NAVIGATING the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE

Strategic Triangulation

The Concept of Triangulation

• CONCEPTUAL triangulation is the use of three distinct yet related ideas that permit greater insight into each of the elements (analysis) as well as the resulting combination of elements (synthesis).

Idea 1

Idea 2 Idea 3

Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 1: Every

organization’s past, present and possible (future) are active all the time– The past includes all the

historic RESULTS that an organization may have achieved AND our understanding of those results (which changes over time)

PAST

PRESENT POSSIBLE

Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 1: Every

organization’s past, present and possible (future) are active all the time– The present includes all those

RESPONSES (utilizing tangible and intangible resources) that are being made today to achieve future results we desire

PAST

PRESENT POSSIBLE

Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 1: Every

organization’s past, present and possible (future) are active all the time– The possible involves all the

future REPOSITIONING effects we desire from our present responses.

PAST

PRESENT POSSIBLE

Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 2: The past,

present and possible are connected in terms of– What we OBSERVE– What we UNDERSTAND– What we DECIDE– How we ACT

PAST

PRESENT POSSIBLE

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Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 2: The past,

present and possible are subjective evaluations, not mere “facts.” At individual, interpersonal and institutional levels we create meaning, not simply discover it.

PAST

PRESENT POSSIBLE

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Past-Present-Possible Triangulation Principles• Principle 3: Strategic

triangulation involves applying the art, science and craft of strategic thinking to enhance, deepen, broaden and sharpen the ways we deal with the past, present and possible.

PAST

PRESENT POSSIBLE

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Ideas for Strategic Triangulation

• What follows are “strategic thinking triangles” that are designed to encourage strategic thinking by bringing together a triangle of ideas that capture both the distinctive nature of past, present and possible dimensions an organization faces and the ways those dimensions interact to create the organization building blocks, boundaries and barriers that “feed” an organization’s strengths and limitations as it encounters its opportunities and threats.

•Three related ideas•Organizational strengths and limitations

•Environmental opportunities and threats

•Building blocks, boundaries and barriers to strategic success

Strategic Triangles

PAST PRESENT POSSIBLE

Analysis Action Anticipation

Becoming Behaving Believing

Calibrating Communicating Conceptualizing

Dissecting Doing Dreaming

Evaluating Embracing Extending

Fact-finding Forging Futuring

Gathering Growing Germinating

Head Hands Heart

Investing Initiating Imagining

Judging Joining Jettisoning

Questions to investigate for each strategic trio of ideas:1. How can each idea

contribute to your understanding of strategy?

2. What impact might each of the ideas have on your understanding of the other ideas in the trio?

3. Taken together, what do the ideas share as a common theme (or themes)?

4. What are the potential building block, boundary and barrier issues suggested by each idea or some combination of the ideas?

Strategic Triangles

PAST PRESENT POSSIBLE

Keeping Kneading Kindling

Learning Leveraging Leaving

Mindset Methodology Mind-mapping

Nurturing Navigating Networking

Organization Operations Opportunities

Preservation Performance Prediction

Quantification Quickness Quest

Reflecting Responding Repositioning

Selecting Succeeding Seeking

Tracking Transforming Testing

Questions to investigate for each strategic trio of ideas:5. What are the

strength/limitation and opportunity/threat issues suggested by each idea or some combination of the ideas?

6. How would each of the strategic ideas lead us to define strategic success and strategic failure?

7. How do each of the ideas help us better understand the nature of an organization’s past, present and possibility dimensions?

Strategic Triangles

PAST PRESENT POSSIBLE

Understanding Undertaking Underwriting

Valuing Viewing Venturing

Wealth Work Wondering

eXceptional eXcellent eXtraordinary

Yoking Yielding Yearning

Zoning Zeroing in Zealous

Questions to investigate for each strategic trio of ideas:8. How do each (or the

combination) of the trio of ideas help us broaden our strategic observations, deepen our strategic understanding, sharpen our strategic decisions and energize and focus our strategic ideas?

9. Can you think of a better (more fruitful, more precise) word idea for any of the trio of ideas?

10.Do you see any strategically stimulating relationships between one or more of the idea trios?