Who Really Belongs on Your Priority Team?
Does every quarterly priority need the entire leadership team involved? Doug Diamond explains why smaller, carefully selected teams often make better progress—and how expertise, interest, impact, and clear accountability can help you choose the right people for the job.
One Priority. No Excuses. A Leadership Lesson from Gary Pica
What happens when a CEO makes the most important quarterly priority nonnegotiable? Doug Diamond shares a leadership lesson from working with Gary Pica and explains why focus, commitment, and accountability are essential to making meaningful business improvements.
The Vacation Effect: Why Are We So Productive Before We Leave?
Why do we accomplish so much right before vacation? Doug Diamond explores how planning ahead, prioritizing what matters, and being realistic about available time can help leadership teams make better progress all year long.
Is 60% Actually a Good Quarter?
If your leadership team completes 60% of its quarterly priorities, is that a success or a failure? Doug Diamond explains why meaningful progress matters more than checking every box—and why the real question is which priorities get accomplished.
When Planning Almost Works (But Doesn’t Stick): The Real Experience of a Builder-Stage Business
There’s a stage many companies hit where they aren’t new to planning anymore — they’ve tried it, maybe multiple times — but they still haven’t been able to make it stick. This is the Builder stage.
Builders don’t struggle because they “don’t believe in planning.” They struggle because they’ve had just enough experience with it to feel discouraged by it. They’ve seen the plan fade. They’ve seen a strong start lose momentum. They’ve seen energy turn into fatigue somewhere around mid-quarter.
Why Annual Planning Feels Overwhelming (and What That Actually Means)
For a lot of leaders, annual planning doesn’t feel exciting — it feels heavy. Not because they don’t care or aren’t committed, but because they haven’t really built a planning rhythm yet. When there’s no rhythm, planning always feels like starting from scratch.
Most of the Pathfinders we meet have been running the business on instinct, experience, and day-to-day communication for a long time. In the early years, that works. The team is small enough to stay coordinated just by talking. Things still move forward, and problems get solved in the moment.
Why We Built the Planning Power Quiz (and What It Can Tell You About Your Business)
Over the past few years, we kept noticing the same thing in our conversations with business owners: almost everyone knew they needed a stronger planning rhythm, but very few actually knew what kind of help they needed next. Some thought they were “behind,” when really they were just in the early stage. Others thought they needed a brand-new system, when what they actually needed was a small refinement to one they already had.