Our consulting approach rests on five pillars, where we:

• Focus on core strategic questions
• Generate fact-based insights
• Test feasibility
• Work collaboratively
• Plan for implementation

This approach results in well-grounded decisions and clear goals that promote our client’s mission, are ambitious yet attainable, and energize leadership and stakeholders.

Focus on core strategic questions

We work with our clients to articulate the questions of greatest strategic importance to them – those questions that when answered will lead to improved success in achieving the organization’s mission.  By using these core questions to guide the project we ensure that the work is focused on what matters most, resulting in the creation of significant value.

Generate fact-based insights

We use research and analysis to inform discussion and decision-making, employing a variety of analytical methods such as surveys, focus groups, structured interviews, cost analysis, financial and mathematical modeling, process mapping, and the benchmarking of analogous organizations.  Through such analysis insights are generated that can act as important “aha” moments to galvanize thinking and achieve consensus.

Test feasibility

We test the feasibility of strategic options by examining implications related to the organization’s programmatic goals, financial performance, organizational capacities, and policies and procedures.  By using tools such as evaluation criteria, options modeling, and sensitivities analysis we allow a client to consider the trade-offs involved in different courses of action, identify the most attractive options, and determine a realistic timeframe in which actions can be implemented.

Work collaboratively    

Because strategic decisions are typically informed by many different factors (programmatic, financial, organizational) and require the input of multiple stakeholders (board members, staff, and outside stakeholders), excellent strategic decisions are best arrived at through a team effort.  We bring constituents together in skillfully facilitated meetings to elicit opinions and arrive at intelligent conclusions.  By using a team-based approach, alignment is achieved and the organization takes ownership for the agreed-upon course of action.

Plan for implementation

In the final phase of most client engagements we work closely with the organization to develop an action plan, along with methods to monitor success.  This converts the strategic choices made during the project into practical action. Informed by the strategic goals that the organization has established, key staff members define action steps for implementation, identifying who will do what, by when, establish metrics to use in tracking progress over time, and develop a calendar of meetings to monitor progress.