Strategy: Imagination will get you everywhere

Case Study

Strategy: Imagination will get you everywhere

Situation

The directors of an organisation were brought together with the objective of designing their first strategy. These directors had been appointed to represent the widest possible set of social beliefs.

Strategy

The logic and reason of traditional strategic planning could never have aligned deeply held beliefs to create a unified and compelling strategy. Every proposal would have triggered a counter proposal and led to antagonism.

The strategy was designed using art. It conveyed the intention of each director in turn, and enabled others to express their own emotional connection to that intention.

Intervention

Each director created a piece of art that represented what they wanted to achieve. They presented this to their new colleagues and explained what it represented and why it was so important to them. They spoke from the heart.

Other directors were invited to share what they most valued about each other’s presentation. This approach focused everyone’s attention on positive exploration and avoided criticism and opposition.

We then expanded and developed each idea until over 150 discrete options were jointly created. Every option was then ranked using a simple voting system so that the board together determined their priorities.

Their top 15 options were organised into a clear strategy.

Impact

The board implemented the strategy.
They subsequently exceeded every major target.
Their experience created clarity and connections which served as the foundation for ongoing collaboration and success.