Strategy creation is fundamentally a creative problem-solving exercise to be approached with curiosity and even enjoyment. By breaking down the process into manageable steps and embracing an iterative approach, you'll find that developing and implementing procurement strategies becomes less daunting and more rewarding as you see tangible improvements in your department's purchasing outcomes.

One of the biggest hurdles in category management isn't the strategic thinking itself, but rather the maze of inconsistent terminology you'll encounter. One of the most common sources of this confusion is the inconsistent labeling of goals based on their timeframe and scope. A "vision" typically represents a long-term aspiration, often without a clear deadline. "Objectives" usually describe milestone goals with intermediate timeframes. A "strategy" for achieving these objectives might incorporate multiple SMART goals, each accomplished through specific tasks in an implementation plan. This introduction provides clarity around these terms, enabling you and your partner to communicate effectively as you develop your approach to category management.

Know that developing a strategy for a specific procurement category, how to work effectively and efficiently with a partner, or for your personal development of new skills, is inherently less complex than creating an organization-wide strategic vision. For example the frameworks presented here aren't abstract theories but practical tools you can use immediately to analyze spending patterns, identify opportunities, and develop approaches that balance compliance requirements with innovation. By embracing an iterative mindset where strategies are living documents meant to be tested and refined, you'll discover that strategic thinking becomes less of a burden and more of an engaging aspect of your role in government procurement.

Government procurement presents unique challenges and opportunities for strategic thinking. While you'll encounter various frameworks for analyzing your procurement environment, what matters most is developing a structured approach that considers both market dynamics and the broader operating context of government acquisition.

 Strategy is…

Strategy is a plan, project, process, and a set of tasks, conceived and designed to change a current situation into something different and better.

• Someone or some group conceives and designs the strategy.

• There is a decision about what to achieve, called a “vision.”

• Information is collected and analyzed to understand the current situation, called a SWOT analysis.

• The analysis is used to make decisions about what to do (and what not to do), to transition, transform, or change the current situation into the vision, and these decisions become the “strategic plan.”

• The plan is implemented when a person or persons carry out specific tasks.

• Outcomes are reviewed and the strategy is adapted as needed along the way, which makes strategy recursive.

Simply put and using a popular metaphor, strategy is someone’s organized ideas for getting from where you are to where you want to be. So, we might ask:

1. Where are we now?

2. Where do we want to be?

3. How do we get there?

The vocabulary of strategy and the recursive nature of its processes and tasks often obscures the simplicity. First, the vocabulary. These three basic questions raise additional questions we need to answer and each of these questions has different names, leading to easy confusion.

• Where are we now?

  • What is the Current Situation? Do we have a:

    • Mission Statement: What does our Mission statement tell us?

    • Vision Statement: What does our Vision statement tell us?

    • Objectives: What Objectives or Milestone Goals do we have?

  • What are our existing resources: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)?

• Where do we want to be?

  • What do we want our Mission to convey?

  • How can we describe the Vision of a different and better future that we want?

  • What Objectives will have to be accomplished to move us closer to our Vision?

  • What SMART Goals will have to be accomplished to move us closer to our Objectives?

• How do we get there?

  • What is our Strategic Plan: the overall route from our Current Situation to our Vision?

  • What is our Implementation Plan: Who will do what by when and with which resources to accomplish each Task needed to accomplish each SMART Goal to accomplish each Objective and ultimate the Vision ?

Next, the recursive and non-linear nature of strategy may create confusion because as we figure out what we want, where we are now, and how we get from here to there, we learn whether we have the necessary resources and if not, we must determine a strategy for developing, working around them, or adjusting what we want. Even when we put aside this possibility, it’s helpful to know where you want to be or what you want to be different and better as soon as possible. Do you want to increase revenue for your business? Do you want your team to function more productively? Do you want the culture of the workplace to be more collaborative? Do you want to develop a personal skill?

Yet, in our simple explanation of strategy, this is the second, rather than the first question about where we are right now. Regardless of where you begin your strategy work, revisiting, revising, and redoing previous steps in the process should be expected. Also, it is always helpful to have a model or framework for strategy design and implementation, even knowing these models and frameworks are approximations and not exact descriptions of what to expect.

Strategy Planning Process Fundamentals

Strategy is a leader-led plan, project, process, and a set of tasks, that are executed using available resources to change a current situation into a vision of something different and better. We lead our own personal and professional development strategies and start by developing a clear sense of a personal identity. As a leader of an organization, unit, or project, start with the existing Mission, Vision, or Purpose. Then:

1. Describe your Current Situation using Situational Analysis Data.

• Develop a Data Collection Plan to collect the data you need for a comprehensive Situational Analysis.

• Develop your questions, identify where to find your answers, and how to collect your data using SWOT, PESTLE, Porter’s 5 Forces, and 5C Marketing to organize.

• Collect your data

• Revisit SWOT —> IFAS and EFAS.

2. Develop your Goals

• Work backwards from your Vision to identify SMART Goals

• Transfer IFAS and EFAS data to TOWS Framework to identify strategy objectives and approaches (additional SMART Goals)

• Make data-based decisions and prioritize your SMART Goals.

3. Create your Strategic Plan

• Action Planning: Work backwards from your SMART Goals and TOWS Strategies to identify specific tasks

• Explain pathway: Tasks to Vision

• Resource allocation: What resources are needed? When are they needed? How will you get them?

• Capability Development: What capabilities identified in your TOWS will be developed, how, and when?

• Key Stakeholder Engagement: Who must buy-in to your plan and how will you make that happen?

