1. Better conversations
Platforms for strategic conversations (to build awareness, understanding, line of sight, alignment, action)
Platform What it is Strengths Critical points
Big Picture/Big
Conversation
• Large visual prompting numerous conversations
around what the Big Picture means for us
• Process for aligning local actions and behaviour
with strategic direction
• No language or jargon barriers
• Links complex themes
• Efficient and impactful
• Appeal to emotion and reason
• Can assist co-creation of future vision and
strategy
• Maintain focus on conversation not picture
• Develop skills to lead conversations
• Ensure leadership support
• Get the visual right – avoid patronizing
Storytelling • Core narrative(s)
• Development of story telling skills
• Memorable
• Appeal to emotion and reason
• People make their own meaning and develop
their insights
• Persuasive
• Bank of stories
• Authenticity
• Development of story telling skills
Brand • Articulation of core promise that differentiates
• Conversations that translate this to local teams
• Link to customer benefits
• Strengthen corporate reputation
• B2C and product brands often lack tangible
differentiators
• Challenging to implement in their, public and
some professional service sectors
Values • Similar to brand but based on enduring tenets of
what we stand for
• Summarises assumptions about what it means to
work here
• Translate values to behaviour
• More meaningful appeal to things of intrinsic
value?
• Flexible – can be adapted to consider how
values permeate behaviour, actions and
outcomes of processes
• Align personal and organisation values
• Leadership construct lacking resonance
• Do values exist that are worthwhile
LGIs • Emergent approach
• OD discipline (Open Space, Future Search,
Search Conference, and others)
• Real time change methodologies
• Engaging and empowering
• Ownership
• Align individual stories and organisation
values
• Fast and real time
• Leadership need to let go
• Getting the right people in the room
• Lack of certainty
Customer experience • How customer experiences the business
• Analysis of processes that sit behind
• Moments of truth
• Encourages cross-business perspective
• Breaks down silos
• External vs. internal perspective
• Understanding customer perspective
• Encouraging self-critical climate
Gamification • Business games and scenarios
• Simulate challenges and dilemmas
• Using this conversation to inform local planning
• Encourages organisational thinking
• Promotes deeper awareness of trade-offs
• Creating realistic, engaging and challenging
scenarios
• Translation to real world
www.couravel.com; + 44 (0) 7860 196 343© Big Conversation Company