Consequential choices repeatedly escalate upward.
Strategy should make the next consequential decision clearer.
Growth creates more possible moves than leadership can fund, sequence, or manage at once. Leverage Co. helps leaders clarify where to play, how to win, and which choices should guide the organization through its next stage of growth.
Possible movesNot nowFocused direction Evidence
+ choices
+ choices
Strategy decides the move.Leverage makes it executable.
Strategy should make the next consequential decision clearer.
Growth creates more possible moves than leadership can fund, sequence, or manage at once. Leverage Co. helps leaders clarify where to play, how to win, and which choices should guide the organization through its next stage of growth.
Not nowFocused direction Evidence
+ choices
+ choices
Strategy decides the move.Leverage makes it executable.
01Strategy as a decision system
The value of strategy is in the decisions it makes easier.
A useful strategy gives leaders and managers a consistent basis for evaluating choices without escalating every consequential decision.
Choices can be evaluated against shared direction and decision criteria.
01Strategy as a decision system
The value of strategy is in the decisions it makes easier.
A useful strategy gives leaders and managers a consistent basis for evaluating choices without escalating every consequential decision.
Consequential choices repeatedly escalate upward.
Choices can be evaluated against shared direction and decision criteria.
02Make the choices explicit
A strategy becomes useful when its choices are explicit.
01Where to play
Choose the arenas where growth can create and capture attractive value.
- Customers
- Markets
- Geographies
- Applications
- Channels
- Growth spaces
Where can the organization create and capture attractive growth?
02How to win
Define what must be true for the organization to create an advantage there.
- Customer value
- Capabilities
- Business model
- Technology
- Talent
- Partnerships
- Operating choices
What must be true for the organization to create an advantage there?
02Make the choices explicit
A strategy becomes useful when its choices are explicit.
01Where to play
Choose the arenas where growth can create and capture attractive value.
- Customers
- Markets
- Geographies
- Applications
- Channels
- Growth spaces
Where can the organization create and capture attractive growth?
02How to win
Define what must be true for the organization to create an advantage there.
- Customer value
- Capabilities
- Business model
- Technology
- Talent
- Partnerships
- Operating choices
What must be true for the organization to create an advantage there?
03Upside Analysis
Four growth pools. Three strategic decisions.
Core Growth, two forms of Adjacency, and Disruptive Potential create four opportunity pools. Leadership evaluates them through three distinct strategic decisions.
03Upside Analysis
Four growth pools. Three strategic decisions.
Core Growth, two forms of Adjacency, and Disruptive Potential create four opportunity pools. Leadership evaluates them through three distinct strategic decisions.
04Core and adjacency growth
Core and adjacency growth require different tests.
Core Growth tests what remains available in the current base. Market and Product Adjacencies test whether an existing strength can create value in a credible new context.
Core Growth
Can the current customer and market base support attractive growth?
Market Adjacency
Can an existing product or capability create value with a different customer, market, geography, or application?
Product Adjacency
Can existing capabilities support a new offering for customers the organization can credibly serve?
04Core and adjacency growth
Core and adjacency growth require different tests.
Core Growth tests what remains available in the current base. Market and Product Adjacencies test whether an existing strength can create value in a credible new context.
Core Growth
Can the current customer and market base support attractive growth?
Market Adjacency
Can an existing product or capability create value with a different customer, market, geography, or application?
Product Adjacency
Can existing capabilities support a new offering for customers the organization can credibly serve?
05Disruptive potential
Disruptive potential is a strategic option, not a requirement.
Not every business has a credible disruptive opportunity, and many attempts fail. The strategic question is whether a meaningful customer group will accept different tradeoffs for a different outcome, creating access to a growth pool large enough to justify the added uncertainty.
Different customer logic
Early demand may come from customers outside the current core.
Meaningful tradeoffs
Customers accept less of what the existing market optimizes for in exchange for a different outcome.
Risk-reward worth pursuing
The opportunity must justify uncertainty, potential cannibalization, and the resources required to reach a larger growth pool.
Disruptive potential should be tested, not assumed.
05Disruptive potential
Disruptive potential is a strategic option, not a requirement.
Not every business has a credible disruptive opportunity, and many attempts fail. The strategic question is whether a meaningful customer group will accept different tradeoffs for a different outcome, creating access to a growth pool large enough to justify the added uncertainty.
Different customer logic
Early demand may come from customers outside the current core.
Meaningful tradeoffs
Customers accept less of what the existing market optimizes for in exchange for a different outcome.
Risk-reward worth pursuing
The opportunity must justify uncertainty, potential cannibalization, and the resources required to reach a larger growth pool.
Disruptive potential should be tested, not assumed.
06Customer evidence
Customer evidence strengthens growth choices.
Jobs to Be Done is the customer research lens we use for uncovering motivations, desired outcomes, current alternatives, and tradeoffs. Combined with market context, that evidence helps leaders assess opportunities and make stronger choices.
