Strategy - van Rooyen

Reflection 17 – The Past Runs Your Organisation

Jan — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:42:53 +0000

Understanding where your workplace culture really comes from Organisational culture is one of those terms everyone uses, and no one defines quite the same way. At its simplest it is just “the way we do things around here.” That short … Continued

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Reflection 15 – The Deal You Never Signed

Jan — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:46:02 +0000

What Termites Reveal About the Social Contract of Culture A worker termite spends its entire life building a structure it will never own. It defends offspring it did not produce and, in most species, will never produce any of its … Continued

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Reflection 14 – Levels of OD (Functional vs Strategic)

Jan — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:18:04 +0000

Departmental or Strategic Organisation Development. Introduction Organisation Development (OD) has, since its formalisation in the mid-twentieth century, carried a persistent ambiguity of scope. In its most familiar guise, OD is a practice — a set of planned, human-focused interventions (team-building, … Continued

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Reflection 13 – Why Organisations Look the Same.

Jan — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 13:02:43 +0000

Why Do Organisations Always End Up Looking the Same? Deep down, are they different? 1. The Central Puzzle: Despite the enormous differences between organisations in what they do, where they operate, and when they came into existence, they tend to fall … Continued

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Reflection 12: Strategic Planning Cycle

Jan — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 08:57:24 +0000

Strategic planning is too often reduced to an exercise: apply a framework, fill in a template, produce a document. There are many books and articles on strategy, strategic management, tools, and techniques to use and many more books on strategic … Continued

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Reflection 11 – Socrates, Critical Thinking, and AI

Jan — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 07:53:11 +0000

Socrates, Critical Thinking, and AI Living with questions in a time of fake news New Developments This topic touches every organisation, every leader, and every individual navigating the modern world. It provides a conceptual foundation that underpins effective functioning across … Continued

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Reflection 8 – The Strategic Tower

Jan — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:11:54 +0000

Levels of Considerations in Strategic Planning Introduction There is a model developed by mathematician Eduard Lucas with many names but often called the Tower of Hanoi. The model comprises three pegs and several discs of varying sizes, stacked in order … Continued

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Reflection 7 – Strategy and Planning

Jan — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:13:00 +0000

Millions or Billions, wasted or well spent? Millions – if not billions – of rands and dollars are spent annually on strategic planning sessions. Whether all of this represents genuine value or significant waste is a question worth asking. Consultants … Continued

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Reflection 4 – The Eternal Business Story

Jan — Thu, 14 May 2026 07:00:37 +0000

From Hunting and Gathering to Strategic Management The basis of business – whether it is called that or not – has existed for thousands of years. Fundamentally, businesses still function along principles that would have been recognisable to our earliest … Continued

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