MASTER Risk Model - Learning Resources - Abilities

Vision & Goal Setting

Write one sentence linking your department’s vision to the wider company strategy—keep it focused and clear.

Break one long-term departmental objective into three immediate steps—focus on progress, not perfection.

Replace one vague team goal with a specific milestone and deadline—communicate it to the group this week.

Set a weekly reminder to ask: “Are we advancing the department’s vision or only closing tasks?”

Write one departmental goal on a sticky note and place it at your desk—use it as a daily anchor point.

Share one top goal with a peer manager—saying it aloud creates clarity and accountability for delivery.

Reflect on how your department’s vision aligns with senior leadership’s strategy—where are the tensions or gaps?

Journal about a time you set a departmental goal and reached it—what systems and leadership actions made it work?

Write down how you usually define goals for your department—do they stretch people or stay in a safe comfort zone?

List three departmental goals from last year—what advanced as planned, and what stalled or lost momentum?

Write about how your department’s vision evolved over three years—what forces inside or outside shaped it most?

Think about a leader you admire—how do they translate vision into action, and what can you borrow for your role?

Set one departmental stretch goal this week with a clear timeline—share it with your team and report it upward for accountability.

Align one daily task this week to a broader departmental goal—state the link before you start to reinforce intention.

Block 30 minutes to review your department roadmap—update plans to reflect new insights from leadership.

Facilitate a team session to clarify how departmental goals connect with organizational strategy—capture overlaps.

Create a mini vision deck (3 slides) outlining your department’s direction—share it with a mentor or senior leader.

Take one symbolic action today that represents your 1-year departmental vision—share it with your team.

Ask a peer manager: “Do my team’s priorities match department goals right now?”—check for alignment and clarity in execution.

Share your department vision in a 1:1 and ask how others see their role in making it real.

Invite a senior mentor to review your departmental goals—do they show ambition, clarity, and feasibility?

Ask your team to write the departmental vision in one sentence—compare with how you’ve framed it.

Share your long-term vision with a peer manager and ask: “What’s inspiring, unclear, or unrealistic?”

Ask a colleague to review one of your departmental goals—where could it be sharper or more actionable?

Reframe “I’m unsure of my direction” as “I’m clarifying how my department best supports company goals.”

Change “This target is too big” to “This target needs milestones”—chunk it into achievable phases.

Recast a past miss as a step in building stronger alignment with strategy—what did it clarify?

Shift from “This is taking too long” to “We’re building something durable for the department’s future.”

Reframe ambition as service—how does your department’s work help the whole organization succeed?

Turn “I don’t have time” into “This isn’t a priority yet”—then decide if it belongs on my agenda.

Observe your calendar—are your tasks driving departmental priorities or just firefighting? Adjust one item this week.

Watch how colleagues respond when you describe your department’s goals—do they lean in, hesitate, or disengage?

Track how often you revisit departmental goals—are they live guides or static documents?

Listen to how executives talk about vision—do they anchor to strategy, or react to immediate crises?

Notice how you feel after progress toward big goals—motivated, drained, or neutral? What does that signal?

Observe when you’re most focused—what type of goals sharpen your attention and flow?

Strategic Thinking

Take one current initiative and ask: “How does this shift long-term performance?” Write one line to define it.

Block 15 minutes to map one decision’s ripple effects—who’s impacted across teams and in what timeline?

Ahead of your next meeting, note the broader company stakes behind the agenda—what’s really driving it?

Before launching a new project, ask: “What does success look like six months from now?”—write one line.

Add a “so what?” column to your notes—connect facts to insights and implications before sharing upward.

Read a relevant industry update—write one note on how the trend could reshape your department’s work.

Reflect on a time a departmental plan failed—what assumption about strategy proved wrong, and why?

Journal about how your current role contributes to shaping company strategy—what unique value do you bring?

Write about a time you connected cross-departmental insights—what impact did that broader link create?

List the external forces shaping your company—economic, technological, or political—and how they shape your choices.

Write about how often you react tactically versus think strategically—what shift could improve your leadership?

Think about whether you default to operations, people, or results—how does it shape your strategic thinking?

Lead a 10-minute strategy break in your next leadership huddle—ask: “How does our department add value to company goals?”

Redesign one recurring task with future impact in mind—how does today’s choice affect results next quarter?

Draft a “What if…” list of three external shifts—map how your department would respond if they occurred.

Build a stakeholder map for your next decision—identify who must align for success long-term.

Facilitate a short pre-mortem on a key initiative—ask: “If this fails, what could derail it?”—note insights.

