The dirty little secret in the strategy world is that, get any of them alone, and they’ll admit that most strategy delivered in the world is terribly inadequate. Aside from being expensive and slow, it is just plain bad. This isn’t the fault of most practicing it, but the tools and processes they’ve been taught to use. SWOT and positioning templates were never great tools but their use, in practice, is often laughable, if not misleading.

However, strategy is critical for designers of all types to lead and participate in — if they want their contributions to be valued. It’s not enough for designers to learn the same lame strategy that their business peers know. They need better tools, processes, and outcomes to make their design products better for all stakeholders.

Continuous Strategy is a clear, easy process improvement for any designer to practice and use. It corrects many of the mistakes of traditional strategy, places design research in the key position of customer/user/constituent insights, and focuses on both qualitative and quantitative value across all stakeholders, internal and external. It is a framework to better understand both the market and operational context in any situation and prioritizes the development of the best value for everyone — including the planet.

This workshop will introduce the Continuous Strategy process and tools. Attendees will leave with a more profound understanding of better strategy, starter experience to practice it, and confidence to improve their design solutions.