Your CEO has a bold vision – and now it’s up to you to execute it.
But did you know 70% of organizational “transformations” fail?
The reason is clear: big-picture ambitions from leadership don’t translate into day-to-day actions for managers and employees. That’s where we come in. Our strategy development services bridge the gap between vision and execution, ensuring that every team understands where the organization is headed and how their work contributes to success.
With this end in mind, we work closely with business leaders to dissect the organizational vision and define its application in the context of that team’s specific work. We bring cross-functional leaders around the same table to identify new initiatives and ways of working that unpack the vision at an operational level. Finally, clear metrics, roadmaps, and accountability structures ensure that it’s explicitly clear how a team’s actions are working in support of the CEO’s vision.
We help leaders with strategy challenges like:
Translating vision into strategy
We work with business leaders to cascade a company’s vision with high-level goals into a cohesive, team-level strategy with actionable next steps.
Our services include:
- Current state assessments to map the needs and data of your employees, your leadership, your industry, and inspiring tangential industries
- Visioning workshops to align on a shared outlook for the future
- Current vs. Future State exercises to assess growth gaps opportunities
- Strategy co-creation workshops to assess the market landscape, think creatively about options, and prioritize strategic futures
- Feedback testing with various stakeholders to pressure test directions
Driving cross-functional alignment
We bring together cross-functional leaders to identify where they want to go, and the key initiatives and operational strategies that will get them there.
Our services include:
- 1:1 interviews across teams to understand strengths and blockers in current collaboration models
- Problem framing workshops to make sure leaders are using the same language and focused on the right challenge
- Roadmap and Prioritization Workshops
- Collaboration model improvement + pilot definition
- Highly customized and expertly facilitated offsite experiences
Building a sustainable leadership operating model
We integrate alignment and accountability structures into your operating model to ensure continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.
Our services include:
- Leadership operating principles and mindsets to role model at all levels
- Evaluation and experimentation with new leadership rituals and cadences
- Facilitation of monthly/quarterly strategy sessions to assess progress and pivots
- New metrics definition to appropriately measure initiatives
- Ongoing employee empathy workshops and external inspiration workshops
What our Strategy Development clients say:
I presented my strategy to the leadership team and they were all in. My team is really moving and grooving in executing the strategy and has already gone to market with quite a bit. I think this really gelled the team and we have a good plan and amazing execution. I can't say enough about the experience and I think everyone should build their strategy this way.
People Team Head of Digital
Fortune 100 Enterprise Technology ClientThe Design Gym helped us to develop a new strategic vision as we transitioned our company and leadership in a post-pandemic world... Since working with them last year, we have stayed true to the vision they helped us craft, and our organization has achieved amazing things. We are incredibly grateful for their support and expertise.
Chief Executive Officer
Real Estate Development ClientThe Design Gym has been an amazing strategic partner for the [client] Design Thinking team and is intimately familiar with our program and framework.The team are also some of the best facilitators in the business!
Design Leader
Fortune 100 Technology Client
WHAT MAKES OUR STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT DIFFERENT:
Co-creation for more durable outcomes
Successful strategies reflect the needs of the business and the stakeholders. We use expert facilitation and workshops as a highly strategic stakeholder management tool. When stakeholders see themselves in the outcomes, the outcomes last.
Activated by employees but owned by leadership
Successful strategies hinge on senior leadership alignment. Misalignment amongst leaders quickly turns into misalignment in teams. We bring the data needed to make decisions, but we won’t move forward until senior leaders are aligned.
Cross-functional or bust
Successful strategies are rooted in systems, not silos. We identify dependencies across teams and integrate their leaders and processes into our work.
Plan for the pivot
Successful strategies allow room for change as we learn. It’s not a matter of “if” you will need to pivot, but rather “when” and “how ready.”
Clearly mapped to growth
Successful team level strategies are clearly mapped to the growth goals of the business. We help teams say ‘no’ to the majority, so they can say ‘yes’ to what matters (to your boss…and your boss’s boss).
