We specialize in growth strategy consulting and help organizations avoid the trap of defaulting to repetitive, predictable strategies and instead design vibrant approaches to thrive in an agile, digital, and purpose-driven future. 

 

 

Traditional strategic planning approaches are designed to kill off innovative growth strategies. Our proprietary Outthinker Process® offers the alternative. Rooted in over a decade of research, rigorously tested through more than 300 strategy efforts, our process differs in four important ways:

  • We strategize from the future rather than the past.
  • We apply “strategic narratives” to expand options rather than frameworks that narrow them.
  • We design for what is possible rather than settle for what is predictable.
  • We view strategy as a vibrant, inclusive conversation rather than a quarterly report.

 

We deliver our results primarily in three ways.

ONE-DAY OUTTHINKER WORKSHOP

Greatness takes time to perfect, but you’ll start the process today with dozens of fresh ideas, along with specific tools for future use, in a single, highly efficient workday.  Tackle a burning problem or accelerate your business in this one-day, concentrated exploration of innovative options. Experience a series of powerful exercises that empower you to apply new thinking patterns, create disruptive ideas, look over the horizon and identify unexpected opportunities.

This powerful day (held at your location of choice) will deliver breakthrough ideas and expand your thinking. Position your team and organization to win in an increasingly complex, agile, and purpose-driven world. It will leave your teammates inspired by the possibility of your new ideas, and most importantly will move them to action. Learn the tools and approaches you and your team will adopt as an essential element of how you identify and react to new opportunities and competitive threats.

Deliverables

  1. 2-5 high-potential, disruptive ideas of achieving your vision and desired business outcomes
  2. A backlog of 30-50 ideas to turn to in the future
  3. A strategy report to document the discussion, ideas, decisions, and action-plan
  4. A more creative and strategic team who has built powerful “muscle memory” to solve creative challenges on its own in the future
  5. Alignment on a shared vision, set of goals, and leverage points

Client comments and results

“Just one idea that came out of the session enabled us to triple our business unit’s revenue in three years.”

  • Managing Director, Regional Financing Business
Situation Results
A leading financial service company wanted, for the first time, to enter the asset management business. But how could they overcome regulatory and ownership issues? They devised a path through the issues. Two years later they are one of the top 10 largest asset managers in the world.
The finance group of a leading hardware manufacturer was struggling to grow marketing share. How could they differentiate their offer and grow? They designed an innovative go-to-market strategy that tripled their revenue over the next three years.
A cosmetics distributor was unable to win over the largest clients. How could they convince leading brands to distribute through them? They came up with a radical new value proposition, built a sister company, and now generate 80% of their revenue from this strategy.

THE INNOVATION AND GROWTH AUDIT™

To thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic future, your organization must be able to respond quickly and creatively to emerging opportunities and threats. How well do you turn uncertainty into advantage? Do your people collaborate with sufficient creativity, strategic thinking, and speed?

Often, the biggest threat facing organizations comes from within.  Undetected blind spots in culture and approach can lead to turnover, declining market share, and competitive loss.  The opportunity for leaders to get a clear picture of their soft spots relating to cultivating innovation and agility is priceless.  From there, remediating the problem areas quickly and efficiency will allow your organization to soar.

The Innovation and Growth Audit™ is our proprietary assessment that measures your organization’s innovative capacity and pinpoints the most critical areas you must address today to thrive in the future. Pulled from decades of in-the-trenches experience, analysis of hundreds of fast-growth businesses, and latest research on the true drivers of innovative organizations, our assessment tests over 50 critical factors across four areas:

  1. Culture and behavior
  2. Organizational structure
  3. Leadership
  4. Strategic/innovation discipline

Deliverables

  1. Comprehensive assessment report detailing 50+ factors
  2. A facilitated work-session to help you and your team understand the findings and implications
  3. Raised awareness of the importance you place on innovativeness
  4. An action plan with clear recommendations for improvement

Client results

Situation Results
The regional business of a leading technology firm was facing tougher competition, regulation, and customer demands. They were at risk of missing their business targets. We conducted a broad assessment covering business lines, customer segments, and country-level managers and implemented a program that unlocked rigidity and the assertive pursuit of high-potential ideas. The group hit their five-year revenue goals in less than two.

DISRUPTIVE CORPORATE GROWTH STRATEGY CONSULTING

When you and your team have clarity on where you are going and what choices you must pursue to get there, you can execute with speed and clarity. But most organizations operate in a state of uncertainty. Unsure they are focused on the right priorities, they risk trying to do too much, executing uninspired strategies that produce just average results. We guide organizations through a process that leads them to a comprehensive strategy they are confident will work.  

Deliverables:

  1. Organizational alignment on your purpose, vision, and strategic intent
  2. A fact-based understanding of the trends that will shape your future
  3. A rigorous assessment of the most critical issues and opportunities you should be addressing now
  4. Clarity on the 3-7 priorities that define your strategy and will enable you to win
  5. A plan to build organization-wide alignment to your new strategy
  6. A system of metrics to monitor and manage the successful implementation of your strategy 
Situation Results
A professional service firm had been experiencing three years of lackluster growth. The leadership team felt that it had hit a ceiling. We stepped them through our proprietary Outthinker Process® over the course of three months, supported by our research analytics practice, to help them design a three-prong strategy. Their strategy accelerated their growth rate to 30% (from zero) over the subsequent three years.