Some people cherish the last week of the year because they get left alone and finally have a chance to think strategically. Oh no! It needs to happen regularly. Here’s why and how.

You get to decide when to allocate time for strategic thinking, planning, and creative problem-solving. Here are 5 things you can do to carve out more time for creative and strategic thinking.

Innovation and growth go hand-in-hand. Sustainable growth requires a great product-market fit that customers will rave about and spread organically. Consider these 5 reasons why innovation is so critical right now. Understand the 4 basic components of innovation. Identify a simple way to spark creativity and get started now with something small.

Right now, there’s no better way to grow a company’s impact than with innovation. Business growth opportunities depend on creativity, innovation, and implementation. I believe in simple starting points. You need to create a spark.

Your team has more innovative, creative potential than you might realize. It just needs to be fueled and ignited. Here’s how you could get started in 4 hours.

There are many misconceptions about innovation. What does good innovation look like? What kind of leaders are most in need of innovation support? If you are in search of growth opportunities, you need to know the basics of what to expect from your team and what an innovation process should look like. Here’s a place to start.

When it comes to figuring out new ways to create value for customers, there are three major hurdles: knowing what customers really want, figuring out what to do about it, and then actually doing it. Progress can stall at any stage even for the most entrepreneurial business leader, especially now. That’s why having a process to lean into is so important. So, here’s how to keep moving forward to grow your business – even during the pandemic. There’s a proven process for finding gaps, creating new value, and getting traction for new initiatives -- and it works in three steps: Insights, Ideas, and Implementation.

To rebound from the shutdown, you need to know what customers think about coming back to your business. We’ve started asking. Here’s a preview and two surveys to collect the data business leaders need to plan their ‘rebound’ strategy.

Change is here. To find new opportunities you need new ideas. That’s what this post will deliver.

We’ve shared tips for how to get the best results from brainstorming, and what do to before you get started.

Check out our list of 10 Strengths of an Invincible Business, if you are looking for a fresh set of goals for raising the bar and enabling your company be more adaptable, innovative, relevant with customers and competitive in the market. Rate your business on a scale of 1 - 100.

Hindsight is 20-20. If you scan a roomful of customers and have an uncomfortably low number of people under 35, this could be an indicator that your services are growing passé. Here are some relevant ideas from a project Align just completed, that can help you refresh your offerings, move in new directions and add more value for customers!

For a very long time the focus of business leaders has been improving the performance of the business through a diverse array of management practices and improvement processes. Today there’s a growing awareness of the need to balance these scientific methods with new ways of thinking and working that are more creative. Yes, the future of business is creativity!