Unblocking Strategy with the Right Tools

Insight: The Conversations We Don’t Have Are Derailing Implementation.

If you've ever watched a well-crafted plan lose steam, you know the reasons rarely live on the page.

They live in the conversations we don't have - about risks we hope won't materialize, stakeholders we forgot to involve, or the deeper problem we didn't diagnose.

Canada's ambitious nation-building agenda is advancing alongside environmental priorities that will shape the long-term of these projects.

In the U.S., a new education funding initiative is moving forward with implications that require states to adapt the program to diverse local priorities.

The pattern is always the same and the most important move you can make to address it is surfacing the biggest assumptions that need to be tested - before they turn into risks, blockers, or blind spots that slow you down.

That's why we built the

Strategy Snapshot Canvas

The Strategy Snapshot Canvas is a one-page conversation map designed to help leadership teams spot the forces shaping their work, name what's at stake, and focus on the few moves that will make or break success.

"The quickest path to failure is thinking you’ve already seen the whole picture. The right tool doesn’t give you the answers - it sharpens the questions you ask together."

— Kate Rootman, Opus Group

Insight In Practice: The Strategy Snapshot Canvas.

This isn’t a reporting template. It’s meant to be filled in with messy handwriting, over coffee, while you argue and clarify in real time.

The canvas walks you through nine critical prompts, organized under three dimensions:

1. Setting the Context

• Current Conditions – What pressures, shifts, or disruptions are shaping the environment?
• The Change You Want to See – What future state are you aiming to create? What/who needs to shift in the current state to achieve it?

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2. Designing the Strategy

• What will Make or Break It – What risks, blockers, or resistance need to be addressed ?
• The problem behind the problem – What policies, practices, and mindsets are maintaining the problem?
• Key Assets, Promising Practices, and Leverage Points – What's working in the system today that can be built on? Which initiatives or interventions will most effectively drive change?

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3. From Idea to Execution

• How will you know it’s working – What signals, outcomes, or feedback loops matter? How will you know you’ve achieved your goal?
• What’s at Stake - Who is affected and what are the consequences of inaction?
• Who Must Be Involved – Who holds power, influence, or insight to make it real?
• What Needs to Happen Next – What early moves or decisions will build momentum?

The result: a shared picture of where you’re starting from, where you're going , what stands in the way, and the steps that will build momentum.

Question to Consider

What’s the truth your team hasn't said out loud yet?

Quote of The Week

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
‍— George Bernard Shaw