A good strategy makes all the difference.
And it doesn’t need to be complicated!
The 4-Page Strategy – Consulting Journey. Coming Soon.
The 4-page Strategy – There is power in simplicity!
A strategy is not a plan. But a good strategy enables a good plan.
Erik Anderson
Business leader, product designer, consultant on tech strategies and innovation
Traditional consultancy-driven strategy processes are too heavy, too slow, and often don’t even produce a strategy. Instead they produce a lot of paper followed by a boring update to last year’s plan. Calling such a process ‘strategic planning’ just makes the confusion worse.
Erik Anderson threw out the consultants and developed the simplified 4-page strategy to help his own business strategy and product portfolio teams simplify their process and focus on what really matters. The result is a strategy process that involves the whole team, is robust to change, and enables delegation of decision making at every level.
Your 4-page strategy gets put on the wall, not on the shelf.
The 4-Page Strategy
- Introduction
- Keeping strategy simple
- How will a good strategy help you?
- How will you know your strategy is good?
- Benefits of the 4-page format
- Individual work
- Core Assumptions
- Strategic Intent
- Key Strategies
- Key Actions
- Teamwork 1
- Core Assumptions
- Strategic Intent
- Key Strategies
- Key Actions
- Teamwork 2
- Cross-check and stress test
- Being honest about uncertainty
- Is your strategy robust?
- Does your strategy empower delegation at every level
- Putting your strategy to work
- Finalize, publish, and share
- Dealing with changes and surprises over time
- From strategy to project planning
- A good strategy makes planning straightforward
Focus on your Strategy work! The tool keeps your notes.
- Simple online format: access any time. Involve your team. Keeps all records for you.
- Better teamwork, online or face-to-face: individual input prior to group discussions.
- Mistakes to avoid: tips and guidance keep everyone educated on the go.
- Adopt over time: easy to update any time.