Making change happen is a monumental task. How do you move people from passively hearing about a change to actually believing in and living it?

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 30 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 also packaged this powerful methodology into our Strategy Activation course; check out the course details below.

What will I learn in the Strategy Activation course?

During this three-day course led by an experienced instructor, you will:

  • Learn a step-by-step, proven system for engaging employees in change initiatives
  • Acquire flexible, easy-to-use change activation tools that can be applied immediately and reused for multiple applications
  • Problem solve and build relations with other professionals navigating similar change challenges
  • Gain powerful insights into the reasons strategy activation fails—and how to avoid the pitfalls
  • Experience the framework in action led by an expert practitioner
  • Engage with hands-on activities that reinforce learning and strengthen skills
  • Leave the course with a full draft strategy activation plan geared to your organization

Who should attend the Strategy Activation course?

Engaging for anyone helping make organizational change happen, this course is particularly effective for people who:

  • Are responsible for major change initiatives in their organization
  • Are part of a change or transformation team and want to build new skills to be more successful
  • Need to more deeply engage employees in a change program
  • Want to embed a more effective change methodology into their organization
  • Are advising others on how to activate change in their organizations
  • Want to build new skills in change tools rooted in people-centered design, co-creation, and visual thinking
  • Want to teach others how to make change happen

What will I take away from the course?

At the end of the course, you will leave with:

  • A 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

Check out the course page to get more information.

Is the Strategy Activation course part of a series? Should I do the 101 course before the 200-level course? 

Yes, and yes! The Strategy Activation course will be part of a series. The 201 level is currently in development and will be available soon. 

How do I register?

Head to our Strategy Activation course page to learn more about the course and register.

Additional Resources

Get additional strategy activation thought leadership by checking out the following resources: