local and global agencies, and client relationship StoryTelling too. Our average satisfaction rate remains 9+ out of 10! If you or your team needs some help, get in touch.
It’s a tough job market out there, particularly in the technology and marketing sectors, and a lot of people are currently navigating redundancy. We’ll have some free sessions coming up with people working out their next moves pre-Summer. If that’s you, or someone you know, let us know.
Coming soon….
Next month’s Substack Theme is ‘Trouble in Paradise’. We’ll be grappling with lots of the emerging issues of teams navigating change in a context of drastically different, and often distant, ways of working. We see CommunityBuilding as a great answer. Lots more to come!
We’re also meeting this week to discuss our themes for the year. If there is anything you think we should be covering, let us know.
Soon to launch is our LookUP BookLab: a monthly opportunity to harness the brains of others to all read books around a theme. Contact us if you want in.
Go Deeper:
Here’s a longer list of resources if you want to go really deep on the literature of Big Resets, and how to make them...
Superforecasting
There’s a few really good books on forecasting the future, this is potentially the most helpful. Rooted in research, and very, very human. Buy it here…
Beyond Disruption
This is the follow up to the legendary Blue Ocean Strategy, this focuses on the opportunity for ‘non-disruptive creation’ as an alternative path to growth. It’s a little bit theoretical, but still a good reminder of the extent to which strategic thinking tends to be presented as inherently competitive or destructive, with some nice examples of a different way. Get it here…
Move Fast and Fix Things
A very helpful and timely book that acts as a practical reminder that taking time to build trust and teamwork isn’t an alternative to going fast, it’s a crucial enabler. Some lovely tasks and examples for anyone trying to get stuff done whilst also staying human, buy it here…
Rebel Ideas
Matthew Syed expounds a powerful set of ideas about the importance of different perspectives, in a book we’ve come back to several times. It’s particularly powerful on the importance of cognitive diversity in making a fresh start. Read it here…
Imperfectionists
If talk of strategy makes you scared of getting things wrong, this is a good read to remind us all that more and more, strategic progress is an imperfect game of snakes and ladders, not a perfect cruise through an HBR case study. Read it here…
If you want to find out more about what we mean by a Big Reset and why it’s hard, look here; if you want to explore our Big Reset Framework you can do that here.
Happy Reading! Remember that as well as the Lists and Newsletters, our paid subscribers get access to:
walk-throughs of our Frameworks
exclusive access to events including our monthly LookUP Live session
full-length interviews with our Experts
Sign up today - it’s no more than the cost of one lunch a month…