Canyon Leaping White Paper - 2013

Canyon Leaping

January
2013

Canyon Leaping
Strategy Formulation from the Vision Side

Table of Contents

Introduction 2
History 3
Canyon Leaping Process 5
One Day Canyon Leaping Session 7
Glossary of Terms 8
Canyon Leaping Delphi Instrument 13

Canyon Leaping, © John Carroll, 2013 Page 1

Canyon Leaping

Introduction

Canyon Leaping is a dramatic departure from conventional approaches to strategy
formulation.

Take a look at the Canyon Leaping picture. Where are the people and where are they
pointing? Tradition would have them standing on a strong foundation of awareness of
their existing position and peering across to their possible future, trying to figure out how
to get there.

Conventional strategic planning processes are only able to ask the planning team how to
get to what is probably a pretty vague, uncertain vision. Canyon Leaping has the team
standing firmly on the Vision Side of the canyon, looking back across the canyon, talking
about how they got here. Canyon Leaping is a process for strategy formulation from the
Vision side.

Canyon Leaping assumes that planning from amidst where you are today, the Ending Side,
is the least effective place from which leadership teams should plan for a new momentum.
Your present position and momentum clouds your leadership team from seeing with
clarity, much less wielding effectively, a shared vision. What you have become adept at
doing to survive may prove to be barriers to future success, including how you collaborate
and make strategic decisions.

Canyon Leaping is a process that frees your leadership team to formulate strategies from a
position of confidence and clarity – the position of looking back across the canyon from a
successful future.

Leadership teams, or “Canyon Leapers”, are given the process, skills, tools, and expert
facilitation needed to confidently "leap" to the Vision side and vividly paint their Shared
Vision of success for each of the most important stakeholders. This perspective is then
used as the platform for planning how they got here, the BIG IDEAS, and what Baggage they
left behind.

Canyon Leaping is made possible by the combination of experienced facilitation and the
safe environment created with the Virtual WINs facilitation tools and the Canyon Leaping
process. Delivered as rapidly as a one day face-to-face session where need and opportunity
demands, or as an in-depth, multi-team, virtual process lasting weeks.

Changing Your Momentum – The Case for Canyon Leaping

The grip of your existing momentum is overwhelming. Fabulous when you are riding on
top in a defensible position in a growing and profitable market. Not so great when faced
with the certainty that continuing on the present course will lead to disaster. Planning the
creation of a new order of things is extraordinarily difficult. The massive debris at the
bottom of the cliffs of failed businesses, failed initiatives, and failed projects attests.
Therefore, the first question to answer is whether or not you need a new momentum?

If the answer is “No”, then the focus is on getting the most out of the momentum you have,
planning from within the midst of your momentum. ”Navigating the Whitewater” of the
waves of change is the strategic planning process we facilitate for a leadership team to
build and wield shared foresight, make strategic and tactical decisions, and align all of their
efforts.

If, however, the answer is “Yes”, that a new momentum is needed, I submit that planning
from within the maelstrom you are in is the least effective, least efficient, most risky, and
most costly place from which to plan. This is the crumbling, Ending Side of your canyon.
Get the heck out of there!

“Canyon Leaping” is the strategic planning process where planning is done from the Vision
Side of the canyon where the new momentum is already successful. In Canyon Leaping,
teams leap from the clutches of their existing momentum and vividly create their shared
vision of success – and then plan how they succeeded.

One of the first lessons learned by Canyon Leapers – usually recognized by an audible “I Get
It” mid-way through as someone has a “BFB/BFO” (blinding flash of brilliance/blinding
flash of the obvious) moment – “Even I have to change!” In Canyon Leaping, everything
changes to create the new momentum, the new order of things.

In times of significant, material changes such as most are now experiencing, “Yes” for
changing your momentum is far more likely the correct answer to the question of whether
you need a new momentum. Canyon Leaping provides the means to do so with confidence.

History of Canyon Leaping
This model for strategy formulation began in the 80’s when leading efforts to plan
strategies for targeting the then emerging senior markets for innovations in housing,
healthcare, and other services. Basically, middle-age and younger men in their 30's to 50's
were planning for elderly women in their 70's, 80's, and beyond. Easy enough now to see
why their assumptions might have been a little off (and generally still are, 25 years later).


From new concepts in retirement housing, to the first teaching nursing home, to adult day
care, geriatric assessment programs, assisted living and home delivered services, we
conducted the sophisticate market research from, not just about, the elderly women, and
served as the strategists for the entrepreneurs, developers, and agencies who were
charting new territory in serving the then emerging senior markets.

