Facilitating a Highly Sensitive and Conceptual Strategic Change
Problem
A division within a nonprofit, federal power marketing administration wanted to develop a strategic approach towards their environmental obligation. For many years, the group assumed they had shouldered more than their fair share of the region’s financial and programmatic responsibilities. The team believed it was possible to measure their environmental obligation more accurately, enabling improved portfolio level decision making. Due to increasing financial pressures, they wanted to validate this assumption and better understand the scope of the problem. They engaged Excelerate as a strategic partner to facilitate and drive efforts to establish a business case and proof of concept solutions.
Approach
Many key stakeholders in this project were scientists so Excelerate took a very calculated approach to the problem, with tests and controls along the way. Excelerate began with the development of an initial hypothesis and then interviewed executive stakeholders to better understand and define the opportunity. It was discovered that the impact of the problem was widespread and experienced across the agency, including those outside of the immediate department. Due to the pervasiveness, there was strong support throughout the organization for making a strategic change, especially from the executive leadership team.
Once the breadth of the problem was determined, Excelerate facilitated a series of workshops with leading policy and biological advisors within the agency to define a concept and approach towards estimating the environment obligation. The team developed a complete inventory of potential calculations and prioritized the most critical for development. They then identified use cases for the application of this new method and assessed their value from a business perspective.
Throughout the process, Excelerate played a facilitating role, challenging the team to depart from historical thinking and consider a more strategic approach. They also ensured the projects momentum by keeping the group focused on key milestones and critical progress along the way.
Results
Excelerate presented a final proof of concept backed by extensive practical use cases for business application to the executive vice president of the division. The EVP acknowledged the technical products and models that were developed by Excelerate, saying they “should consider publishing this in a scientific journal.” Excelerate was immediately approved to begin the second phase of the project.