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SCALE™ Readiness Signal

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The system
How it fits together SCALE™ Core
Core instruments
Engine Board Value BoardPulse
The thinking
The Thinking Behind SCALE Case studies
Organizations
Family Business Middle Market Private Equity Boards & Committees
Practitioners
Advisors & Coaches

For coaches and advisors who need an objective way to show a client where they stand.

The concept
Organizational Diligence™

The missing layer of M&A due diligence

Your position
M&A Readiness Preparing to Sell Buy-Side Acquisition Post-Transaction
For advisors
Advisors & Intermediaries

Four of these are a position in a transaction. The fifth is a role — your client is standing in one of the others.

About
Dr. LouAnn Conner SagaciousThink DNA FAQ
How it fits together Readiness Signal — start here SCALE™ Core Engine Board Value BoardPulse The Thinking Behind SCALE Case studies
Family Business Middle Market Private Equity Boards & Committees Advisors & Coaches
Organizational Diligence™ M&A Readiness Preparing to Sell Buy-Side Acquisition Post-Transaction Advisors & Intermediaries
Inflection Points
Insights
Dr. LouAnn Conner SagaciousThink DNA FAQ
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Insights

Periodic musings

Posts in Governance and Boards
Why Do CEOs Call Other CEOs?
Why Do CEOs Call Other CEOs?

When chief executives need to make sense of what lies ahead, many turn to other CEOs more readily than to their own directors or chair. That does not necessarily indicate a failing board. It raises a more revealing question: if relevant experience is already present around the board table, why does the CEO seek it elsewhere? The answer may lie less in what directors know than in trust, timing and whether their knowledge can enter the conversation before a strategic direction has hardened.

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Governance and Boards, Leadership and Culture, Organizational Readiness, Risk and ResilienceLouAnn ConnerCorporate Governance, Global Expansion, Strategy & Execution, Leadership & Culture, Board & Board EfectivenessComment
The Priorities CEOs Aren't Prioritizing
The Priorities CEOs Aren't Prioritizing

CEOs know that execution and organizational alignment matter. Yet the latest CEO Confidence Index shows growth, profitability and efficiency commanding attention while talent, organizational capability and resilience rank much lower. That tension does not prove leaders have overlooked the enablers of growth. It reveals something more consequential: a CEO confidence survey cannot determine whether confidence at the top is shared by the people expected to deliver the plan. This article examines that evidence gap—and the question boards should ask before growth and AI ambitions outrun the organization beneath them.

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AI Technology Governance, Governance and BoardsLouAnn Connersmall and medium company strategy, middle market companies, scaling companies, Strategy & ExecutionComment
The AI Risks Are Becoming Clear. Can Your Board See How They Reach the Company?
The AI Risks Are Becoming Clear. Can Your Board See How They Reach the Company?

AI risk may already be on your board’s agenda. But can directors see where it is actually entering the business—through vendor software, employee use, consequential decisions, or even the analysis reaching the board itself? This article uses an illustrative BoardPulse assessment to show how an adequate overall result can conceal a load-bearing weakness, where CEOs and directors may be working from different pictures, and how the findings can be translated into practical next steps before adoption outpaces oversight.

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AI Technology Governance, Governance and BoardsLouAnn Connerorganizational intelligence, AI & Technology Governance, Corporate GovernanceComment
The CEO Can Champion the Next Business. Can the Organization Build It?
The CEO Can Champion the Next Business. Can the Organization Build It?

A CEO can champion a promising new business, but sponsorship alone does not make venture building an organizational capability. McKinsey’s latest research identifies the leadership, capital, culture, and governance new ventures require. This article takes the question one step further: can those conditions survive competing priorities, financial pressure, or a change in leadership? For executives and CVC leaders, the answer may determine whether a venture scales or remains dependent on whoever is protecting it.

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Governance and Boards, Organizational ReadinessLouAnn Connerscaling companies, Corporate GovernanceComment