06Customer evidence
Customer evidence strengthens growth choices.
Jobs to Be Done is one research lens for uncovering motivations, desired outcomes, current alternatives, and tradeoffs. Combined with market context, that evidence helps leaders assess opportunities and make stronger choices.
Jobs to Be Done supports the strategic choice.
Jobs to Be Done supports the strategic choice. It is not the sole source of strategy.
07Strategic coherence
A collection of attractive initiatives is not necessarily a strategy.
Choices become coherent when the growth thesis, where-to-play and how-to-win choices, investments, and everyday decisions reinforce one another.
07Strategic coherence
A collection of attractive initiatives is not necessarily a strategy.
Choices become coherent when the growth thesis, where-to-play and how-to-win choices, investments, and everyday decisions reinforce one another.
08Resource allocation
Strategy becomes visible in what the organization funds.
Different growth bets should not be evaluated or funded identically. The decision emphasis changes with the evidence, uncertainty, and capability required.
Core
Decision emphasis- Return
- Execution confidence
- Capacity
Adjacency
Decision emphasis- Customer evidence
- Capability transfer
- Validation
Disruptive
Decision emphasis- Learning
- Uncertainty reduction
- Risk-reward
These are executive decision lenses.
08Resource allocation
Strategy becomes visible in what the organization funds.
Different growth bets should not be evaluated or funded identically. The decision emphasis changes with the evidence, uncertainty, and capability required.
Core
Decision emphasis- Return
- Execution confidence
- Capacity
Adjacency
Decision emphasis- Customer evidence
- Capability transfer
- Validation
Disruptive
Decision emphasis- Learning
- Uncertainty reduction
- Risk-reward
09The test of strategy
A strategy earns its value when managers can use it.
Guiding communication should allow managers to make choices consistent with board and executive direction without relying on individual interpretation each time.
09The test of strategy
A strategy earns its value when managers can use it.
Guiding communication should allow managers to make choices consistent with board and executive direction without relying on individual interpretation each time.
10From Strategy to Leverage
Clear choices create direction. Leverage creates capacity.
- The growth thesis
- Where to play
- How to win
- Priorities
- Decision criteria
The organizational capacity required to execute those choices without making leadership the bottleneck.
Explore Leverage10From Strategy to Leverage
Clear choices create direction. Leverage creates capacity.
- The growth thesis
- Where to play
- How to win
- Priorities
- Decision criteria
The organizational capacity required to execute those choices without making leadership the bottleneck.
Explore Leverage11Pathway for Leaders Defining the Next Stage of Growth
Building Foundations for Growth
For leadership teams facing consequential growth decisions, the engagement creates a structured process for understanding opportunities, making where-to-play and how-to-win choices, and translating those choices into direction the organization can use.
01Clarify growth opportunities
02Make strategic choices
03Create usable direction
11Pathway for Leaders Defining the Next Stage of Growth
Building Foundations for Growth
For leadership teams facing consequential growth decisions, the engagement creates a structured process for understanding opportunities, making where-to-play and how-to-win choices, and translating those choices into direction the organization can use.
01Clarify growth opportunities
02Make strategic choices
03Create usable direction
12Strategy diagnostic
Where is your strategy leaving important choices unresolved?
Use these questions to locate ambiguity before adding another initiative or planning cycle.
- 01
Which growth opportunities are competing for the same resources?
- 02
Is it clear where the company will not play?
- 03
What must be true for the organization to win in the spaces it chooses?
- 04
Which strategic assumptions still lack customer or market evidence?
- 05
Do resource allocations reinforce the stated strategy?
- 06
Could a manager make a consequential tradeoff using the strategy today?
12Strategy diagnostic
Where is your strategy leaving important choices unresolved?
Use these questions to locate ambiguity before adding another initiative or planning cycle.
- 01
Which growth opportunities are competing for the same resources?
- 02
Is it clear where the company will not play?
- 03
What must be true for the organization to win in the spaces it chooses?
- 04
Which strategic assumptions still lack customer or market evidence?
- 05
Do resource allocations reinforce the stated strategy?
- 06
Could a manager make a consequential tradeoff using the strategy today?
Brand principleStrategy and Leverage, not Strategy and Implementation.
Strategy creates value when it changes the decisions the organization can make.
See the complementary Leverage pillarBrand principleStrategy and Leverage, not Strategy and Implementation.
Strategy creates value when it changes the decisions the organization can make.
See the complementary Leverage pillarBegin with the choiceA focused strategy conversation
Which strategic choice will shape the next stage of growth?
Start with the opportunity, the evidence, and the tradeoffs leadership must resolve.
Begin with the choiceBegin with the choiceA focused strategy conversation
Which strategic choice will shape the next stage of growth?
Start with the opportunity, the evidence, and the tradeoffs leadership must resolve.
Begin with the choice