4. Distill your Strategic Plan into an Implementation Plan

• Project Management

• Roles and Responsibilities

• Deadlines

• Change Management Plan Logistic and Psychology to address:

  • Driving forces

  • Restraining forces

5. Implement and Monitor

• Track Performance

• Report and Analyze Results

• Use KPIs

6. Evaluate and Adjust

• Assess Effectiveness

• Every Process Step

• Refine Strategy and/or Implementation

• Learning and Continuous Improvement (Adaptive Leadership)

If you did not yet achieve your vision, revise and refine any of the prior steps and repeat.

 Situation Analysis

Situation Analysis answers the question: What is our Current Situation?

• What are we trying to achieve?

  • What does our Mission statement tell us?

  • What does our Vision statement tell us?

  • What Objectives or Milestone Goals do we have?

• What’s our competitive position?

  • Develop a Data Collection Plan to collect the data you need for a comprehensive Situation Analysis using SWOT, PESTLE, Porter’s 5 Forces, and 5 C Marketing to organize.

  • Revisit SWOT —> IFAS and EFAS

What are we trying to achieve?

Mission OSD:

The Operational Services Division’s mission is to create and promote dynamic programs and services that anticipate and fulfill our customer’s needs. Our operational and oversight activities facilitate and guide the evaluation, acquisition, management, and disposal of goods and services. We strive to deliver a personalized customer experience by creating a climate of communication and cooperation and leveraging innovative business techniques.

Vision Category Management:

Category management is the future of our strategic sourcing process. It will enhance customer satisfaction in every stage of the contract life cycle. Category Managers partner with buyers to anticipate their needs and partner with vendors and other OSD units to fulfill those needs at every step in the procurement cycle. Fully implemented, OSD’s business and government customers will receive a personalized experience in a climate of communication, cooperation, and innovative business processes.

Objective:

To increase Spend Under Management (SUM) through customer engagement and boosting purchasing volume under supplier categories by anticipating and meeting buyers’ wants, needs, expectations, preferences, interests, and concerns.

What does our mission, vision, and objective emphasize?

• Customer needs anticipated and fulfilled

• Customer satisfaction enhanced

• Customer engagement

The mission, vision, and objective assume that anticipating and meeting customer needs, keeping customers satisfied, and engaging customers with OSD will lead to increased SUM.

What is our competitive position?

The purpose of a SWOT analysis is to provide a structured framework for evaluating an organization's internal capabilities and external environment to inform strategic decision-making. By systematically identifying Strengths and Weaknesses (internal factors) alongside Opportunities and Threats (external factors), SWOT helps organizations gain clarity on their competitive position. This analytical tool enables leaders to leverage organizational strengths, address weaknesses, capitalize on market opportunities, and mitigate potential threats. SWOT serves as a foundation for strategy development by creating a snapshot of the current business landscape, facilitating alignment among stakeholders around key issues, and highlighting areas requiring strategic attention. While valuable for initial assessment, SWOT is most effective when combined with other analytical frameworks to develop comprehensive business strategies.

There other frameworks, PESTLE, 5C, and Porter's Five Forces, are complementary tools that provide details, which provide data to analyze different aspects of a business environment. Here's how they connect:

SWOT: Internal Environmental Strengths and Weaknesses + External Environmental Opportunities and Threats

SWOT provides a useful starting point for understanding strategic positioning positioning, yet it's insufficient for developing a comprehensive category management strategic plan to increase spend under management. SWOT lacks the detailed supplier market analysis, procurement-specific insights, and vendor and buyer industry detail for any particular category. A robust category management approach requires deeper analysis of total cost of ownership, supplier capabilities, market dynamics, and internal demand patterns that go beyond SWOT's broad classifications. Additionally, category management demands cross-functional collaboration and governance frameworks to drive compliance and adoption—elements not addressed in traditional SWOT frameworks. Without tools like spend analysis, supplier segmentation, and opportunity assessment methodologies specific to procurement, organizations cannot effectively identify consolidation opportunities or leverage points to bring more spend under management control. For that reason, we look to additional frameworks for guidance.

PESTLE: Macro-Environmental Factors

PESTLE examines macro-environmental factors: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental forces that affect how vendors and buyers will think, feel, and likely react. The insights inform the Opportunities and Threats sections of SWOT by identifying a source or group of people for information and the information to seek in a data collection plan. The insights may also shine a light on an internal Strength or Weakness to leverage or address, such as the state of technology affecting the customer experience.

For example, the customer journey is a visual explanation of how your vendors and buyers experience interacting with OSD, COMMBUYS, and Statewide Contracts, including the technology, from initial awareness through to becoming a loyal advocate. Compliance regulations may serve as sticks, while the customer journey can be designed and improved to serve as a carrot.

5C Marketing Factors: Relative Market Position

A 5C marketing analysis is a strategic framework that evaluates five key market elements: Company (internal capabilities and resources), Customers (target audience and their needs), Competitors (market rivals and their strategies), Climate (macroeconomic factors and industry trends), and Collaborators (partners, suppliers, and distributors). This comprehensive analysis helps organizations understand their market position, identify opportunities and threats, and develop effective marketing strategies that align with their business objectives. While there is obvious overlap, e.g., internal capabilities and internal strengths are synonymous, this framework also brings in some detailed questions to add to your data collection plan about your vendors and buyers and also adds in a new factor - collaborators. This comprehensive analysis helps organizations understand their relative market position in an environment of many other options for your customers.

