Ep 31 - Escaping the Short-Term Trap - Strategy Cinema On-Demand

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Ep 31 - Escaping the Short-Term Trap

You have a hunger for game-changing results. As a CEO, board member, or strategic planner, you aspire to produce big results. While you know methods that work, you still find yourself drifting back into short-term thinking in these tumultuous days. Without daily activities guiding you toward a True North—a preferred long-term destination—you run the risk of being sucked into the 24-hour news cycle or latest drama. How do you build the strategic muscles necessary to withstand even daily shocks and surprises? The opposite of conventional strategy is true. Stop chasing short-term survival; outsiders and technology cannot save you from constant disruption. Conventional wisdom demanding "twice the results in half the time" is fundamentally flawed. Real game-changing success requires robust long-term strategic muscle. We expose the 25 fatal obstacles infecting C-suites, providing definitive 'obstacle knowledge' so you can become a robust, different kind of strategist who can preemptively design for disruption. Tune in to join me in tackling this wicked problem. I’ll share the approach we took to design the Long-Term Strategy Conference 2025 held in June. I’m Francis Wade and welcome to the JumpLeap Long-Term Strategy Podcast. P.S. Here’s a LLM prompt you can copy and paste into an LLM to deepen your understanding: Act as a strategic planning consultant. I just listened to a podcast about long-term strategic planning. Here’s the core insight I learned: “Big results need years. Long time frame and big results go together. If you try to commit to big goals on short time frames, it doesn’t work.” My current strategic planning challenge is: [DESCRIBE IN ONE SENTENCE YOUR BIGGEST STRUGGLE WITH LONG-TERM THINKING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION]. Based on this insight, identify three specific symptoms in my organization that indicate we’re stuck in short-term thinking. Then suggest one concrete conversation starter I can use this week to begin reframing our strategic discussions. P.P.S. Want more? For subscribers, I have generated at least 5 more prompts, available below the paywall. Stage 1: Reflect & Internalize (3 prompts) Prompt 1: Identify Your Strategic Time Horizon Gap Act as a strategic planning consultant. I just listened to a podcast about long-term strategic planning. Here’s the core insight I learned: “Big results need years. Long time frame and big results go together. If you try to commit to big goals on short time frames, it doesn’t work.” My current strategic planning challenge is: [DESCRIBE IN ONE SENTENCE YOUR BIGGEST STRUGGLE WITH LONG-TERM THINKING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION]. Based on this insight, identify three specific symptoms in my organization that indicate we’re stuck in short-term thinking. Then suggest one concrete conversation starter I can use this week to begin reframing our strategic discussions. Prompt 2: Diagnose Your “Vortex Vulnerability” You are an organizational psychologist. The podcast describes how companies get “sucked into the vortex” of daily crises and 24-hour news cycles, losing sight of their true north. My organization’s current crisis or disruption is: [DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT MAJOR CHALLENGE, e.g., “tariff uncertainty” or “competitive pressure” or “budget cuts”]. Analyze how this crisis might be pulling my leadership team away from long-term strategic thinking. Then generate a 3-sentence “reality check” statement I can share with my team to acknowledge the crisis while redirecting focus toward our long-term direction. Stage 2: Apply & Deepen (3 prompts) Prompt 4: Zero-Based Strategy Audit You are a strategy framework expert. The podcast introduces “zero-based strategy” as an alternative to incremental planning (similar to zero-based budgeting vs. traditional budgeting). Here’s how my organization currently approaches strategic planning: [DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT PROCESS IN 2-3 SENTENCES, e.g., “We review last year’s plan, adjust targets by 10%, and update a few initiatives”]. Audit my current approach using these criteria: Does it start from a blank sheet or from last year’s plan? Does it question fundamental assumptions or accept them? Does it allow for game-changing pivots or only incremental adjustments? Score each criterion 1-10, then generate three specific changes I could propose to move our process closer to zero-based strategy without creating organizational resistance. Stage 3: Create & Master (4 prompts) Prompt 8: Build Your Obstacle Knowledge Arsenal Act as a strategic thinking coach. The podcast emphasizes that leaders need “obstacle knowledge”—the ability to recognize and reframe the 25 common obstacles to long-term strategy as they appear in real-time conversations. Here are three obstacles from the podcast: “We just need a 5-year plan” (timeframe too short for game-changing results) “Let’s double the results in half the time” (forcing approach that doesn’t work) “Bring in consultants to tell us what to do” (outsourcing thinking instead of building capability) My next strategic planning meeting is about: [DESCRIBE THE MEETING TOPIC AND PARTICIPANTS]. Generate a preparation guide including: - Which 2-3 obstacles are most likely to appear in this meeting - Exact phrases I should listen for that signal each obstacle - Response scripts I can use to reframe without making people defensive - One compelling example or analogy (like the Japanese BMI case) I can reference for each obstacle Present this as a one-page “meeting prep cheat sheet.” —--------------- The full list to all 40-50 prompts can be found here.

