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Purpose:
To help the organization and/or policy makers explore future scenarios when issues are complex, and multiple stakeholders see things differently.
Outcomes:
• Shared understanding of different futures
• Collective mental model for testing the efficacy of strategic choices
• Experiential (visceral) understanding of how a strategy should unfold
• Measure progress and/or to prepare for major shifts
• A dynamic and balanced scorecard
When to Use:
• There’s a need to develop a balanced/holistic picture
• Groups are rushing down the solution path
• Discussion of a strategy has not resulted in a consensus
• There is a need to look at nonphysical variables
• It’s important to see the impact of a strategy
• Wanting to understand potential unintended consequences
When Not to Use:
• You can’t find a competent modeler
• There is little time for exploration of assumptions
• It is considered a one-time event
• Organization is unwilling to embrace an ongoing systems thinking
Number of Participants:
• 2–50
• Ideally, 5 teams of 3–5 participants
Types of Participants:
• At a minimum, should include participants from across multiple functions, silos, and levels
• Ideally, some participants will come from clients and suppliers to the organization
Typical Duration:
• Preparation: 1–6 months
• Process: 1–2 days
• Follow-up: 6 months
Brief Example:
In the 1980s, a rapidly growing high-tech firm experienced “growing pains” and internal dissension as the service organization demanded a greater percentage of the organizaion’s overall resource base. A Strategic Forum was developed to allow participants to understand the physics and to lay out several strategic choices they could pursue. As a result, the strategy team continued using the system dynamics approach to understanding issues, holding subsequent forums.
Historical Context:
Created in the 1980s by Barry Richmond.
 Strategic Forum |
