Strategic Worked Examples (Executive)

Field

Detail

Problem

An investment is being discussed without making its strategic trade-off explicit.

Outcome

A choice tied to the intended customer value, with alternatives and uncertainty understood.

Context

The intended outcome, credible alternatives, customer evidence and the limits on investment.

Habit

Ask what would change the decision at every strategic review.

Shift

Compare a current choice against its strongest alternative and identify what would change your mind.

Prompt

Here is the problem: An investment is being discussed without making its strategic trade-off explicit. The outcome we need is: A choice tied to the intended customer value, with alternatives and uncertainty understood. Use this context: [insert the relevant evidence and constraints]. Ask me what is missing. Compare a current choice against its strongest alternative and identify what would change your mind. Separate evidence from interpretation and help me decide what to check before acting.

Field

Detail

Problem

The strategy may work exactly as planned while the customer’s priorities move elsewhere.

Outcome

A sharper strategic choice, plausible alternatives and signals that would change the decision.

Context

The current strategy, customer behaviour, constraints and the assumptions leadership is making.

Habit

Bring your own success and failure stories first. Use the discussion to choose a real assumption to test and an option to keep open.

Shift

Use future hindsight and lateral thinking to expose choices the current plan hides.

Prompt

Imagine it is three years from now. Our strategy has succeeded: what went right? Now imagine it failed: what went wrong? Create a third future where customer value shifted and a different strategy won. Borrow one business-model idea from another sector and explain where the analogy breaks. These are scenarios, not forecasts. Which assumptions, early signals and decisions should we examine today?