As one Interior Designer stated, “this was the first time I was able to give my input on a
project prior to the architect putting pencil to paper.”

These efforts were described in "The Integrated Project Team Approach to Strategic
Planning", in INSIGHTS, 1990, the journal published by the former National Association of
Senior Living Industries. Canyon Leaping has evolved into a comprehensive approach for
those who choose to be Strategically Opportunistic.
Canyon Leaping efforts were greatly eased by the adoption in the 90’s of group decision
support technologies, what we now term “facilitation tools,” that enable teams to fearlessly
leap their Canyons and set clear strategies and tactics from a shared vision of success.

Canyon Leaping Example: A global supply chain needed to design
a new business model. Eighteen highly competent subject matter
experts were convened. Using the Canyon Leaping process, they first
decided that if fourteen agreed, all would support a decision. Then, after
identifying the key stakeholders, they were challenged to “Leap the
Canyon” and paint their vision of success for each stakeholder.

With significant debate and discussion, and by continuously applying
their decision criteria, they utilized anonymity and simultaneous
exchange to rapidly build consensus. They then wielded this Shared
Vision to identify the “Big Ideas” that got them over their Canyon, the
“Baggage” left behind, high level maps of both the “As Is” and “To Be”
processes and a detailed Action Plan with assignments, dependencies,
and timeframes.
Now, realistically, how long would such an effort take with traditional
means? This effort took not 6 ½ months, nor 6 ½ weeks, not even 6 ½
days. It took 6 ½ hours!

Now, this whole process can be done virtually, using Virtual WINs,
though we certainly wouldn’t need to do everything in a single, sametime
6 ½ hour session.


Canyon Leaping Process

Dual Team Approach

Knowledge Team – integration of both visiting and in-house top talent are charged
with defining the planning process and assimilating the knowledge developed by the
Canyon Leapers.

Multi-Team Approach

In complex efforts, multiple teams attack key areas independently, with the
Knowledge Team assimilating the findings.

Building Shared Foresight (Hindsight you will have from your Vision Side)

Initial Internet Survey - Delphi Study Instrument – Multi-Iteration if needed
Ignite & Tap Individual Creativity
Identify Diversity of Misconceptions
Societal Changes & Trends Assessment
Consumer Changes & Trends
Market Positioning Assessment
Competitive & Complementary Assessment
Technology Innovation Awareness
Creativity Forums with Thought Leaders & Critical Experts
Knowledge Team Assimilates & Shares

Visioning – Wielding Shared Foresight

Societal Vision Context Building
Scenario Analysis
Visual Visioning – Paint the Vision

This Side of the Canyon – Build Shared Awareness

SWOT Analysis
Spin Off Quick Hits - Remove Organizational Residue from Firefighting


Vividly Paint the Vision – Team(s) Launched

Supply the Vision Depth – Further Build Shared Foresight
Society Consumers
Industry Competitors
Entity Alliances
Individual Roles

Gain Consensus on Further Shared Foresight
Know what we know jointly
Know what we know individually
Create new knowledge
Identify what we must assume

Engage Your Extended Leadership Community
Face-to-face sessions
Large session “Igniter Summits”
Web surveys

Goal Formulation

From the Vision Side – How did we get here?
What did we accomplish?
First cut as individuals and teams learn to use this perspective

Quick Hits

Capture ideas for accelerating short term growth
Continuously build and wield Shared Foresight

Gap Analysis & Action Planning

Identify key functional areas
Identify BIG IDEAS
Identify major ideas within each functional area
Identify baggage left behind
Identify major initiatives
Action plan – assignments and timeframes for all actions

Create an Innovation Environment
Create a Canyon Leaping Collaboration Environment