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You have a hunger for game-changing results. As a CEO, board member, or strategic planner, you aspire to produce big results. While you know methods that work, you still find yourself drifting back into short-term thinking in these tumultuous days. Without daily activities guiding you toward a True North—a preferred long-term destination—you run the risk of being sucked into the 24-hour news cycle or latest drama. How do you build the strategic muscles necessary to withstand even daily shocks and surprises? The opposite of conventional strategy is true. Stop chasing short-term survival; outsiders and technology cannot save you from constant disruption. Conventional wisdom demanding "twice the results in half the time" is fundamentally flawed. Real game-changing success requires robust long-term strategic muscle. We expose the 25 fatal obstacles infecting C-suites, providing definitive 'obstacle knowledge' so you can become a robust, different kind of strategist who can preemptively design for disruption. Tune in to join me in tackling this wicked problem. I’ll share the approach we took to design the Long-Term Strategy Conference 2025 held in June. I’m Francis Wade and welcome to the JumpLeap Long-Term Strategy Podcast.

P.S. Here’s a LLM prompt you can copy and paste into an LLM to deepen your understanding: Act as a strategic planning consultant. I just listened to a podcast about long-term strategic planning. Here’s the core insight I learned: “Big results need years. Long time frame and big results go together. If you try to commit to big goals on short time frames, it doesn’t work.” My current strategic planning challenge is: [DESCRIBE IN ONE SENTENCE YOUR BIGGEST STRUGGLE WITH LONG-TERM THINKING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION]. Based on this insight, identify three specific symptoms in my organization that indicate we’re stuck in short-term thinking. Then suggest one concrete conversation starter I can use this week to begin reframing our strategic discussions. P.P.S. Want more? For subscribers, I have generated at least 5 more prompts, available below the paywall.

Stage 1: Reflect & Internalize (3 prompts)

Prompt 1: Identify Your Strategic Time Horizon Gap Act as a strategic planning consultant. I just listened to a podcast about long-term strategic planning. Here’s the core insight I learned: “Big results need years. Long time frame and big results go together. If you try to commit to big goals on short time frames, it doesn’t work.” My current strategic planning challenge is: [DESCRIBE IN ONE SENTENCE YOUR BIGGEST STRUGGLE WITH LONG-TERM THINKING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION]. Based on this insight, identify three specific symptoms in my organization that indicate we’re stuck in short-term thinking. Then suggest one concrete conversation starter I can use this week to begin reframing our strategic discussions. Prompt 2: Diagnose Your “Vortex Vulnerability” You are an organizational psychologist. The podcast describes how companies get “sucked into the vortex” of daily crises and 24-hour news cycles, losing sight of their true north. My organization’s current crisis or disruption is: [DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT MAJOR CHALLENGE, e.g., “tariff uncertainty” or “competitive pressure” or “budget cuts”]. Analyze how this crisis might be pulling my leadership team away from long-term strategic thinking. Then generate a 3-sentence “reality check” statement I can share with my team to acknowledge the crisis while redirecting focus toward our long-term direction.

Stage 2: Apply & Deepen (3 prompts)

Prompt 4: Zero-Based Strategy Audit You are a strategy framework expert. The podcast introduces “zero-based strategy” as an alternative to incremental planning (similar to zero-based budgeting vs. traditional budgeting). Here’s how my organization currently approaches strategic planning: [DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT PROCESS IN 2-3 SENTENCES, e.g., “We review last year’s plan, adjust targets by 10%, and update a few initiatives”]. Audit my current approach using these criteria:

Does it start from a blank sheet or from last year’s plan?
Does it question fundamental assumptions or accept them?
Does it allow for game-changing pivots or only incremental adjustments?

Score each criterion 1-10, then generate three specific changes I could propose to move our process closer to zero-based strategy without creating organizational resistance.

Stage 3: Create & Master (4 prompts)

Prompt 8: Build Your Obstacle Knowledge Arsenal Act as a strategic thinking coach. The podcast emphasizes that leaders need “obstacle knowledge”—the ability to recognize and reframe the 25 common obstacles to long-term strategy as they appear in real-time conversations. Here are three obstacles from the podcast:

“We just need a 5-year plan” (timeframe too short for game-changing results)
“Let’s double the results in half the time” (forcing approach that doesn’t work)
“Bring in consultants to tell us what to do” (outsourcing thinking instead of building capability)

My next strategic planning meeting is about: [DESCRIBE THE MEETING TOPIC AND PARTICIPANTS]. Generate a preparation guide including: - Which 2-3 obstacles are most likely to appear in this meeting - Exact phrases I should listen for that signal each obstacle - Response scripts I can use to reframe without making people defensive - One compelling example or analogy (like the Japanese BMI case) I can reference for each obstacle Present this as a one-page “meeting prep cheat sheet.” —--------------- The full list to all 40-50 prompts can be found here.