COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING
Creating a strategic plan that your people own and want to follow.
Every leader wrestles with two big questions: Where are we going? And how will we get there?
We help answer those questions through a process that’s practical, people-centered, and built on collaboration—because we believe people support what they help to create.
Our approach to strategy development and organizational change draws on Appreciative Inquiry—a strengths-based, future-focused method that invites teams, organizations, and communities to imagine what’s possible, together.
We start by uncovering your organization’s “positive core”—the strengths, values, and stories that already make you strong. From there, we co-create a vision of the future that feels both inspiring and attainable, and we design actionable steps to make that future real.
The process can include external research, internal interviews, collaborative design sessions, and iterative testing—whatever combination will get your team engaged and your strategy grounded in reality.
The result: not a binder that sits on a shelf, but a plan people actually believe in and know how to carry forward.
“Amber helped me facilitate a number of global Appreciative Inquiry Summits at a couple organizations I led …. Amber is an expert in the Appreciative Inquiry process and a gifted facilitator. She is highly adept at getting to the right question to ask, and was instrumental in helping me guide these firms through this important work. She stayed engaged with me after the summits were complete to ensure momentum was carried forward. In all cases, we successfully transformed the organizations for extraordinary results. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
— John Heiser, former CEO
Collaborative Strategic Planning Case Studies
We remove our clients’ names from case studies to honor confidentiality. Reach out to learn more about the challenges faced by these clients and our solutions.
#1: RETHINKING RURAL HEALTHCARE FOR THE DIGITAL AGE
“Strategic planning with Appreciative Inquiry helped us efficiently produce ideas that were visionary and actionable,”
The CEO of a rural healthcare system needed a strategic plan for addressing the challenges of providing quality care. The CEO wanted the rich ideas and broad support he knew would happen from designing the plan collaboratively.
Two days were reserved for a retreat with the board—how, the CEO wondered, could we shape a strategic planning process that drew from the wisdom of the wider community and still efficiently produced a plan?
Our team trained staff members, health care providers, and trustees to conduct Appreciative Inquiry interviews; each participant then interviewed five stakeholders and shared their interview notes. Our team analyzed the notes and identified key themes that became the focus of the plan.
Then we brought the board, executives, and select health care providers and staff together for an Appreciative Inquiry summit. The participants designed a multi-year strategic plan, including next steps for implementation.
The CEO said, “The mindset of Appreciative Inquiry had a transformative impact.” The strategic plan led to an increased emphasis on providing patient care through online portals; this digital capacity became an essential asset when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the next year. A few years later, as the pandemic had subsided, the CEO asked our team to help with the next strategic plan.
#2: REFLECTING THE COMMUNITY’S DESIRES FOR A LIBRARY’S STRATEGIC FUTURE
“Our staff felt included and generated incredible ideas; and because we’d begun by asking the community, those ideas had broad support.”
Located in the western suburbs of Chicago, this public library served a diverse community with changing needs. The executive director wanted to understand what the community needed from the library, now. Recognizing that librarians are facing increasing challenges to their work, the ED also wanted to hear from her staff about their needs and ideas. With this increased understanding, the executive director hoped an inspiring and practical strategic plan could emerge.
Our team used the Appreciative Inquiry methodology to design a collaborative strategic planning process. We started with external research, to consider the most innovative ideas of other public libraries.
We then listened to staff and community members to understand their needs and desires. Insights from surveys, focus groups, and research were summarized and shared with the staff at a planning retreat.
Working in small groups, the staff identified four strategic goals: improve existing resources and access, create strong community partnerships, meet current community needs, and care for the staff.
The process not only created a strong sense of inclusion among staff but also surfaced a wealth of innovative ideas. Because those ideas were shaped in partnership with the community from the very beginning, they carried broad support and momentum for action.
Based on this success, our team has continued to work with the library system, and the executive director has referred our team to her peers in other systems.
#3: BRINGING GLOBAL PARTNERS TOGETHER TO DESIGN A FLOURISHING FUTURE
“We’re leading the way because of this collaborative approach.”
During the previous strategic planning cycle, the Latin American region of a publicly traded company had sought our support for a collaborative process—and the results had helped the region emerge as one of the most respected in the global company.
Now, the global organization had a new CEO and the region had ambitious new targets and objectives. The region also wanted to be a significant contributor to the firm’s aggressive EBITDA goal. A collaborative strategic planning approach was needed to unify the broad territory and build excitement for new directions.
To prepare, our team interviewed dozens of the region’s top customers, compiling the findings into a detailed report that pointed toward new opportunities.
After sharing the report with the region’s partners, we brought them together for 2.5 days in Sao Paulo. The executives interviewed one another and built strong relationships across divisions. These strengthened bonds helped shape new service offerings to meet the ambitious goals.
The summit ended with a clear strategic direction, and broad support across the partners.
The partners implemented the visionary strategic plan, securing the region’s reputation as a leader within the firm and helping to advance the firm’s standing.