Porter’s 5 Forces: Understand Industry Dynamics

This framework helps to assess your competitive position, understand industry dynamics, and develop strategies to improve revenue generation (SUM). This framework examines competitive intensity through:

• Threat of new entrants - How easily new competitors can enter the market

• Threat of substitutes - The availability of alternative products or services that could replace yours

• Bargaining power of buyers - How much leverage customers have to drive down prices or demand better quality

• Bargaining power of vendors - How much control suppliers have over your business

• Competitive rivalry - The intensity of competition among established companies in the industry

Porter's Five Forces exclusively looks at external factors and primarily Threats section of SWOT, though can also reveal Opportunities.

Create Your Data Collection Plan

• What questions do you have?

• What do you want to know more about?

• Who or where is the information you seek?

• Who do you have to ask? What do you have to ask?

SWOT Again: Collect and Organize Your Data

Examine your data and re-organize into Internal Factors and External Factors. Then weight those factors.

Once you have a general understanding of your competitive position, you’ll want to dive deeper into data to also understand your buyers and vendors behavior patterns. Be curious. What is the spend pattern of one of your key buyers in a particular category of services or products?

Analyzing buyer spend patterns

A spend analysis typically involves collecting procurement data about a particular buyer’s behavior with respect to both the need for and the purchasing of a particular service or product over time. What seems to affect the buyer’s decision-making? What is your key buyer purchasing, when, from where, and in what volume? Once you have the data, you will wonder whether there are any opportunities to change that key buyer’s decision to purchase more of the particular product or service from you.

To really understand the current situation, you’ll first need to ask the right questions. This is where the frameworks become helpful checklists to find the carrots and the sticks that just might change how this key buyer thinks and feels about purchasing this particular product or service. Once you know the carrots and sticks, you can decide whether and how to create and/or use them to change your key buyer’s decision about when, from where, and in what volume to purchase that particular service or product.

How might we adapt the PESTLE Analysis and Porter’s Five Forces to analyze our key buyer’s spend patterns? Here’s an example.

Government Category Management Spend Analysis Framework (GovCat) with Porter's Five Forces and PESTLE Integration

1. Compliance Assessment

• Porter's Elements: Buyer Power (government as buyer). The government’s buying power is limited by the many compliance regulations.

• PESTLE Elements: Political (regulatory mandates), Legal (compliance requirements), Social (public value considerations) A government buyer is obligated to follow regulations and also should be acting for the public’s good; i.e., thinking about how to make purchases in a way that also advances the espoused values of the government, such as supporting small businesses.

2. Spend Segmentation

• Porter's Elements: Threat of Substitutes (alternative solutions/services)

• PESTLE Elements: Economic (budget allocation), Technological (solution alternatives)

3. Supplier Relationship Mapping

• Porter's Elements: Supplier Power, Competitive Rivalry

• PESTLE Elements: Political (small business requirements), Social (socioeconomic goals)

4. Risk & Opportunity Matrix

• Porter's Elements: Threat of New Entrants, Competitive Rivalry

• PESTLE Elements: Economic (market conditions), Technological (innovation), Environmental (sustainability requirements), Legal (regulatory changes)

5. Implementation Roadmap

• Porter's Elements: Integration of all five forces for strategic planning

• PESTLE Elements: Integration of all PESTLE factors for phased implementation

This mapping shows how traditional strategic frameworks can be adapted specifically for government procurement contexts, addressing both market dynamics (Porter's) and the broader operating environment (PESTLE) within a structure that acknowledges the unique constraints and opportunities in government category management.

Here's a more tailored framework for analyzing spend patterns in government procurement:

Government Category Management Spend Analysis Framework (GovCat)

1. Compliance Value Assessment (Stick)

• Regulatory compliance requirements and constraints

• Value-for-money metrics specific to public sector

• Alignment with procurement policies and mandates

• Small business/diversity/socioeconomic program requirements

2. Spend Segmentation (Purchases on what, when, from where—Possible Carrots)

• Essential vs. non-essential procurement

• Recurring vs. one-time purchases

• Options for alternatives to purchase elsewhere

3. Supplier Relationship Mapping (Are our suppliers providing what our purchases want, etc.—Possible Carrots)

• Strategic supplier relationships

• Contract vehicle utilization

• Supplier performance

• Small business and socioeconomic category participation

4. Risk & Opportunity Matrix (Is the purchasing experience providing what our purchasers want, etc.—Possible Carrots)

• Budget cycle alignment

• Fiscal year spending patterns

• Supply chain security considerations

• Technology modernization impacts

• Sustainability and environmental impact

5. Implementation Roadmap

• Short-term quick wins (0-6 months)

• Medium-term improvements (6-18 months)

• Long-term strategic shifts (18+ months)

• Performance measurement benchmarks

This framework acknowledges the unique constraints and opportunities in government procurement, focusing on compliance, fiscal responsibility, and policy alignment while still identifying opportunities for innovation and efficiency.

Would you like me to incorporate elements of this framework into your introduction, or would you prefer to keep it more general with the understanding that you'll introduce specific frameworks later in the chapter?

Goal Setting

Goal Setting organizes the Current Situation Information into a list of SMART Goals

• What are we trying to achieve?

  • What does our Mission statement tell us?

  • What does our Vision statement tell us?

  • What Objectives or Milestone Goals do we have?