Canyon Leaping – Accelerated Strategy Session
Face-to-Face Session

Time Activity
8:30 Ground Rules and Introductions
8:40 Overview of Canyon Leaping
8:45 “Perfect Meeting” Exercise
Identify and discuss ideas
Evaluate ideas
Make assignments
8:55 Establish Canyon Leaping Decision Rules
Make decisions about making decisions before making decisions.
9:00 Build Shared Foresight and Societal Vision
Participants identify Waves of Change and begin building the context for their own
Shared Vision (4 to 5 areas are discussed – e.g., economic, technological, societal,
demographic, environmental, spiritual, etc.). Summarize in sub-groups, present, and
discuss.
10:00 Break
10:15 Stakeholder Identification
10:25 Prioritize Stakeholders – Identify most important stakeholders
10:30 Paint Shared Vision
Participants share images of success on the Vision side for each stakeholder.
Assimilate and respond, summarize in sub-groups, present, and discuss.
11:30 BIG IDEAS from the Vision Side
Participants wield Shared Vision to identify the Big Ideas that got them over to the
Vision side since you don’t cross canyons with little steps.
11:50 Evaluate BIG IDEAS
12:00 Lunch
12:45 Baggage Drop – Shared Awareness
Participants exchange knowledge and assumptions about the existing environment
and what needs to be left behind on the Ending Side of the Canyon. Identify and
clear out the Dead Moose, Sacred Cows, and false Diamonds in the Rough. Summarize
in sub-groups, present, and discuss.
1:30 Action Planning – Brainstorm Implementation of BIG IDEAS
From the Vision side, the participants are challenged to take the BIG IDEAS and turn
each into the Action Plans that enabled them to get to the Vision side.
2:30 Break
2:45 Action Planning Evaluation Criteria
Participants are asked to identify the criteria to be used to evaluate the importance
of the Action Plan ideas.
3:00 Evaluate Criteria
3:15 Evaluate Action Plans Using Criteria
3:30 Detailed Action Planning
For the top Action Plan ideas, participants are asked to identify who is responsible,
who will participate, how each action will be accomplished, dependencies,
timeframes, resources and how success will be identified. Sub-group review,
present, and discuss.
4:30 Next Steps & Session Evaluation
5:00 Adjourn


Canyon Leaping
Glossary of Terms
Anonymity
Anonymity is a powerful force for freeing the creative potential of individuals and teams.
Use it wisely.

 Anonymity provides safety.
 Anonymity provides leveraged creativity -- separating ideas from the personalities.
 Anonymity enables individuals to tell someone they really care about that their
ideas are wrong.
 Anonymity accelerates team formation and building of trust, thereby eliminating
many of the reasons for needing anonymity.
 Anonymity launches some of the most fruitful, enjoyable, engaging dialogues
(talking) you will ever experience!

Baggage Drop
You can’t get across a canyon bringing along all the baggage, organizational residue, and
Dead Moose (the things everyone knows about but won’t discuss – stink worse than
Elephants in the Living Room). Once the Vision has been painted, the teams are challenged
to identify what they left on the other side.

BIG IDEAS
You don’t leap a canyon in small steps. The teams are challenged to identify the BIG IDEAS
that got them over the canyon.

Bias for Decision Making
Don't assume a decision has been made. Make it, document it, and move on.

Example – the leadership team decides that when they reach 70% agreement, this means
100% will support the decision going forward, unless one of the 30% is the Subject Matter
Expert (SMEs), which requires a return to building context and understanding the criteria.
SMEs are identified BEFORE beginning.

BFOs & BFBs
 Blinding Flashes of the Obvious, or
 Blinding Flashes of Brilliance

We don't care which they are, we are after both! It doesn't matter whether brilliance is
new or already understood by some. The key is, it must be understood and WIELDED by all
- that's core to delivery of undiluted, integrated, and targeted positioning

Utilizing "Canyon Leaping" tools, methods, and facilitation approaches, we strive to fully
tap the latent creative potential of a leadership team by providing environments for
individual, small group, and large team creativity to just happen.


Brain Surges
Occur either individually or in teams. When occurring in the "safe" environment created in
the sessions using the Virtual WINs facilitation tools, with anonymous and simultaneous
input, it resembles a group epiphany. A huge, creative force when unleashed in such
settings.

Breakthrough thinking is the result. And, its fun!

Calm In The Face Of Uncertainty – Becoming Strategically Opportunistic
Leveraged by the knowledge of a fully engaged leadership team, these characteristics
define those who are "Strategically Opportunistic":

Confident
Competent
Disciplined
Creative
Decisive
Engaged
Wise

Making assumptions as part of teams, rather than as a collection of individuals, and
tracking those assumptions.

We know where we are going, we have access to the continuously improving "Shared
Foresight" and therefore can make immediate course changes to capture opportunities,
overcome potential obstacles, thwart competitive inroads, and attain our Vision.

Canyon Leaping
Where we exist today is distinct from where our Vision defines we will exist in the future.
There is a virtual canyon between our present reality and our future Vision. Our objective
is to plan how we arrived at the Vision Side of the Canyon.

