Discoveries Archive
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"Your customers are searching and exploring without you even knowing about it. And they are redefining your competitive set, too. Welcome to the customer zeitgeist.”Chapter 3 of Differentiated explores the new world of competition based on real-world observations and...
Customer Mindset Meets Strategy
If you search the term “customer mindset,” you’ll find associations with marketing and customer service. The premise? A deeper understanding of your customer generates increased sales and engagement. Let’s be honest. We want both. A heartfelt appreciation for...
Welcome to the Next Normal
We greet 2021 with renewed hope that we can create the change we seek in the world. Welcome to the next normal. If 2020 schooled us in anything it reminded us that an event like a once-in-a-millennia pandemic has the power to distort. And distort it did. We recognize...
Join me in creating the future of strategy
Welcome to Strategy Studio! A studio is a space for exploration, for trial and error, and for learning new techniques. It’s a place where breakthroughs occur. Studios invite mess. They give wholehearted permission to create as you explore something for the first time....
Seeing beyond what is
Little did I know that a Canvas and Cocktails event would change the trajectory of my life. I joined a group of 40 women for a team-building activity the evening before an all-day retreat. Each of us created a grove of aspens. Here are mine. I’d been searching...
Strategy is a State of Mind
PSST tacticians. I’ve got your cheat sheet In all my years of facilitation, I have found two types of people generally comprise any group: tacticians and visionaries. The former greatly outnumbers the latter in most groups. The next time you participate in a group...
Don’t Take Your Customers for Granted – Special Edition
The Hollywood movie industry is undergoing profound change accelerated by demanding customers and fast-moving competitors. It would be one thing if customer preferences and competitor moves were occurring when the industry was at its zenith. Alas, Oscar lost his...
Navigating Certain Uncertainty
Why does your organization matter? Why should it matter to me? Can you answer those questions today? Can you anticipate your customer’s answers in six months? Twelve? Eighteen? When I speak with purpose-driven executives and consultants, I hear a common refrain. The...
Psst. I’ve Been Writing a Book
What’s your pandemic passion project? Have you perfected your banana bread recipe? Mastered the art of orchid growing? Bought an above-ground pool for your backyard?Searches for "Banana Bread Demo" have increased by 500% over the last year.Since April, I’ve been...
What’s true? Differentiation
How do you know if something is genuine? Authentic? Novel? Your gut. No, I’m not talking about the pandemic pudge. I’m referring to intuition. Intuition - the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. Intuition...
Culture Ate Your Lunch
We’re familiar with the phrase originated by Peter Drucker—culture eats strategy for breakfast. Time and again we’ve crafted brilliant strategies and perfected plans only to have them crash against the immovable wall of organizational culture. A culture attached to...
It’s Reinvention Time
When I created your Bounce-Back Plan three months ago, one thing was certain: Business model reinvention was a must-do. I knew you’d be tempted to try a few workarounds to extend the life of your existing programs and services. Or you might pause for a bit until the...
Pep Talks and BFFs
Are you finding yourself feeling a bit sluggish this month? Me too. Just when we hoped to grab onto a portion of our beloved “normal” life, it slips out of grasp, swept up in the Covid-19 resurgence. To be honest, I give myself a pep talk every morning. You too? I...
Listen for the Signal Through the Noise
Whenever I read a survey, forecast, or study about Covid-19 and its impacts, there is hedging. It’s understandable. No one can predict what the next three or six months might bring, much less the next year. Here’s what we do know. This is a hot mess. I’m not dissing...
This isn’t “One and Done”
Like clockwork, towards the completion of a strategic planning process, the fatigue sets in. Your group is tired of it all, especially the never-ending series of meetings, and the constant discussions. When will we decide? What will we do? It feels a bit like...
Announcing the My Life is a Work of Art™ Creations
July 1st marks my 20th anniversary at Corona Insights. When my husband Kevin asked, “Hey honey, wanna help me with a big project?” I never knew those early startup days would propel the career I cherish today. Ten years ago, I set myself on the path to discover...
Unexpected Partnerships for the Win
The stories are beginning to emerge. Innovation is rising up to address unforeseen challenges and wicked problems. Organizations are tapping into creativity instead of dismay as they channel energy and investment into novel solutions. They are asking themselves,...
Avoid the Stale
Goodbye avocado toast. Hello box of cereal. Kitchen staples proclaimed passé are popular again. Seems it’s easy to get your kids to make their own breakfast when the right ingredients are on hand. Plus, $9 goes a lot further when buying cereal and milk. In a few...
What If You Could Bend the Arc of History?
Fifty-one times. That’s the number of bullets my Dad’s helicopter took during a single mission in Vietnam. He was so proud of landing safely following the battle. The photo of his commendation is a treasured memory. Remarkably, he was never injured during the height...
Be the Silver Lining
Each of us is being called to serve in ways we’d never imagined. We’re looking for opportunities to step up and stand up for others. I continue to live by this mantra.
There is No Reset Button
Comfort food and large refrigerators are to blame for the COVID 15—those extra pounds around our collective middles—thanks to Zoom fatigue and step counters that rarely click to 10,000. Virtual runs replace downward dogs as you attempt to re-engage in work, tossing...
