Core tool
Strategy
in 10 minutes-ish
why 10 minutes
Why a 10-minute strategy?
Strategy gets a bad name. Big documents. Five-year plans. Things that go in a drawer.
But strategy is just the choices you're making — whether you say them out loud or not. What you do. What you don't. Who you're for. What you stand for.
Most real strategy is emergent. You read the wind, you make a call, you adjust. The plan helps — but only if it doesn't trap you when things change.
So: four metaphors and four questions. Say the choices out loud. Write them down small enough to fit on a page. Come back to them often.
This sits next to your Theory of Change. ToC says what change. Strategy says how — given everything else that's true.
four metaphors
Four ways to find your position
Pick the one that fits. Each surfaces the same choices — focus, distinctiveness, what we won't do — in a different way.
The Map
The Boat
The Garden
The Workshop
metaphor 01 · the map
The Map
What's the terrain?
Who else is here?
Where will we plant our flag?
Where won't we need to?
metaphor 02 · the boat
The Boat
What are we carrying?
Whose wake can we ride?
Where's the wind blowing?
Where are we steering?
metaphor 03 · the garden
The Garden
What do we tend?
What do we prune?
What do we plant?
What do we let go wild?
metaphor 04 · the workshop
The Workshop
What are we making?
What tools and skills do we have?
What do we build, buy or borrow?
What do we ship — and share?
putting it together
Four simple questions
Instead of "vision, mission, goals, KPIs" — try these.
What's the terrain?
What's actually true right now — the context, the pressures, what's changing.
Where will we play?
Our focus — and the things we're choosing not to do.
How do we succeed?
Our distinctive contribution. What we bring that others don't already.
What's the first move?
The next concrete thing — not the five-year plan.
what you end up with
Three things to write down
Short enough to fit on a page. Honest enough to be useful.
Commitments
e.g. "We'll focus on under-served rural areas this year."
Constraints
e.g. "We have funding for 18 months and a team of three."
Positions
e.g. "We don't take corporate sponsorship from extractive industries."
do it on paper
The canvas
One sheet. One hour. Felt-tip pen. Sticky notes. Argue out loud.
print A3 · use sticky notes · cross things out · take a photo when you're done
communicating it
Strategy in the open
Once it's written down, publish it. Same way you'd publish a Theory of Change.
Findable
Collaborators, funders, neighbours can see what you're actually doing — without an introduction.
Honest
Naming positions publicly means saying no in advance — fewer awkward conversations.
Alive
Update it when things change. A stale strategy on a page is more honest than a polished one in a drawer.
A published strategy invites collaboration that a private one can't.
how it fits together
Three tools, one practice
Each answers a different question. Together they're a small, honest operating system.
ToC names the change. Strategy names the choices. Questions name what we still need to find out.
resilience
Why this matters
Strategy is how Purpose meets the real world. It's how you stay yourself when pressure mounts.
It protects your purpose
Without strategy, mission drift happens by accident. With it, every yes and no is a deliberate one.
It makes saying no easier
Clear positions mean you don't have to relitigate every decision. The hard thinking is done.
It lets you move fast when it matters
Emergent strategy needs a frame. Knowing where you're heading lets you adapt without losing yourself.
the point
Say the choices out loud.
Write them down small. Come back to them often. Let them change when the world does.