Canyon Leaping requires the participants to do the planning from the Vision Side.

Canyon Leapers
These are the individuals who are charged with painting the Shared Vision of success for
each of the top stakeholders, then wielding this Vision, supported by their Shared Foresight
– their Hindsight from the Vision Side - and their Shared Awareness to plan how they
succeeded.

Canyon Leaping Guides
Teams are guided through the Canyon Leaping process by facilitators who employ a rich
language to communicate with confidence.


Delphi Study
Ignites individual creativity, and ferrets out the range of uncertainty, deficiencies in
awareness, organization residue of continuous fire-fighting, and just plain old stupidity that
may need to be addressed. Teams are made-up of individuals. Delphi Studies enable
individuals to contemplate on their own key issues and possibilities. These are then
consolidated and reported back to the participants in building a shared context.

Fallacy of SMEs
When creating a new order of things, as in Canyon Leaping, subject matter experts, by
definition, are limited if non-existent, or else you aren’t really creating a new order of
things.

Grok
A word from Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein …. At one level, the Canyon
Leaping process views Canyon Leapers as exactly that – strangers in a strange land. The
process enables the Canyon Leaping Team to fully understand, to Grok, the Vision Side and
paint a vivid picture of that Vision.

As pointed out in the book Inevitable Surprises, by Robert Schwartz, when providing
foresight to Citi, recognized that nearly all of the insights were already known and
understood by one or more of those on the leadership team. However, none had the whole
story, and certainly the team didn’t have a shared view of any of the individual factors,
much less the whole story. To become strategically opportunistic, a leadership team MUST
continuously improve and wield the whole story. Canyon Leaping is the first step. Grok?

Leadership Dilemma – Transitioning from Dysfunctional to Functional
Those who have learned to obtain, maintain, and wield power in dysfunctional
organizations, whether businesses, firms, institutions, or agencies, have been essential in
driving our economy, particularly in the past couple of decades. Now that we are finally
awakening to where we've allowed them to take us, it is time to transition to functional
organizations.

The dilemma is that those same leaders are not necessarily the best to lead the transition,
much less to lead the transformed organizations. The dilemma is further exacerbated since
the evaluators, lenders, risk assessors, and auditors of the strategies that were invested in
are themselves suspect.

With Virtual WINs, people can identify the depth and breadth of dysfunctional thinking that
permeates and clogs today's organizations - and provide the safe environment to plan and
implement a transition to a functional organization with the minimum of disruption, cost,
time, and risk to individuals and the businesses and organizations.


Leadership Paradox
"If you really mean you will truly use the results of the Teams to formulate the course of
action for the company, well, that means I'm working for a leadership team that doesn't
know where it is going!"

The paradox confronting all leaders today is simple. And, it must be confronted or this
process won't work. This process requires leaders to admit to their people and advisors
that, while they may have already arrived at a clear Vision, they don't know the plan for
getting there. Many don’t really comprehend the meaning of this until midway through the
process - and that is when the full power of "Shared Foresight" kicks in.

Painting the Vision
The participants are asked to "Leap the Canyon" and contemplate what it will be like when
the Vision is fulfilled from the perspective of:

Society
The Industry or Sector
The Company or Organization
Our Roles
Ourselves Individually
Customers or Clients
Our Partners or Suppliers
Our Competitors
Other Stakeholders

Power of Teams When Confronting Uncertainty
 We must make more decisions, more frequently with greater accuracy.
 We need information on which to base our decisions.
 Perfect information doesn't exist or isn't available.
 We still must make decisions.
 Therefore, we must make assumptions.

We are terrible at making assumptions!

Tests of ability to make assumptions in areas of uncertainty continuously demonstrate a
lack of individual assumption making capacity. However, the teams themselves are able to
see that when they shared their perspectives, they find they can make assumptions with a
far greater likelihood of having the correct answer within their range of answers.

The problem is that the range of their assumptions needs to be narrowed by "Building
Shared Foresight", rather than focusing on individual pursuits of the "correct answer".

Pushing Down Walls
The Teams are continuously asked to "push down the walls". What they find is that there
weren't any "walls" when Canyon Leaping. Using the "24 hour" rule, Canyon Leapers are
assured of a rapid response from the Knowledge Teams.


Shared Awareness
Depth and Breadth of shared understanding throughout the entire leadership team of past
and present, and the power of the existing momentum. Shared Awareness is gained in the
process through activities focused on building a Situational Analysis via a multi-iteration,
Canyon Leaping Delphi Study and team SWOT assessment.