• Vision to SMART Goals

• SWOT (IFAS + EFAS) —> TOWS to SMART Goals

What are SMART Goals

The SMART framework is a way to transform a broad, ambiguous, conceptual, longer-term goal, into a concrete, objective, clear short-term SMART goal. Do you have a vision, mission, project, purpose, or goal and still wonder how you and everyone else will know that it exists? If so, you need objective criteria to describe what it means and how to measure progress toward it and successfully reaching it.

A SMART goal is:

• Specific: You (individually and/or collectively) are able to describe a goal in a way that unambiguously and clearly expresses what will exist when the goal is met.

• Measurable: Your description of the goal implies a metric for measuring progress toward goal attainment. These become your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Actionable and Attainable: You have the power to make the goal exist, know the necessary actions to “move closer” to the goal, and know how to implement those actions.

• Relevant: Goals support a mission, purpose, and/or vision of your organization, team, or self.

• Time Bound: You have specified a specific date by which you will attain the goal and milestones, prior to the actual goal attainment or completion.

If you are not able to explain to another person exactly what to measure and when to determine progress, then the goal is not specific, measurable, and time bound. The most common obstacle in goal setting is having overly broad or ambiguous goals. If you can’t identify the specific actions that you will take to attain the goal, it isn’t actionable. If you can’t explain how the goal furthers a mission, purpose, and/or vision of your organization, team, or self, it isn’t relevant.

If you have identified a goal, make it a SMART goal by asking:

• What does it mean? (Specific)

• What are the objective criteria that prove its existence? (Measurable)

• What will I do to make it exist? (Actionable and Attainable)

• How does it support the mission, vision, or project purpose? (Relevant)

• When will it exist? (Time Bound)

Depending on the time frame, your SMART goal may be a long-term milestone objective, a short-term goal, or an action plan task.

Example: Distilling a Vision to Milestone Objective SMART Goals

You are tasked with increasing the sales of widgets to Customer A. You decide to identify what has to happen to cause Customer A to buyer more widgets. To help you think about this, you review the customer journey. You realize that you need to know the touchpoints, pain points, and opportunities to improve every step in the journey and transform how Customer A thinks, feels, and acts at each stage. You conclude that Customer A:

1. Must know that we have widgets.

2. Must have the information to decide that buying widgets from us is the best decision.

3. Must have a favorable experience buying widgets from us.

4. Must feel like buying from us is acceptable or exceeds expectations.

5. Must decide that the widgets meet or exceed expectations.

6. Must feel valued by us.

After collecting and analyzing data about Customer A’s perception of the widgets, the buying experience, and us, you identify the following problems:

1. Customer A did not know we have widgets for sale, and:

   • On social media we have posted, “We have widgets for sale.” Customer A was unaware.

   • We do not have a plan to use “word-of-mouth” to spread the information that we have widgets for sale.

   • We do not have a plan to use “content marketing” to let Customer A know that we have widgets for sale.

2. Even if Customer A knew we had widgets for sale, there is insufficient information about price and specification to make a comparison with other widgets.

3. Customer A once bought gizmos from us and thought the purchasing process was unduly burdensome and time-consuming.

4. Setting up the gizmos for us was too complex, according to Customer A.

5. Customer A said that even after setting up the gizmos, they were of a poor quality for the purpose needed.

6. When Customer A came back to us with concerns, they were not resolved to Customer A’s satisfaction.

You decide to create SMART Goals so that Customer A knows we have widgets for sale and ask:

• What does it mean that Customer A knows we have widgets for sale? (Specific)

  • Customer A is aware of our social media presence and engages with it.

  • We have a “word-of-mouth” plan that links up with Customer A.

  • We have a “content marketing” plan that links up with Customer A.

• What are the objective criteria that prove its existence? (Measurable)

  • Customer A acknowledges awareness that we have widgets for sale.

• What will I do to make it exist? (Actionable and Attainable)

  • Lead the project to develop and/or enhance the effectiveness of social media, content marketing, and word-of-mouth marketing plans.

• How does it support the mission, vision, or project purpose? (Relevant)

  • If Customer A knows we have widgets for sale, then there is at least a possibility that Customer A will buy widgets from us.

• When will it exist? (Time Bound)

  • You commit to develop and deploy the marketing plans by the end of Q2, collect data on their effectiveness from Customer A by the end of Q3, and review information and decide next steps by the end of Q4.

Developing SMART goals is identifying the details of what has to happen to reach a longer-term and broader goal, like a vision or a project purpose. As you distill broad goals into more and more detailed and specific goals, you will be adding the action-oriented details to a strategic plan so that you know what to do, by when, and how to reach your goal.

Example: Using SWOT (IFAS + EFAS) —> TOWS to SMART Goals

You discovered that Customer A has not bought widgets from us because when Customer A came back to us with concerns after a frustrating experience buying gizmos from us and complaining, Customer A did not feel that their complaints mattered. This reminds you of the 5C Marketing framework’s factors and you decide to speak directly with Customer A to uncover the details for a SWOT analysis.

The 5 C Marketing framework emphasizes 5 factors:

1. Company - Internal capabilities, resources, and goals

2. Customers - Target audience needs and behaviors

3. Competitors - Market rivals and their strategies

4. Climate - Macroeconomic factors and industry trends

5. Collaborators - Partners, suppliers, and distributors

You decided to first find out more about Customer A’s complaints to better understand what to do to change those complaints into high praise. You learned that:

• When Customer A had concerns, it was difficult to find anyone to listen. Instead of acknowledging that Customer A had justifiable concerns, they were told that they were mistaken and regardless, as a government agency, they were required to buy gizmos from us or be granted an exception, which would be unlikely.

