using strategy engine for better decision making

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Better Organizational Alignment and Strategic Decision Making

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Agenda

• What is Strategy Engine?• Elements of a Strategy Guide• Session Structure• What Can You Expect from Results?• Next Steps



50% of Business Decisions Fail

• Decision Making is difficult• The numbers aren’t always clear• Biases cloud decision making skills• The external landscape is constantly changing• Time pressures place a premium on speed over

options and deliberation



What is Strategy Engine?

• Strategy Engine is an online collaboration platform that improves the outcomes of complex decisions by guiding organizations through proven problem-solving processes.

• Unlike ad-hoc decision making, Strategy Engine frames choices and builds the foundation for collective action through distributed team engagement.



Wicked vs. Technical Problems

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

Tend to be well-defined, quantifiable, divisible, and strongly informed by economic analysis. Examples:

Prioritizing a project portfolio Developing a product roadmap

WICKED PROBLEMSTend to be ill-defined, with no “optimal” solution and replete with unintended consequences across many actors. Economic analysis still matters, but is far more complex.

Build, Partner or Acquire needed technology Persevere, Pivot or Punt



Tackling Wicked Problems

Strategy Engine is an online collaboration platform that improves the outcomes of complex decisions by guiding organizations through proven problem-solving processes.

Unlike ad-hoc decision making, Strategy Engine frames choices and builds the foundation for collective action through distributed team engagement.

Examples• Corporate Strategy• Change Management• Sustainability• Mergers & Acquisitions• Labor Negotiations• Community and Urban

Planning



Wicked Problems, Righteous Solutions

Wicked Problem

Problem definition unclear

Problem solution involves competing cultural

elements

No optimal solution; every option has tradeoffs

Problem solution requires action by range of

stakeholders

Righteous Solution

Stakeholders must frame the problem

Options must be derived from stakeholder concerns

Stakeholders must weigh tradeoffs

Stakeholders must have a role in the solution



The Strategy Engine Process

Strategic Framing Foundation Building Collective Action

Goals

Conteneo leads a thorough examination into the decision you are facing to ensure that it is properly framed.

Conteneo facilitates a strategy sessions in which participants evaluate the options using the Strategy Engine Framework. As choices are

implemented, stakeholders throughout the organization are aligned on the choices to tackling the problem.

Results

The result is a strategy guide, a clear identification of strategic options and their attendant actions and drawbacks.

The result is a visualization of the strategic choices that participants believe will provide the foundation for action.



Agenda



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One option is a distinctly novel approach.

Two of the options are “similar” but “opposite”.

Creating Strategies

Strategy 1: Persevere Strategy 2: Punt Strategy 3: Pivot

Continue to operate under the same top level product objectives. We should, however, make changes that would relieve organizational pain points quickly.

The time and money required to make fundamental changes to our offerings will deplete our cash supply. While painful, we should stop operations.

A substantial amount of work is required adjust our product to meet our target customers’ needs. We should pivot to fulfill the needs of a different segment.

A key reason decisions fail is that we fail to explore multiple options. The Strategy Engine process identifies at least 3 distinct options.


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Actions & Drawbacks

Strategy: Perform a Customer Segment Pivot

Re train the sales force to target restaurant owners instead of store owners

X Retraining the sales force could take months

X If we begin this strategy without proper training, we could mishandle first connections that we cannot redo

Action:

Drawbacks:

For each strategy, actions and drawbacks describe individual tactics for implementation. While actions may be straightforward, the drawbacks test stakeholders’ limits for risk.



What would this process change?

Current State Strategy Engine

Deliberation, not negotiation

Real Collaboration

Working through tradeoffs

Better decision

making

Numbers paralysis

Biases cloud decision making

A premium on speed over options research



Agenda




Strategy Sessions

VP of SalesChicago

VP of ProductLA

VP of MarketingNew York

VP of AccountingDurham

VP of InnovationSan Francisco

VP of HRAtlanta

VP of LearningLondon

VP of LegalWashington DC

Strategy Sessions enable 5-10 participants to thoroughly evaluate each Option, its Actions and their drawbacks.

The result is a visualization of where the group believes there is a foundation for action.



Real Collaboration at Scale

…

We aggregate results of multiple sessions to see organizational alignment.

Items near the center denote consistently supported actions, while those near the edges were consistently opposed



Agenda

• What is Strategy Engine?• Elements of a Strategy Guide• Session Structure• What to Expect from Results• Next Steps



Foundation for Action

• The final result of the engagement is a report that clearly defines where the group has a shared foundation for action.

• Visualizations will display the alignment of the group

• Chat logs inform need for change management, greater communication, and conditions of acceptance.



Agenda

• What is Strategy Engine?• Elements of a Strategy Guide• Session Structure• What to Expect from Results• Next Steps



Next Steps

Contact Conteneo, Inc. to discuss how Strategy Engine can help you solve your most challenging organizational problems.

Conteneo, Inc.480 San Antonio Road, Suite 202Mountain View, CA 94040

Please visit us at www.conteneo.co and www.strategy-engine.com!



using strategy engine for better decision making

Leadership & Management