Article
April 11, 2022 · 2 min read timeWe’ve all been there before: putting a lot of effort into a company vision only to have it fade silently into the background and gather dust in the back of our minds. This is not the aim, however. At Nitor, we’ve developed tools to bridge the gap between vision and strategy that turns your vision into a strategy that thrives in the real world.
Once upon a time, there was a vision statement. It had been mulled over and over again by the people in charge, incorporating different perspectives and considerations of possible alternative futures. Consensus had been reached and THE vision was ready to be shared. And in the end, after all that patting on each others’ backs, nothing came out of it. Where was the strategy to pursue the vision? What notes was the organization expected to play?
The above scenario is a more common problem in building a successful strategy than what it might seem at first.
A successful strategy delivers value to the organisation and is transparent about the planned impact. The different activities turning the strategy into reality resemble an orchestra that plays together and makes every individual piece stronger.
We firmly believe activities based on data are the instruments that create this musical harmony but also keep the planned activities based on reality. This is to keep our exercises based on reality. To support this, we’ve created new tools for developing down-to-earth business scenarios for strategy work.
Scenario Map
Our Scenario Map helps visualize different scenarios, communicate the key driving forces behind them, and those forces’ dependencies. It communicates the decision-making points and their business impact. It makes the strategy more alive and the reasoning behind the choices easier to both understand and commit to
Navigator
After weighing between the different scenarios, our Navigator helps clarify the steps, roles and structures needed to move along the chosen path. Our tool makes the decision-making process more open. It helps to evaluate the organization’s maturity to make the decisions and live the strategy. By making things transparent, it shows what capabilities are needed and prevents stepping into the biggest pitfalls. This process allows us to focus on the most practical approaches that are feasible in the client’s context.
Multi-user strategy games
We’ve experimented with using online, multi-user strategy games for leadership. These games can be used as joint decision-making tools and easy material for making more informed decisions. These strategy games help share a common understanding on the impacts of different scenarios and decisions the leadership team has to make. Games facilitate this discussion better than typical round tables and help reveal different, justified points of view by bringing them to the front for all to see. Our unique approach is to use similar methods for self-learning before joint decision-making.
At Nitor, we help companies and people to succeed as the world changes. We build sustainable digital services, new ways of working and agile strategies. Don’t hesitate to contact us to hear more about the tools mentioned above, and what and how we do all this!
This article was written together with Janne Kaasalainen, Principal Product Designer at Starship.
Written by
Satu Koivulehto is the Director of Strategy Services. She is a seasoned expert in business design, digital services and customer-oriented strategy. When Satu is not sparring business management, her heart beats for spending time with family and friends, travelling and good music.