  • Difficult for customer to find a friendly ear to voice complaints (Internal Weakness)

  • We argued with customer instead of validating their perception of the experience buying from us (Internal Weakness)

• Customer A researched the criteria for an exception and the process for requesting an exception, followed that route, and has never looked back.

  • Exception process presents an alternative to buying from us (External Threat)

  • Customer A bought from Competitor X and had a great experience (External Threat)

You put your data into the TOWS framework to uncover your strategic options.

You conclude that you must rebuild a trusting relationship with Customer A, improve the buying experience from us to match or exceed that of Competitor X, and then persuade Customer A that buying from us now will be a different, better, and highly positive experience.

You now have additional goals to transform into SMART goals to increase revenue: (1) Improve the relationship with Customer A; (2) Match or exceed the buying experience from Competitor X; and (3) Persuade Customer A to try buying from us again.

You decide to create SMART Goals to improve the relationship with Customer A and ask:

• What does a good relationship with Customer A mean? (Specific)

  • Customer A trusts us, likes us, finds us helpful.

• What are the objective criteria of a good relationship? (Measurable)

  • Customer A voices concerns.

  • We respond to those concerns in ways that nudges Customer A to come to us with concerns.

  • We address those concerns in ways that nudges Customer A to buy from us.

• What will I/we do to build a good relationship with Customer A? (Actionable and Attainable)

  • Talk to Customer A

  • Meeting with Customer A

  • Ask open-ended questions of Customer A

  • Make a list of Customer A’s complaints, wants, needs, expectations, preferences, interests, concerns

  • Develop and test options to respond to that list.

• How does it support the mission, vision, or project purpose? (Relevant)

  • If Customer A has a good relationship with us, then there is at least a possibility that Customer A will buy widgets from us.

• When will it exist? (Time Bound)

  • You commit to set up a time to meet and meet with Customer A by the end of Q2, collect data for your list by the end of Q3, and review information and decide next steps by the end of Q4.

Strategy Development

Strategy Development is the Thoughtful Plan of Action

• What are the SMART Goals we trying to achieve?

• What is the step-by-step pathway of things you must make happen to achieve each SMART goal?

  • Actions

  • Resources

  • Capabilities

  • Stakeholder Engagement

The longer-term objectives and SMART goals collectively form a high-level roadmap. An implementable strategic plan needs an Action Plan, which identifies the discrete tasks necessary to attain your SMART goals.

For example, an non-profit organization may have a revenue goal of $100,000. It may do so by asking a pre-determined, wealthy donor or it may organize a 5K run, where runners collect sponsors who donate in support of their runner. Organizing a run means securing a location and route, signing up a minimum number of runners, ordering medals for winners, developing the messaging to runners about finding sponsors, developing the plan for collecting the money raised, having refreshments, choosing a date and time, and many more specific tasks and actions.

Considerations when detailing an action plan for a specific SMART goal include asking:

(1) How long will it take for me to do everything that needs to be done to attain the SMART goal?

(2) What resources are needed? How and by when will they be obtained?

(3) What are the obstacles, if any? How will they be addressed?

(4) For each action, what will I/we do by when and how?

(5) Do I/we have the necessary capabilities or do I/we need a personal developmental plan, too?

Example: Relationship Development with Customer A

In our previous example, you created SMART Goals to improve the relationship with Customer A, including building a good relationship with Customer A. You intended to meet with Customer A and ask open-ending questions in order to develop a list of Customer A’s complaints, wants, needs, expectations, preferences, interests, concerns. Subsequently, you intended to develop and test options to respond to that list. You created a timeline where you planned to meet with Customer A by the end of Q2, collect data for your list by the end of Q3, and review information and decide next steps by the end of Q4. You might called this your:

Customer A Insight - Data Collection and Analysis Protocol

Step One: Data Collection

A data collection strategy addresses three questions:

1. What information are we seeking?

2. Where is it? What are the possible sources?

3. What methods of collection should we use?

Your frameworks help you understand the information you should collect. For example, if you are trying to understand why a significant purchaser of widgets is buying elsewhere, you’ll want to understand the thoughts and feelings influencing that purchaser’s current behavior and what you could change that would change how that purchase is thinking and feeling.

The most important source of that data is the purchaser. Possible methods of data collections are: one-on-one interview in person or virtually; focus groups; and written surveys. For our example, we use a focus group, called a listening session.

Action Steps: Conduct conversational listening sessions to understand buyer preferences and resistance.

• Invite key decisions-makers from Customer A to an information get-together for the purpose of improving their purchasing experience and our ability to become their purchaser of choice

• Develop a list of open-ended questions to understand why Customer A is resistant to buying widgets from us.

• Develop a list of open-ended questions to understand what Customer A wants, needs, prefers, expects, is interested in, and is concerned about; i.e., what features or improvements would make Customer A delighted to buy widgets from us.

• Invite Customer A to ask questions.

• Identify a person with the right capabilities to facilitate the sessions or develop the capabilities needed.

• Identify a person or method (such as an AI meeting note-taking tool) to capture Customer A responses and questions.

• Determine the length of session.

• Create the invitation.

• Deploy the invitation.

Outcome and Metric: Data to inform changes to buyer journey processes.

Examples of Focus Question for a State Procurement System Category Management Strategy to Improve

1.          Barriers to using the procurement system (e.g., complexity, lack of preferred suppliers).

2.          Potential improvements to make the system more user-friendly and attractive.

3.          What features or services does the customer wish to see in the system that would enhance their experience.

Step Two: Data Validation and Organization Action Steps:

• Organize and summarize data around themes for share-back to participants invited to the Listening Session for validation and any adjustments/additions.

