Strategic planning
and alignment services

What's at stake in your organization's
success?

The Sagebrush Group works with clients to realize the strategic value of their organizations using a process we call AtStake.

Strategic planning books and templates are easy to find.

But writing a strategic plan by filling in a canned template is one thing. Identifying and articulating an organizational strategy that will make you successful in the real world is quite another.

Working in a vacuum, strategic planning can be costly, time-consuming, and frustratingly difficult. Many strategic plans have failed because they were met with a lukewarm — if not cold, or even hostile — reception.

Our approach to strategic alignment harnesses the knowledge, power, and energy of your stakeholder community to produce a strategy that simply makes sense in your market, community, ecosystem, etc.

"I never thought this group could agree upon anything yet we developed an entire plan in our meeting."

A traditional strategic plan tells others where you want to go.

A stakeholder-focused strategic plan tells you where you should go.

AtStake aligns the strategies of your participating stakeholders so that they become invested in your success and will actively work to realize a shared vision.

While traditional strategic planning approaches can take months and sometimes years to complete, AtStake generates rapid, often immediate results. It also controls costs, as engagements are typically fixed-price.

Our approach has been used successfully with hundreds of commercial, non-profit, and governmental organizations. It was designed to deal with policy and political issues that have high potential for conflict. It has been used both to launch new initiatives and to provide inspiring focus to long-established organizations.

"We had far more in common than we had differences and the process will make working with my colleagues far more enjoyable."

Our approach is collaborative and social. It creates a zone of safety, where potential disagreements can be expressed through constructive dialogue and used to identify previously hidden paths of agreement that are critical for success.

AtStake unleashes the creativity of your stakeholder community to generate innovative, new ideas. It provides focus and harmony to your organization. While results may vary, in the vast majority of cases, the results are transformative, aligning the participants into a powerful force for change.

"I understand the motives of my co-workers and supervisors much better now and realize that it is a true team effort."

Are you responsible for the strategic direction of an organization that is dealing with uncertainty, conflict, or simply needs better alignment? We will help you define a path for success. Contact Bruce Carlson at carlson@sagebrushgroup.com.