GROWING THE FIRM BY DESIGN:
The New Strategic Planning
Seminar Description

Strategic planning has undergone a revolution. Gone are the days of teflon mission statements, burdensome measurements, and long, sequential to-do lists. Welcome to the days of distinctive identity and active business design.

The new strategic planning is a creative, graphic process focused on just two things: crafting an audacious future direction and designing a web of structure that supports the right actions. We’ve found that if these two initiatives are accomplished, everything else takes care of itself.

Both, however, demand careful decision-making. Your gut-level drivers and dreams may not be the same as what your immediate client wants. You must examine the ecosystem in the firm, and be willing to redesign where needed. This may mean new partners, new skills, new processes, and new associations. No longer is strategic planning an exercise; it’s a powerful way to build an organization just the way you want it.

To facilitate decision-making, we share the Sparks Framework, our model of the six most successful business designs in the profession, and the Sparks Growth Model, a graphic technique for designing organizational structures that reinforce the firm’s chosen strategies.

In this course you will:

• Discover your firm’s meaningful purpose and values to guide long-term growth.
• Design your identity for the succinct “expertise statement” that attracts the right staff and clients.
• Craft a Bold Target rather than a tired, committee-designed mission, to spur energy and commitment.
• Create new graphic maps such as the Growth Model, Profit Model, and Strategy Scaffold that quickly communicate priorities.
• Refine the organizational structure to avoid sabotaging your best-laid plans with old patterns.
• Feed your design for growth with proven “gardening” techniques.

Who’s the Right Audience?
This advanced program is for senior staff and principals who are responsible for developing their firm’s strategic direction. Attendees should be interested in the design of their practice and have influence on key company decisions.

Program Length
Half or full-day workshop

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