• Conduct share-back session

  • Prepare presentation material for share-back session

  • Identify a person with the right capabilities to facilitate the session or develop the capabilities needed.

  • Determine length of session, schedule session, create invitation, and invite participants

  • Hold session and get validation and collect any new data (any adjustments/additions)

• Organize and summarize data, including any new data from share-back session around themes:

  • Delight Factors: What’s working and we should continue?

  • Resistance and Obstacles: What’s not working well and we should address?

  • New Ideas and Possibilities: What will delight Customer A?

• Consideration:

  • How might we use technology:

    • AI to assist in this process of data review and organization?

    • Display data in a tool like Excel, Airtable, or Trello with columns of categories that are easily accessible to entire internal team

  • Based on the data, what categories should we use for solution-finding? Are they the same or different from the themes for data the data share-back (e.g., resistance factors, suggested improvements, delight factors)?

  • Identify recurring themes or insights that may be prioritized for exploring innovative approaches to capture opportunities or address problems and obstacles.

Step Three: Data Analysis and Solution Ideation:

• After categorizing feedback, analyze it for trends, recurring buyer concerns, and opportunities for improvement.

• Brainstorm a list of solutions without judgment

• Use strong problem-solving and decision-making capabilities to evaluate solutions

  • Determine the resources needed (people, time, technology, space, money) to create the solution

  • Prioritize solutions from “quick wins” (e.g., minor system updates) to longer-term improvements (e.g., adding more supplier categories) and “sky’s-the-limit” changes

Step Four: Plan for Solution Creation:

• Plan to develop the SMART Goals and Action Plan for each solution, based on prioritization

• Assemble your temporary team: Identify and invite key stakeholders (from other units) for reviewing the insights, evaluate problems and opportunities, aligning them with system improvements, and brainstorm approaches to address problems and seize opportunities.

  • Whose help do you need to develop the solution?

  • How will you engage those stakeholders?

• Develop your solutions: SMART Goals to Action Plans

Step Five: Plan for Deploying Solutions and Marketing to Customer A

• Buyer Messaging: Inform them about new features, categories, or improvements based on their feedback.

• Vendor Messaging: Inform them about buyer feedback that can make them more successful.

• Internal Staff Messaging: Inform them of changes to supporting customer engagement

Step Six: Plan for Continuous Cycle of Improvement After Implementation

• Stay connected to customers

• Regularly collect feedback from customers

• Regularly update and refine the customer experience based on feedback and purchasing trends.

Example: Personal Capability Development

You are responsible for improving the relationship with Customer A. To do that you must be a skilled communicator, who is able to instill feelings of trust and persuade Customer A to think, feel, and act in a particular way.

Step One: Data Collection

You need information about their level of skill. Possible avenues are a self-assessment, asking trusted peers and supervisors for feedback, or a 360° skills assessment.

Step Two: Identify the Gap

• What is your current level of the various competencies that comprise communication, ability to instill trust, and being persuasive?

• What, specifically, is required for you to use each of these competencies successfully and develop a strong, trusting relationship with Customer A?

• What is getting in your way?

• What areas of focus would yield the best return on investment (ROI) for you?

• Do you understand what you need to do? If not, you need to develop a plan to better understand yourself and collect more feedback about what you need to do?

  • Do you need to directly build a skill?

  • Do you need to find a way to neutralize a weakness and rely on a strength?

Step Three: Develop your Plan: What will you do by when and how?

• What are your SMART Goals?

• What is your Strategy and Action Plan Steps?

• Who can help you?

Implementation

Implementation

Many Strategies require more than one person and collaboration to accomplish one or more of the SMART Goals required. This adds a layer of complication and should be expected and thoughtfully managed. Every strategy involves change. Managing change is a two part process that should be incorporated into your Strategy Development. First is the logistics of change. Second is the psychology. The psychology presents some obstacles (restraining forces) and some momentum-inducing, driving forces.

• Who is taking project leadership, if more than one person is responsible for implementation?

• Who will do what by when and how, for each step of the Strategy Action Plan?

• How are we holding each other accountable for their steps of the Action Plan?

• What are our deadlines?

• What obstacles can we expect and plan to manage, as in any change project?

Project Management

Project management is keeping a strategy organized and on-time. It is about communication and time-management. It requires a project manager to lead, delegate or make sure the agreement about delegation is followed, give and receive feedback effectively, create a schedule for meeting SMART Goals, and developing a schedule for planned check-in meetings to keep the strategy on time and on budget.

Check in meetings should have a clear purpose and agenda and follow best practices for meetings.

Tracking Deadlines and Deliverables

SMART goals have deadlines. SMART goals can and should be fractionated into tasks with due dates that fit on monthly, weekly, and daily calendars.

Ensuring Accountability

While ensuring accountability is often considered a “mission-critical” skill in many organizations, there is usually at least one aspect that people overlook or overuse. This competency is particularly important in any Implementation, where people must:

• Follow through on their commitments and also speak up to make sure others do the same

• Act with a clear sense of ownership, while also making space for collaboration, and giving appropriate credit to others

• Take personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and failures, while also recognizing when situations are beyond an individual’s control

• As a project manager, establishing clear responsibilities and processes for monitoring the work and measuring results

• Using meetings to gather information about project progress and obstacles and promote a sense of collaboration and urgency to keep to the timeline and address obstacles

• Is skilled at giving and receiving feedback

Change Management

Change is inevitable. We prepare for change and change happens to us. Everyone has a default, unconscious, automatic responses to change and is capable of executing a strategic response. The automatic response most of us experience is some type of discomfort, leads to resistance and barriers to productivity. Consequently, developing an intentional, goal-oriented, strategic change plan should be part of any strategy creation.

