Insights

Ideas for building stronger organizations.

Practical perspectives on organizational alignment, growth, leadership, operational infrastructure, revenue, technology, data, and finance, and the ideas behind The Optimal Horizon.

Recent insights

What we’re thinking about now.

  • Data, Technology & Operations

    Buying the CRM was the easy part

    The value of technology isn’t in owning the platform. It’s in changing how the organization works.

    Coming soon

  • Leadership and Management

    What your organizational chart can’t tell you

    To understand how an organization actually functions, leaders must listen to the people closest to the work.

    Coming soon

  • Systems and Operations

    When growth outpaces infrastructure

    How to recognize the difference between an isolated problem and an organization that has outgrown the systems that brought it here.

    Coming soon

Topics

Explore the questions shaping stronger organizations.

We write about organizational strategy, leadership and management, revenue and fundraising, data and technology, finance and accounting, systems and operations, and the Optimal Horizon.

Case studies

See how organizational change takes shape.

Our case studies examine the starting conditions, the barriers revealed through the work, the solutions implemented, and the organizational capacity created as a result.

Kara Steffen, founder of The Change Up Group, smiling, arms crossed, outdoors
Kara SteffenFounder & CEO

Speaking

Bring the conversation to your organization or event.

Kara Steffen speaks about organizational infrastructure, leadership visibility, cross-functional change, technology adoption, and the pursuit of the Optimal Horizon. Talks can be tailored for executive teams, boards, conferences, and professional communities.

Insights are useful. Implementation creates change.

If an idea on this page reflects something happening inside your organization, let’s talk about what it would take to address it.

Start a Conversation