What happens when success itself becomes an obstacle to excellence? Discover how capable organizations can move beyond what already works, challenge established assumptions, and create the conditions for meaningful, sustainable improvement.
Before We Plan: What Strategic Planning Is Really For
If you’re about to participate in a strategic planning session, you may be expecting a conversation about mission statements, goals, priorities and perhaps a few sticky notes. Those things may all make an appearance. But they aren’t really the point. At its best, strategic planning is a chance to step outside the day-to-day work of running an organization and have a different kind of conversation: Where are we going? Why does that direction matter? What will it take to get there? And what...
What Do We Mean When We Talk About Culture?
Most organizations do not start thinking about culture because something is broken. They start because they are growing. What once felt intuitive now requires intention. Decisions carry more weight. Roles become more complex. Informal norms no longer scale. In this article, we define what culture actually is, what most organizations misunderstand about it, and how to assess whether your growth is strengthening coherence or quietly eroding it.
How Do I Know If This Grant Is Actually Building My Organization?
Grant funding can accelerate impact, but not every opportunity builds organizational strength. This post explains how to evaluate grant opportunities using a decision-making matrix, helping nonprofits assess alignment, capacity, sustainability, and risk before applying.
Should We Apply for This Grant, or Is It Actually the Wrong Time?
Not every good grant is the right grant right now. This post explores when applying for funding can do more harm than good, and why sometimes the most strategic decision is to say no and wait until your organization is ready.
Are you actually ready for grant funding?
Grant funding can accelerate good work or quietly destabilize an organization. This newsletter breaks down the maturity required before pursuing grants, why readiness matters more than eligibility, and what provincial and federal governments are actually funding.
How Grant Funding Can Build a Stronger Organization
Project-based grants can fuel growth or quietly distort it. This post explores how funding strategy should inform business strategy, using Positivist Group’s 8 Dimensions to help nonprofits and for-profits pursue grants without losing focus, capacity, or coherence.
Context Is Everything
Strategy collapses when it ignores context. The same decision can create momentum in one organization and chaos in another. At Positivist Group, we help leaders make decisions that fit real-world constraints, people dynamics, and the complexity of growth.
Culture: What Growth Quietly Teaches People Is Acceptable (Dimension #8)
Culture reflects what organizations teach people through decisions and systems. This post explores culture as the cumulative outcome of intentional or reactive organizational growth.
Leadership: Holding Decisions in Times of Growth (Dimension #2)
Trust is not built by getting every decision right. It is built when people understand how decisions are made, who is accountable, and why certain paths are chosen. Leadership that supports intentional growth makes decision-making visible without making it performative. It invites dialogue without outsourcing responsibility.
HEY, I'M ERIN
Strategic advisor, business builder, professional problem solver and incurable optimist
Founder of The Positivist Group, a band of merry seasoned professionals transforming visionary organizations across Canada. #people #culture #performance