Resistance to change manifests as complaints about the fairness or reasonableness of a situation, concerns about risk and safety related to oneself, one’s group, or the entire organization, and even denial of problems, confusion about what to do, or paralysis. When faced with an inability to implement one or more particular action steps of a strategic plan, use the TIDES Framework to assess the current situation, identify any barriers to productive work, and engage in leadership driving behaviors that moves people past barriers and into productivity. Begin by understanding our TIDES Framework for change.

The TIDES Framework: The Psychology Of Change

The TIDES Framework conceptualizes change as a journey with an unavoidable, cyclical nature. The model maintains the cyclical nature where after a Shift (S), the process returns to Transition (T) to begin the cycle again.

T - Transition (Ending): The process begins when something must end. This stage involves acknowledging what needs to be left behind, processing feelings of loss, and preparing to move in a new direction.

I - Impetus (Momentum and Movement): As the ending is processed, energy builds toward something new. This stage involves gathering resources, building commitment, and generating the force needed to create lasting change.

D - Development (New Beginning): The change takes root and flourishes. New skills are acquired, fresh perspectives emerge, and different ways of operating become established.

E - Equilibrium (Balance): After successful development, a period of stability emerges. The changed situation functions effectively, goals are achieved, and the vision of success is realized or approached.

S - Shift (Disruption): Eventually, the equilibrium is disturbed. External or internal factors create disorientation, signaling that it's time to begin the cycle again with a new Transition.

Implementation Notes

• Stages often overlap and don't always progress linearly.

• Since awareness happens after the Shift disruption, the initial focus for strategic change is the Transition .

• Movement between stages can be fluid, with occasional regression to earlier stages.

• Regular assessment of the current situation helps track progress and evaluate intervention effectiveness.

• When one cycle completes, another inevitably begins as change is constant.

• The model serves as both a diagnostic tool and an action planning framework.

Use the TIDES Framework to assess the current situation and identify points of resistance. Then, use the suggested leadership approaches to help a person, group, or system move from a less productive stage to a more productive stage.

Monitoring Progress

Monitoring Progress

Monitoring progress is an integral responsibility of Project Management. It involves tracking the implementation steps to ensure they're progressing as planned and delivering the expected results. Progress is measured against the Key Performance Indicators, beginning with the metrics used to describe each SMART goal. While many of your SMART goals relate to the logistical portion of your strategy, including the development of necessary resources for effectively implementing your strategy, others relate to the psychological portion of your change management. If you hit a roadblock when implementing your strategy, assess your current situation along all three dimensions: logistical steps, resource development, and psychological readiness.

The tasks involved require revisiting earlier phases of strategy planning, such as to provide elaboration on the signs of progress toward the KPIs and once again collecting and analyzing data in a Situation Analysis vis a vis a specific SMART goal. The tasks also require developing the tools to be used for robust monitoring, such as creating dashboards to chart real-time progress and the communication processes to ensure critical information regarding progress or roadblocks gets to the people responsible for implementation. The key tasks involved in this critical stage include:

1. Establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that align with strategic objectives

2. Creating monitoring systems and dashboards to track progress in real-time

3. Collecting data regularly through various methods (surveys, reports, analytics)

4. Analyzing performance data against benchmarks and targets

5. Identifying deviations, trends, and potential issues early

6. Communicating progress to stakeholders through regular reporting

7. Facilitating periodic review meetings to discuss monitoring findings

8. Documenting lessons learned and best practices throughout implementation

9. Maintaining resource allocation tracking and budget monitoring

10. Ensuring accountability by clarifying who is responsible for monitoring specific areas

The monitoring phase creates a feedback loop of data for the final evaluation and adjustment phase, helping organizations stay agile and responsive to changing conditions and people become skilled at adapting their strategy plan and implementation.

Evaluation and Adjustment

Evaluate Progress

You are monitoring the progress of the implementation of one of your SMART Goals and have data (that you collected or that your Project Manager collected). You analyze the data to understand whether you are making good progress toward achieving your SMART goal by the due date. You discover that you have met your SMART goal. Great! Move on to the next one.

Alternatively, you discover that you are not making good progress and you will not meet the deadline unless you course-correct. Now, it’s time to problem-solve. Why are you not making expected progress and what is your plan to fix the problem? Locate the source of the problem and select the best problem-solving approach for the specific problem. This is where you need the skills of Adaptive Leadership.

Strategy: The Adaptive Challenge

Adaptive leadership is a framework for individuals and organizations to thrive amid complexity and change by focusing on collaboration and innovation to tackle tough challenges rather than providing predetermined solutions. This approach, developed by Ronald Heifetz and colleagues at Harvard, distinguishes between technical problems (which can be solved through existing expertise) and adaptive challenges (which require new learning, perspective shifts, and behavioral changes from stakeholders at all levels). Strategy creation, is by its nature, an adaptive challenge.

Effective adaptive leaders encourage diverse perspectives, manage stress, and maintain disciplined attention on the core issues even when discomfort arises. It combines the logical and psychological perspectives on change mangement. Rather than protecting people from harsh realities, adaptive leadership involves helping them face challenges directly, make necessary adjustments, and develop new capabilities that foster resilience and sustainable growth. The Adaptive Challenge Framework below simplifies the Adaptive Leadership framework for purposes of adjusting your strategy when it is not showing sufficient progress.