Revisit your department KPIs and propose one strategic shift for better alignment with corporate goals.

Ask a senior leader: “Where might I underestimate long-term risks or opportunities in my area?”—listen for blind spots.

Share a draft strategy with a peer manager—invite them to challenge your assumptions or gaps.

Ask a peer manager what long-term risks they see in your function’s current priorities—compare notes.

Invite a cross-functional peer to review your plan—what dependencies or risks do they see that you missed?

After a meeting, ask someone: “Was I thinking too operationally, or did I step back to see the bigger picture?”

Share your reasoning behind a key decision and ask for feedback—did you weigh the long-term tradeoffs?

Reframe “What’s the quickest fix?” as “What’s the smartest path long-term?”—prioritize sustainable results.

Turn “We always do it this way” into “What’s shifted that requires a fresh approach?”

Shift from “What do we need now?” to “Where do we want to be in 12 months—and how do we get there?”

Recast reacting fast as overlooking context—what might be missed by focusing only on urgency?

Reframe choices as investments—“What return will this bring in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years?”

Change “How do we hit this KPI?” to “What future outcome are we really aiming to shape here?”

Observe when leadership decisions are made—do they balance strategic alignment with daily operational needs?

Watch how senior leaders pose questions—what patterns of inquiry drive strategic clarity?

Track your decision process this week—how much time goes to long-term analysis versus urgent execution?

Notice where you get lost in detail—what would a higher-level lens reveal for better alignment?

Observe meetings that focus only on execution—what long-term issues are being sidelined?

Note your language—are you speaking in forecasts, risks, and priorities or just short-term tasks?

Innovation Management

Spot one recurring bottleneck in team workflows and note three alternative fixes you could try this week.

Ask a peer manager how they solved a shared challenge—test one of their methods with your own team.

Spend 10 minutes sketching a rough outline for one improvement idea—focus on clarity, not polish.

Challenge yourself in the next meeting to ask: “What if we didn’t do this?”—observe what it sparks.

Use a random word generator—link it to a current challenge to stretch perspective in a fresh direction.

Add a new page to your team doc: “Ideas We Haven’t Tried Yet”—list five potential experiments.

Reflect on when you encouraged your team to test new approaches—what leadership behaviors supported it?

Journal about when you resisted a new idea from your team—what drove your resistance, and what was lost?

Write down three successful innovations you backed—what conditions or leadership actions helped them succeed?

List leaders you’ve seen foster innovation—what words or actions made people safe to share bold ideas?

Write about how you respond to ambiguity—do you frame it as threat or opportunity for your department?

Think about how your current environment supports or blocks innovation—what structural shifts could help?

Test a new way of running a routine process—adjust tools or sequencing and note how your team responds.

Propose a pilot initiative with a clear success metric—keep it simple and testable for your department.

Ask your team to name the most outdated process—volunteer to lead a redesign or trial improvement.

Solve a challenge using only constraints—limit time, resources, or people and see what emerges.

Share a bold idea with your boss or executive peer—offer it even if incomplete to spark discussion.

Set up a one-week innovation sprint with a peer leader—tackle a known challenge in a new way together.

Ask your team which improvement ideas had promise but stalled—what held them back from progressing?

Share a new process idea with a peer and ask them to test its weaknesses constructively.

Invite your team to rate which process wastes the most time—commit to tackling the top result.

Ask a frontline employee: “What improvement do customers or partners keep asking for?”—bring it upward.

Discuss with a peer leader how they pilot new ideas—what practices could you borrow?

Ask your team: “What idea did we drop too soon?”—revisit and consider testing it again.

Reframe “That’s risky” as “That’s untested”—pilot a safe version before scaling it across teams.

Change “That won’t work here” to “What if that mindset is what’s holding us back?”

Treat every failed pilot as data—ask: “What does this tell us about our process or assumptions?”

Instead of “We need a breakthrough,” say “We need a small, testable idea that can scale later.”

Reframe resistance from peers as a filter—what can be improved through challenge?

Shift from “I’m not innovative” to “I haven’t practiced testing small changes enough.”

Notice who shares process improvements and who stays silent—what dynamics encourage or suppress ideas?

Track how long it takes for team suggestions to move into pilots—where are bottlenecks appearing?

Watch reactions when you suggest change—do you see curiosity, silence, or pushback?

Observe which settings (timing, format, energy) spark the most creative contributions from your team.

During reviews, listen for patterns in failure—what do they reveal about assumptions left untested?

Monitor your reaction to new ideas—do you nurture them or critique too fast?

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