Shining a Light on Privilege: Your Donor is Not Your Customer
When I ask folks who work with purpose-driven organizations to think about who their customers are, I occasionally get questions like, “Aren’t you talking about beneficiaries?” This is what goes through my mind when I hear that term: For someone to be the beneficiary,...
The Art of Bouncing Back – How Walker Fine Art Reopened after Lockdown
I remember the day clearly. As I prepared to write my weekly email on March 9, my sixth sense and years of consulting told me that we were headed for something unprecedented. That intuition prompted me to offer pro bono coaching services via email the next day.It took...
Differentiation To The Rescue
Who knew we’d be cast in The Poseidon Adventure? Our scrappy band of survivors is making its way through the capsized ocean liner, attempting to avoid the steam pipes and all manner of floating debris as we search for the propeller shaft tunnel. It’s dark and...
TikTok, Hollywood, and the Black Swan
What were you doing in February? It seems like a lifetime ago.I was facilitating a daylong Strategy Camp with a dozen purpose-driven leaders. A highlight was the all-camp case study. We came together to discover what differentiates Hollywood. It was the perfect topic...
Get Your Bounce-Back Plan
Are you ready to reopen? Prepped for the pivot? Guess what? Sometime soon stir-crazy people will be ready to engage with your organization. Your future will be guided by macro-level milestones driven by public health indicators and a combination of local, state, and...
The New Avant-Garde: Charting a Course to the Next Normal
Like many of you, I’m escaping the world through learning. I spotted an online art history class (or knowing Facebook, the class found me). Its title and image caught my attention. As the instructor opened the course, she touched on the first word in its title —...
Don’t Stop Believing
In late 2018, I realized the eureka moment I experienced over the summer might in fact be something special. As I noodled over the original idea for Differentiation Zone®, I reached out to people who could help me figure out if I really had something worth investing...
Because I Love You
Because I love you, I’m nudging you to be more strategic than what feels comfortable today. Because I love you, I’m reminding you that the essence of strategy is choice. Because I love you, I’m insisting you get clear about strategic differentiation. There is no time...
Strategy in the Era of Shut. It. Down.
In times of ambiguity and incomplete information, we need agility and intuition to guide us. Your world is changing by the day—and by the hour. Here’s your game plan. First, focus on the immediate future in March and April: Theme: Improvise Get tactical about: People...
Distortion is the New Normal in the Age of Coronavirus
The sweep and scale are jarring. Your college student just got sent home to finish out the term with online classes. Your museum is closing for a few weeks. Your event was cancelled. Your retirement account isn’t what it was on March 5th. New themes for 2020: social...
Nonprofit Disruption in the Face of the Coronavirus Pandemic
As a small business owner, I know how stressful it was to navigate 9/11 and the 2008 recession. The impacts were long-lasting. We learned to be nimbler and more resourceful as we led with courage and resolve. Fast forward to now. This new decade began on a positive...
Who is Your Nonprofit Customer?
What a day! Strategy Camp on February 28th took us to Hollywood and back as we explored the power of a customer mindset with a case study about the Oscars. As we embraced the six principles of Differentiation Zone, we realized there is much to learn from industries...
Embracing Differentiation in Higher Education with the University of Denver Prison Arts Initiative
It’s not very often that you get to make history—let alone create community with a group of prison inmates. That’s exactly what took place in Denver in December 2019. Forty inmates from Denver Women’s Correctional Facility performed two shows of the holiday classic, A...
Inside the Strategic Journey of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Denver
My journey with the College of Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences at the University of Denver began in the middle of winter – and in the middle of a strategic planning process – in early 2017. I’d just wrapped up Forward. Faster. Strategic Plan 2022 for the...
What Strategy Camp Taught Us about Customer Mindset
How is the customer mindset resonating with you now that we’ve established that “customer” belongs in your purpose-driven vocabulary? Leaning into the notion of customers and competitors is a game changer. Recognizing you have customers is what differentiates you...
Not All Nonprofits Matter to Their Customers. Does Yours?
I don’t know about you, Reader, but I love to talk about what I do. Give me five minutes and I’ll gladly take 30. After all, this is my life’s work. And of course, five minutes into a monologue I see distraction run across your face as I realize that I haven’t...
Karla Raines’s Sayings on Nonprofits and Strategy
As a master strategist, I’m known for many “Karla-isms.” “The essence of strategy is choice” and “You have to say ‘no’ to say ‘yes’” are among them. Not surprisingly, the two are related. Let’s unpack this idea a little bit. Strategy draws a roadmap which helps you...
The Zeitgeist of Our Era is the Customer Experience
You might have heard me say, the zeitgeist of our era is the customer experience. As a consultant or executive, you know this because you’re living in the experience economy every day. The brands you love weave their stories to engage you and win your loyalty.If you...
Your Definition of Customer Defines Your Success
For those of you in the purpose-driven space, the word “customer” can be a turnoff. You might say it’s overly commercial. That it ignores how much you care about people and the work you do. It’s an unfortunate – and costly – turnoff. When we think about customer from...
The Anatomy of a Successful Skunk Works Project
I’m thrilled to announce that Differentiation Zone® has moved to RISE Collaborative Workspace! Until now, Differentiation Zone has operated like a skunk works® within Corona Insights, the company I co-own with my husband Kevin Raines. A skunk works is not a furry...