What?

When faced with a complex challenge, such as a non-obvious block to progress with a strategy, The Balcony view is a particularly useful tool for better understanding the challenge and avoiding a rush to conclusions, judgements, and assumptions. The idea is that by consciously moving between two perspectives—the dance floor and the balcony view—you can better understand complex challenges, identify underlying patterns, and develop more effective, implementable, and sustainable solutions. The "dance floor" perspective is where you're immersed in the details and immediate aspects of the problem and the "balcony" perspective is where you step back to see patterns, relationships, and the bigger picture.

This approach is useful when you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or too close to a problem. When we are too close to a problem, our emotions and repetitive thought patterns may interfere with understanding and being able to access strategic decision-making. This approach encourages you to treat your emotions and thought patterns as data to recognize. Next, take a moment to deliberately shift your thinking from the "dance floor" to the "balcony."

From the balcony, your perspective and the data you notice, is different. Ask questions like:

• What patterns am I seeing?

• What's the larger context here?

• What are the underlying dynamics at play?

• Who are all the stakeholders involved?

• What might I be missing from my current perspective?

• Consider multiple timeframes - Look at the short-term, medium-term, and long-term implications

• Return to action with new insights - Move back to the "dance floor" with your expanded understanding and notice even more.

So What?

Now that you have a robust data set, select a problem-solving approach to make sense of the situation. There are two basic approaches: Reframing a problem as a challenge statement using "How might we" questions to brainstorm opportunities or drilling down to identify and eliminate root causes by repeatedly asking “Why” questions, starting with “Why does this problem exist?” The 5 Whys is a tool to help you get to the root of a problem by testing assumptions and beliefs.  Use it when you want to get to the root of a problem and uncover hidden assumptions. The results that will follow include: clarification of what is truly important, highlighting when a compelling purpose is absent, and  helping you avoid basing actions on a mistaken assumption.

The way to use this tool is to frame the action or a problem and start asking why. Why are we doing this? Why is that important?  Continue to ask why until you reach the true foundation that makes sense or uncover the faulty assumption or belief driving a mistake. State the general problem then drill down past symptoms and obvious answers. After 4-5 “whys” you’ll be looking squarely at the issue.

Step 1. State the problem as specifically as you can.  If the problem statement is too general, you won’t be able to get to the root cause.

Step 2. Ask yourself (and others if need be) why the problem is occurring: 

Step 3. Ask why the answer to step 2 is occurring:  

Step 4. Ask why the answer to step 3 is occurring:  

Step 5. Ask why the answer to step 4 is occurring:

Step 6. Ask why the answer to step 5 is occurring:

Step 7. What are the action(s) you can take to address the root cause?

Reframing a problem as a challenge is a way to nudge creativity and innovation. "How might we" questions deliberately encourage brainstorming without limits. This approach reframes challenges in an optimistic, possibility-oriented way that invites multiple solutions rather than a single correct answer. The phrasing itself is significant: "how" assumes solutions exist, "might" acknowledges many possible approaches, and "we" invites collaborative thinking, collectively shifting mindsets from problem-fixation to solution-seeking. For example:

• How might we create more engaging learning experiences for our customers to become proficient in our procurement software?

• How might we reimagine increasing customer loyalty for both buyers and vendors?

• How might we encourage more sustainable transportation choices?

Once you have reframed you problem as a challenge, the reframing will suggest avenues for you to explore. For example, if you developed a learning experience for customers yet those same customers continue to complain about the difficulty of your procurement software or ask questions suggestion they don’t understand how to use it proficiently, you’ll want to find out whether they know the learning experience exists, know how to access it, have accessed it, but did not engage with it, engaged with it, but did not learn enough, etc.

Regardless of your approach, the purpose is to learn as much as you can about the problem. Once you have learned what this problem means for your goals right now, you can generate possible solutions.

Now what?

Up until now, you were focused on understanding the details of the problem or challenge. Once you have a deep and broad enough understanding, you’ll need to generate options to try, at least one of which may be a viable solution. Tenacity, resilience, collaboration, and innovation are the difference between an adaptive approach and giving up.

Example: Strategic Plan Outline for Increasing Spend Under Management

Implementation Timeline

The plan follows a three-phase approach:

1. Assessment Phase (Situational Analysis): Analyzing current spend patterns, identifying opportunities, and establishing baselines

2. Development Phase (Goal Setting, Strategy Development): Creating strategies, policies, and systems to improve spend management

3. Execution Phase (Implementation, Monitoring, Evaluation & Adjustment): Implementing the plan across all government departments, monitor progress, and evaluate performance and adjust as necessary

Key Strategic Pillars (GOALS)

Data Analytics

• Spend analysis to understand current patterns

• Vendor analysis to identify opportunities for consolidation

• Contract mapping to find gaps and overlaps

• Department needs assessment

• Market benchmarking for competitive pricing

• Performance KPI tracking

• ROI monitoring

• Dashboard creation for visibility

Strategic Sourcing

• Category management approach

• Contract consolidation

• Preferred supplier program development

• Requirements standardization and review

• Negotiation strategy development

• Value optimization initiatives

• Term standardization across contracts

• Sustainable sourcing practices

Process & Technology

• e-Procurement system implementation

• Workflow automation

• Contract management systems

• Policy enforcement mechanisms

• User training programs

• Compliance tracking

• Integration with existing ERP systems

• Real-time reporting capabilities