Single Slide Strategy is a framework I developed for capturing your company’s guiding principles. Its purpose is to nail down the enduring, high-level concepts that drive your organization. I’m talking about your vision. Your mission. Your core values. Your why.
Single Slide Strategy was inspired by some of the foremost thinkers in business level strategy: Patrick Lencioni, Michael E. Porter, Simon Sinek, and especially, Carrie Perry.
The first iteration of Single Slide Strategy was in 2020, when I employed it for Counterpart. It proved more effective than I could’ve ever imagined. Since then, we’ve applied it and refined it many times over.
Single Slide Strategy is a framework, not a formula. Like any framework, it doesn’t give you an automatic answer. And it doesn’t do the thinking for you. Instead it gives you traction for tackling a large and nebulous task. It gives you an ordered way to think. It allows for gray areas and judgement calls. It helps you think the thing through, and leads you to a conclusion you can feel confident in.
Single Slide Strategy has worked well for financial services, QSRs, nonprofits, communications, chemical manufacturing, and biotech. That’s a wide range — from mom-and-pops to near billion-dollar corporations. The only thing it hasn’t been tested with yet is a balanced scorecard (IYKYK). Odds are, it’ll be a great help for you.
For peak org performance, you need everyone on the same page. These days, that means everyone on the same slide. Hence the name Single Slide Strategy. This strategic framework simplifies your business strategy — so it’s understandable, memorable, and relatable. That’s what it takes to make it executable.
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”
Albert Einstein
There are umpteen million strategic planning models out there. The world doesn’t need another one, right? But maybe the world needs a better one.
Put down those pyramids and pillars, will ya? Here’s what you’ll love about Single Slide Strategy.
I believe that who you are and what you stand for already exists in the hearts and minds of your people. So if you work with my team on this, we won’t be making things up. We’ll be drawing things out. By using well-practiced one-on-one interviewing techniques with key people you select. Then we’ll put some messaging expertise to work — discerning the clearest and most compelling ways to express those ideas. Ideally using your own words.
The job is not to impose ideas on you. The job is to compose ideas from you.
I’ve already said it once: Single Slide Strategy uses just the right words. And now I’m saying it again. Because no matter what strategic framework you use — mine or somebody else’s — you still have to put the right words in there. And I know some people who are really, really good at that. Can you say the same for all those accounting-based consulting firms? No disrespect to them, but this is about language, not ledgers. It’s the way you frame things that makes your framework work.
It’s the way you frame things that makes your framework work.
The principles that guide your organization should be well organized, right? That’s what Single Slide Strategy does for you. A specific list of essential components. And a four-part structure they adhere to.
Whatever the size and scope of your organization, you can build your strategy on this foundation. And you’ll notice something different right off the bat: Context. If your strategy isn’t relevant to the world around you, what good is it?
Context
Identity
Foundation
Focus
These are the things that matter most. Single Slide Strategy uses these seven elements to contain, connect, and clarify all your guiding principles. No confusion. All conviction.
“Your process and end result is the perfect answer to the mess we’re in. This is brilliant.”
L.G., vice president, global marketing communications in the high-tech industry
Our clients’ strategies are top secret, of course. But I don’t mind showing you the following.
Notice how the ideas flow? That’s the strategy for Counterpart, the company I founded. They’re experienced and ready to help you create a Single Slide Strategy of your own. After all, check out those Experience Standards — it’s Better, Faster, and Easier when you get expert help.
Depends on how much research we do, and how many decision-makers/influencers we need to please. The fewer decision-makers, the better. Conversely, the more interviewees, the better… up to a point, of course. At minimum, plan on a $15,000 investment. That’s half the cost of a car, for a cornerstone piece of communication that will drive your organization for years to come.
Where are you starting from? Maybe you have nothing. Maybe you’ve got a few things in place. Maybe you’ve got too much. Sometimes undoing is more work than doing. So let us take a look at where you are, and we’ll suggest the most sensible approach. Normally, you can put this puppy to bed in 6 to 12 weeks.
In the words of Montell Jordan, this is how we do it.
Want to DIY? If so, you’ve got the basics of the framework above. Godspeed!
Way easier: Get yourself a Counterpart. Because hey, I didn’t tell you everything. There are prompts and pitfalls. Tricks and traps. And other considerations that aren’t alliterative. It sure is nice to have somebody guide you through it all.
Not sure which way to go? Read a post that’ll help you decide between “done by you” vs. “done for you”.
Not sure if you need Single Slide Strategy at all? Hey, maybe you don’t. Book some consulting time with me, and we can figure it out together.
