This post was updated August 23, 2022

Making change happen is a monumental task. How do you move people from passively hearing about a change initiative to actually believing in it—and even championing it with gusto?

Perhaps you’ve already invested an enormous amount of time, energy, and resources developing the perfect strategy for your organization only to fall short in deploying it. You’ve made the announcement, sent out the email, and waited for the fanfare…but nothing materialized. 

What happened?

Assuming people will snap to a new plan once they hear it is one reason 80% of strategies fail—no matter how well conceived the plan. To really sow the seeds of change, people need help making sense of the plan, connecting to it, and navigating points of ambiguity before they can jump on board. 

This is where strategy activation comes in.

What is “Strategy Activation”?

Strategy activation is the art and science of persuading others to align around, engage with, and adopt new ways of working to achieve a shared vision.

For over 25 years, XPLANE has helped organizations large and small quickly diagnose the all-important starting point for change. This process engages employees and connects them to solutions and tactics that move them up the Activation Curve—from hearing a new strategy, to believing it, and ultimately, to living it.

Over years of building this core capability for our clients, we’ve developed an adaptable system that change makers can apply to any organization to move people to action. We’ve packaged this powerful methodology into our latest Strategy Activation course. 

During our course, skilled facilitators will walk participants through the step-by-step process of constructing a strategy activation plan and share the tools and mindset needed to continue refining the plan as it unfolds.

Who should join the Strategy Activation course?

Engaging for anyone helping make organizational change happen, Strategy Activation is particularly effective for the following:

  • Executive leaders responsible for enacting organizational strategy across large and complex organizations
  • Strategy and management consultants supporting and/or facilitating clients through change initiatives
  • People managers making sure their teams are contributing effectively to corporate strategy
  • Transformation and learning professionals looking to equip and align teams toward effective collaboration
Top left: icon of person holding flag next to text reading “EXECUTIVE LEADERS: Responsible for enacting organizational strategy across large and complex organizations”. Bottom left: icon of map with dotted line leading to X next to text reading “STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS: Supporting/facilitating clients through change initiatives.” Top right: icon of four hands meeting in center with arrows bouncing between each hand next to text reading “PEOPLE MANAGERS: Making sure their teams are contributing effectively to corporate strategy.” Bottom right: icon of speech bubble with question mark next to one with gleeked text lines with arrows circulating around them next to text reading: “TRANSFORMATION AND LEARNING PROFESSIONALS: Looking to equip teams toward effective collaboration.”

What kind of skills can you expect to learn?

The Strategy Activation course is designed with busy professionals in mind and covers a lot of ground in three short days. It’s a fast-paced course that balances expert instruction with hands-on practical application and peer-to-peer learning. Participants acquire the tools and knowledge to bring their strategies to life by aligning, equipping, and activating their people to adopt change.

The course explores a theory of change, a diagnostic tool to assess the efforts required, and a practical system to create change programs that stick.

By the end of the Strategy Activation course, you’ll leave with:

  • A draft strategy activation plan geared to your organization you can implement right away
  • An instructional guide for how to lead the activities, and critical questions to ask in order to continue refining your plan for your context
  • Tools and frameworks for leading the activities in your daily practice

Download the course syllabus for a full description of learning objectives and course details, summarized here:

Day 1: Fundamentals of Strategy Activation & Envision, and Getting Started with Strategy Activation

  • Create a clear and authentic vision that will speak to the hearts and minds of the people responsible and show them the path to realize it
  • Ensure strategic goals are met by establishing a measurement system
  • Begin the Discover phase by identifying key stakeholder groups
  • Understand the perspectives, needs, and openness to change for all key stakeholders

Day 2: Discover & Design

  • Understand what’s challenging about the culture today, and how it might need to shift in the future
  • Get a picture for how the organization perceives change, and where resistance might occur and why
  • Understand the external forces working for or against your organization in order to prepare for or take advantage of
  • Draw insights emerging from the Envision and Discover phases in preparation for designing the plan

Day 3: Execute

  • Chart the course ahead and prepare for known and unknown needs
  • Explore the twelve core categories of building blocks in an activation plan
  • Bring all the components together into an actionable Strategy Activation plan
  • Harness the power of group learning through sharing and providing feedback on draft activation plans

How do I enroll?

Head to our Strategy Activation course page for registration and additional course details.

Are you eligible for a discount?

We offer savings for groups of three or more, for educators, and for employees of nonprofits. Contact us to discuss the options. 

Additional Resources

To learn more about XPLANE’s activation thought leadership, check out the below resources: