Post on 06-Jul-2015
www.goodmind.net from The Business Strategy Cookbook © Goodmind, LLC
QuadrantAnalysis
ServesTackling large/complex problems
Troubleshooting workflow, process issues
Identifying Key Accelerating Factors
Ingredients5+ People
Moderator
Goal
Whiteboard
Easel
Markers
Time1 Workshop Session
Product Market
Competitor Operations
www.goodmind.net from The Business Strategy Cookbook © Goodmind, LLC
1Prepare template on the whiteboard. Summarize Goal above thetemplate.
2Discuss the problems and issues working against the Goal for 10-15 minutes. List on the easel as Constraints.
3Code each Constraint as a Product, Market, Operations, and/orCompetitor issue.
4Sort coded list items into the Constraints quadrant of the template.Circle Key Constraints, the problems that fall into multiplecategories.
5Discuss the positive circumstances and capabilities advancing theGoal for 10-15 minutes. List on the easel as Accelerating Factors.
6Repeat steps 3-5 to fill in the Accelerating Factors quadrant of thetemplate.
7Discuss completed template, and identify ways to apply KeyAccelerating Factors against Key Constraints.
Successes
►Using symptoms touncover and proactivelymanage root cause
Messes
►Relying on data to identifyproblems vs. reality
Satisfies
►Annual Planning Phase
►Periodic Evaluation
►Basic Troubleshooting
www.goodmind.net from The Business Strategy Cookbook © Goodmind, LLC
TeamModerator WhiteboardMarkers Goal
prep template
discuss goal
list constraints
code constraints intemplate
identify keyconstraints
repeat foraccelerating
factors
discuss template
apply acceleratingfactors to
constraints
Symbol Key
moderator activity
repeat process
team technique
team activity
Easel
Quadrant Analysis concentratesseveral superficial problems into a
single underlying source, and isolatesthe key Accelerating Factors for
generating straightforward solutions.
Difficulty
What’s a corecompetency?
www.goodmind.net from The Business Strategy Cookbook © Goodmind, LLC
Recipe Lineage
Quadrant Analysis is an original exercise, but borrows heavily from thework of Eliyahu Goldratt. Goldratt is perhaps best known for his“Theory of Constraints;” a systematic approach to perfectingorganizational performance. Though developed and commonlyexplained through manufacturing plant parables, Goldratt’s Theory isapplicable to any business enterprise.
It maintains that every organization has at least one Key Constraintthwarting the primary goal, which let’s face it, is making money. The“goal” of the theory then, is to understand how the cause and effectdependencies of complex processes interact, and ultimately dictateprofit margins.
Our version of the theory is a bit more decadent and incorporatesAccelerating Factors into the analysis of Constraints, thus providing aset of possible solutions for minimizing problems, and maximizingprofits. Quadrant Analysis organizes the extensive list of issuesplaguing daily operations, right alongside potential synergies.
The ensuing analysis of all this information is simple, because theexercise relies on team input of “real time data,” i.e. anecdotalevidence. Rather than reconciling balance sheets with inventory levels,Quadrant Analysis describes reality, and frames a strategy foraccepting it.
www.goodmind.net from The Business Strategy Cookbook©Goodmind, LLC
Product Market
Competitor Operations
Product Market
Competitor Operations
Goal: the desired outcome of a business process, or strategy
Accelerating
Factors are both the
actual and potential
circumstances that either
enhance your daily
workflow, or mitigate
Key Constraints.
The completed
Constraints quadrant
should illustrate that a few
broader issues cause most of
your daily problems.
These are your Key
Constraints.
Product related
Constraints, and
Accelerating Factors in-
clude anything loosely
related to the final
output of your
organization.
Market factors are
the external forces that
impact the demand of
your primary product or
service, for good
or bad.
Operations are
internal forces that
dictate your ability to
produce an acceptable
organizational output. If
you can control it, it’s
an Operation.
Competitor
behavior can negatively
impact your ability to do
business, or it can make your
organization more valuable.
Understanding both effects
ensures a balanced
response.
Constraints
Accelerating Factors