Gaining fresh insights about your business triggers strategic clarity. We understand how leaders work through challenges to collaborate, innovate, and sustain important strategies. We expand strategic capacity and development by employing targeted research, visualization, scenarios, system thinking and mapping. 

For some clients, this takes a path of a thorough strategic plan. In communities or regions seeking solutions for deep-seated social problems we will work on long-term collective impact plans. For private businesses we conduct business modeling or retreats to fine-tune existing business models. Often, we lead annual strategy or impact assessments.  Regardless of the scale of the challenge, we customize our strategic processes to meet the needs of individual clients. We are committed to achieving breakthroughs.

THE STRATEGIC PROCESS

Clarify the Big Picture: Early phases of any strategic process involve an assessment of the history, assets, culture and current business dynamics. We map the key variables in your operations and identify the health of the current business. Using targeted research and surveys, we help clarify the changing customer experience and unique unfilled needs. We employ imaginative scenario thinking sessions to tease out different futures and their implications for your business. 

Sharpen the Strategy: Synthesizing the emerging picture, we generate a shift in thinking that leads to a new consensus on issues and openings. We examine the business model and differentiating factors that support an organization's competitive advantage. We help the group challenge current assumptions and identify the critical advantages upon which it shapes its future growth. Working with an internal strategic planning team, we frame the organization's strategic direction, four potential scenarios, and bold stretch goals. 

For start-ups or small firms hitting market turbulence, we start with these objectives:

• Refine the business model to adapt to the disruptive forces
• Chart the new future vision and create strategic clarity about advantage
• Uncover hidden innovation capabilities in the firm
• Clarify the paths to increased profit and impact
• Get leaders on the same page using the same change messages.

Activate the Strategic Roadmap: This phase ensures long-term sustainability of the process and strategies and the adaptability of the enterprise. We identify possible partners and revenue sources, develop work plans with defined responsibilities and timelines, ensure accountability, and design impact metrics and progress Dashboards. We include strategy maps to illustrate the key links between new learning capabilities and the stated goals and outcomes.

We design highly participatory strategic experiences that incorporate visual storytelling and system mapping. This helps diverse groups think and work aloud effectively.

Top Picture Credit - Ken Hubbell's 2016 oil painting, Be Like Earth-Be Awesome