STRATEGY ACTIVATION
Confidently drive your next change initiative by bridging the gap between your vision and implementation
Why take this course
- Learn from the author of The Strategy Activation Playbook
- Learn a step-by-step, proven system for engaging employees in change initiatives
- Acquire flexible change activation tools that can be applied immediately and reused for multiple applications
- Collaborate and problem-solve with peers navigating similar change challenges
- Gain powerful insights into reasons strategy activation fails—and how to avoid the pitfalls
Create your own strategy activation plan
This course is for:
Executive Leaders: Responsible for enacting organizational strategy across large and complex organizations.
Managers: Making sure their teams are contributing effectively to corporate strategy.
Strategy and Management Consultants: Supporting/facilitating clients through change initiatives.
Transformation and Learning Professionals: Looking to equip and align teams toward effective collaboration.
This course is for you if...
- You are responsible for major change initiatives in your organization
- You are part of a change or transformation team and want to build new skills to be more successful
- You need to more deeply engage employees in a change program
- You want to embed a more effective change methodology into your organization
- You are advising others on how to activate change in their organizations
- You want to build new skills in change tools rooted in people-centered design, co-creation, and visual thinking
- You want to teach others how to make change happen
Course Features and Benefits
About the Learning Experience
Added Bonus
Additional Benefits
- Lifetime access to course portal and materials including MURAL template
- A library of storytelling methods to use in your daily practice
- Access to new tools, bonus content, and course updates as the course evolves
BEFORE DAY 1
Prework
- Collect data, information, or a scenario that you need to tell a story about
- One 30-minute new learner orientation
DAY 1
Fundamentals of strategy activation
- Course objectives and what to expect
- Change theory
- Four phases intro
Getting started with strategy activation
- Craft a clear vision
- Developing the measurement system
- Use empathy to understand key stakeholders
DAY 2
Map the inside landscape of the organization
- Discovery cards
- Barriers to Change cards
Understand the outside forces working for and against your organization
- Force field analysis
- Bring it together insights
- Prepare the activation plan
DAY 3
Adapt and refine the plan
- Share draft plans and gather feedback
- Use insights to make the plan stronger
Bring your strategy to life and ongoing refinement
- Design your dashboard
- Design the governance model
- Bring your strategy to life and ongoing refinement
Your Instructors
Gracie Koester, Senior Consultant, XPLANE
Gracie is an experienced facilitator & consultant with a strong track record of implementing transformational change in B2B, B2C, and non-profit organizations.
Prior to XPLANE, Gracie was an executive leader in a consulting firm specializing in strategic agility. As a visual thinker, dot-connector, and team-builder, she aims to ignite change and believes change starts with a vision, but it comes to life in daily actions, attitudes, and behaviors.
Aric Wood, Author of "The Strategy Activation Playbook"
Aric has extensive experience leading strategic planning and strategy activation initiatives. He has worked with non-profit, government, and Fortune 500 clients to chart a clear strategy and a path to achieve it. He is an international keynote speaker, and has appeared in publications and broadcasts including Forbes, CNN, Business Week, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Magazine.
Aric served in leadership roles at XPLANE, Intuit, and Epinions.com, and as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. He earned his MBA at Harvard Business School.
What Our Learners Say
“I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to apply a proven analytical process to achieving lasting strategic change. XPLANE provided simple yet detailed tools, a contextual overview of their process, and a clear step-by-step guide to successfully gain team buy-in. Their expertise was clear throughout the Bootcamp.”
—J. Michael Hawthorne, PG, Principal, Sr. Vice President at GEI Consultants, Inc.
“The recordings, the access to material, the accessibility of the instructors, the willingness of the participants…XPLANE’s Strategy Activation Bootcamp was a course I dreamt of. I am so glad I took it. I feel more confident and capable in my role.”
—Jill Kinison, Senior Manager, Global Operations at Slalom
“Thank you, Aric! You hugely surpassed my expectations of the session. I’m very excited to dive into much of what you shared. I loved how complex concepts were laid out in a simple manner that would be digestible by leaders engaged in change which makes it easier to engage in the change work necessary to make things stick.”
—ACMP Strategy Activation Masterclass Participant
Course Resources
FAQ
Q: We’ve tried strategy activation methods before, what makes this different?
A: We’ll give you the critical missing piece between strategy planning and change implementation that’s essential to success: How to activate your employees and leverage how employees and organizations embrace change.
Q: How can you help me get traction on my change initiative?
A: We’ll reveal how employees learn and provide tools to help you better navigate common barriers to change.
Q: Why should I trust XPLANE?
A: XPLANE has been helping leaders worldwide tell impactful change stories since 1993. Frequently, clients come to XPLANE with an overwhelming amount of data, and look to us to simplify and construct the information into a narrative people can better understand and align around.
Our storytelling methods have successfully helped organizations’ employees (1) buy-in to a new culture, (2) adopt a new process or methodology, (3) get them aligned around a new vision, and more.
With over 30 years of trying and learning on real projects with our clients, we’re eager to share our methods and resources with you to help you create impactful stories for positive change.
Q: I’m super busy. How many hours will I need to invest? What’s the estimated course hours and assignment time?
A: Our course is built to fit your busy schedule. It includes:
- An hour of asynchronous video content to view at your own pace.
- 6 hours of hands-on, live, group-instruction sessions with your instructor to practice key skills, ask questions, and get additional feedback on course activities.
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