STRATEGY

We founded Spartina to radically shift how consulting services are delivered to – or rather, WITH – clients.

Compared to traditional approaches, Spartina starts from a unique vantage point to keep strategy development participative, positive, innovative, and enlivening.

The Challenge with SWOT.

Typically, organizations conduct a SWOT Analysis at the beginning of a strategic planning process. The SWOT highlights internal Strengths and Weaknesses as well as external Opportunities and Threats. However, by examining the Weaknesses and Threats, organizations often spend more time critiquing the past and its problems rather than peering into the future and its potential. This narrows the focus around what isn’t desired, carrying little momentum to inspire innovative ideas around desired outcomes for the future.

Trading SWOT for SOAR.

We exchange SWOT for SOAR, an environmental scan exploring key Strengths and Opportunities, similar to SWOT, but with an intentional focus on Aspirations and Results – outcomes most desired that propel strategic visions forward, and with results-driven clarity so “we know it when we see it.” To learn more about how we rethink and restructure strategy development, see our publication titled ‘SOARing from SWOT.’

Our Approach Engenders a Spirit of Inquiry & Inclusion

Traditionally, strategy is formulated through top-down planning, wherein small groups of senior leaders are responsible for creating a strategy and its roll-out. Having excluded key implementers from the planning process, there is little ownership and commitment to execute the strategy, causing significant time delays that boost costs and threaten morale.

Our approach minimizes these challenges by making the strategy development process highly inclusive and engaging, elevating buy-in and ownership in the development and implementation of the strategy. The more participative the plan creation, the more committed your team will be to its implementation success. “People commit to what they help to create.”

The Results of Strategic Planning Done the Spartina Way

Our fun, high-engagement facilitation methods maximize participation for creative idea generation and implementation. The result: action-oriented strategies for moving forward; decisions grounded by participants’ proven, positive past; and the seeding of new, bold, and practical ideas for innovation. Pockets of cynicism and resistance are replaced by a renewed sense of possibility, shared commitment, and inspired action.

Many of our strategy projects culminate in a high-engagement retreat or summit, resulting in a “Strategy on a Page” and a strategy roadmap that ensures momentum and clarity for follow-through.

*The SOAR framework was developed by Jackie Stavros. See: Stavros, J., & Hinrichs, G. (2009). Thin book of SOAR: Building strengths based strategy. Bend, OR: Thin Book Publishing.

Strategy Articles

FREE RESOURCE: SOARING FROM SWOT

Click below to download the article SOARing from SWOT: Four Lessons in Strategic Planning Done Right

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