Chester & Fourth

Creating a #strategy without understanding your organization's #identity – who you were, who you are, and who you aspire to be – is futile. The two are inextricably connected. It's like asking a doctor to diagnose and treat a patient without knowing their medical history or conducting a physical exam.

Being a #leader can sometimes feel like the loneliest job on earth. The phrase, "It's lonely at the top," rings particularly true during moments of adversity, when feelings of isolation are amplified and peer support is difficult to come by. But the burden of #leadership can be shared – just not with your run-of-the-mill management consulting firm that will either rubber-stamp your decision, or tell you to cut costs and increase revenues. Whether you want to 'game out' or stress-test your decision making, create strategic alternatives, or find subtle and sophisticated ways to get stakeholders on board with your plan, why not give us (Chester & Fourth) a call. Because double-checking or contextualizing an important #decision with an impartial third party will do much to ease anyone's stress and anxiety. 

Organizational histories are Chester & Fourth's flagship initiative, bringing together many of our other service offerings. But what are organizational histories, alternately known as corporate or institutional histories? An organizational history is the #biography of an enterprise, capturing both its triumphs and failings in all their complexity through documentary research and stakeholder interviews. And like all compelling biographies, it is a story that must be understood within the broader context of external forces in order to escape the narrow confines of the subject's own life. The best organizational histories are not autobiographical; they should not be written by company insiders or those too emotionally or financially invested in its success. To fully harness the benefits of an organizational #history – and there are many – you should partner with a trusted provider who can bring your story to life and unlock the valuable lessons it holds.

Stop making a business case for #history. Start questioning instead why people perform historical analysis without proper credentials and prior instruction. History is the study of #change and #continuity in and over time. Put more simply: it's an exercise in understanding why something happened, or why something is happening. There's not a single #industry that is spared from performing this task. Yet we're comfortable entrusting it to everyone except those actually trained in it. Don't believe me? Humanities degrees are now considered non-traditional backgrounds for most #business positions. Oh, the irony!

Explore all nine of our service offerings at a glance. Our combination of #research, #storytelling, and #capacitybuilding empowers mission-driven organizations and leaders to: ➡ be more creative ➡ make informed decisions ➡ communicate the impact of their work with authority and authenticity ➡ leverage their accumulated knowledge and experiences more strategically

📣New Publication Alert 📣 With #COP29 around the corner, West Coast Philanthropy authors Asher Orkaby and Tim Mueller, PhD have made #climate the focus of their latest article with Alliance magazine. "From conservation to climate" moves past billion-dollar bets and sensational headlines by analyzing environmental philanthropy through a broader evolutionary lens – one that could help shift the politically divisive issue of climate to more (carbon) neutral grounds. #philanthropy #analysis #environment https://lnkd.in/gYhB3uR2

"Ageism is bad for business," Managing Director Tim Mueller, PhD's latest article, is now also available in Spanish and Portuguese. For Fast Company México, click here: https://lnkd.in/g7XCdutf For Fast Company Brasil, click here: https://lnkd.in/eCqvFWyt #newpublication #strategy #insights #international

Whatever you may think about him and the monopolistic juggernaut he created, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos got a few things right about #leadership and #management. Apart from banning PowerPoint presentations, he also understands what #decisionmaking at the highest level should entail: "As a senior executive, what do you really get paid to do? You get paid to make a small number of high-quality decisions...three good decisions a day, that’s enough." Micro-managing and making thousands of micro-decisions, in other words, isn't the job of senior leadership. Instead, it should be seen as a deliberate effort by wannabe leaders to look busy and important, or hide their inability to make truly consequential decisions.

The Chester & Fourth team enjoyed celebrating the upcoming Persons Day in Canada by attending Radicle Personhood, an event recognizing the 1929 decision to formally include women in the legal definition of personhood, hosted by Seabrook Workplace Law, Lean In Canada, and Garden of Even. Captivating keynotes from Samantha Seabrook (she/her) and Kadie Ward Philp, MBA stressed that systems change comes about when you ask the big “what if” questions. The speakers and panelists also reminded us of the power of inclusive #storytelling, which shines the spotlight on the forgotten and misrepresented women protagonists often left in the dustbin of #history. #gender #equity #leadership

An intriguing aspect of foundations that choose to operate in perpetuity –essentially lasting "forever"– is their ability to be contrarian. Meaning, they can step up when others retreat. They can be the standout black sheep in a sea of white flock. This can assume a financial dimension when foundations become countercyclical funders, providing support to grantees during economic downturns when government support or other funding sources dry up. Equally as important is their ability to give attention to topics that languish on the margins of policymaking agendas; or to remain committed to focus areas long after they've exhausted the public's and markets' limited attention spans. #philanthropy #strategy #contrarian