Shared Foresight
Shared Foresight is the hindsight we wield from the Vision Side. It is the missing piece that
connects a Shared Vision to this side of the Canyon.

What we collectively foresee happening between the present and the Vision. This "Shared
Foresight" is continuously improved, shared and wielded to make the decisions as we
continuously refine our course of action.

What comes between now and attaining the Vision? Shared Foresight provides the ideas,
assumptions, and insights of the full Leadership Team, continuously enhanced and
improved by access to outside thought leaders, critical experts and the breadth of the
leadership community.

Building and wielding Shared Foresight is how, from the Vision side, you can vividly see
your successful strategies and tactics in the context in which they occurred. This is the key
- it is from the Vision side that you can envision the complexities that indicate not just how
you get to the Vision side - but everything else that occurred as well.

Societal Context
To build scenarios that effectively communicate identified potential futures, we need to do
so within an overall societal context - which itself can be depicted as multiple potential
futures.


Canyon Leaping Delphi Instrument Design
Introduction
Please review and discuss the draft questionnaire for the first iteration of our Canyon Leaping
Delphi Study. We are using the dual team approach for implementing our Canyon Leaping Process
– a knowledge team and the full team. John Carroll is serving as our Lead Canyon Leaping Guide.
Our Knowledge Team is charged with designing the process, using the “Canyon Leaping Process
Team Map” as the starting point, including this questionnaire. Additional responsibilities of the
Knowledge Team include facilitating the collaboration, decision making, and group writing
activities, coaching the participants in collaboration across the continuums – from large group same
time conference calls, to any time activities, to individuals SMEs needing help on the discipline of
regularly posting a blog and other media of import to the team.

Instructions for Delphi Study Participants
To prepare for the upcoming Canyon Leaping creativity forums and strategy session, we are
conducting a preliminary Delphi Study. The first step in this study involves collecting, analyzing,
and reporting results of this initial questionnaire. The second step is for the participants to review
the results and respond to a second iteration questionnaire based on the results of the first. A
subsequent report will be issued in preparation for the creativity forums and strategy session.
The primary purpose of this study is to ignite the individual creative capacity of our leadership
community as we work to build our Shared Awareness, Shared Foresight, and Shared Vision. A by-
product of the Delphi Study is to significantly accelerate the fulfillment of the Vision by clearing off
the table much of the anecdote swapping, choir preaching, and getting everyone up-to-speed that
occurs in traditional strategy retreats.

Ourselves – What have we done REALLY well
What was a marketing initiative that worked really well for us during the past 3 years? Identify the
initiative and describe the results and how they were achieved.
What was an operational initiative that worked REALLY well for us during the past 3 years?
Identify the initiative and describe the results and how they were achieved.

Our Clients
Perception of Our Clients - please evaluate how our clients perceive us using a scale of 1 to 10 with
“1” being “Low” and “10” being “High”
 Industry knowledge
 Flexibility
 Reliability
 Credibility
 Experience
 Quality of Service
 Trust
 Competitiveness


 Social Responsibility
 Agility
 Value Delivered

Please comment on specific considerations that affected your responses to the prior question.
Who are our best clients? Identify specific clients or categories of clients, then briefly explain why
they are amongst our best clients?
Who are our worst clients? Identify specific clients or categories of clients, then briefly explain why
they are amongst our worst clients?
Are there any major changes in how our clients and prospects are making decisions?

Partners
Who are our best partners? Identify specific partners or categories of partners, then briefly explain
why they are amongst our best partners?
Who are our worst partners? Identify specific clients or categories of partners, then briefly explain
why they are amongst our worst partners?
Are there any major changes in how our partners or our potential partners are making decisions?

About Us
What is one thing about us you wish everyone understood?
What is one thing we do today we should stop doing?
Please provide an analogy or metaphor that describes us, either as we are now, or as you would like
us to be, or both. This can be utterly serious or knee-slapping funny (remember, it is your
colleagues who will decide if it is funny, though it is anonymous…)

About Our Competition
How would you characterize our competition as it exists today?
How would you characterize our competition in 3 to 5 years, if different from the competition we
confront today?
What characteristics best differentiate us from existing or potential competitors?

Quick Wins
What is an immediate and pressing marketing issue and your suggestion for overcoming the issue?
What is an immediate and pressing operational issue and your suggestion for overcoming the
issue?

Insights on Major Waves of Change
Our industry is considered by many to be transitioning from a product/service driving force to a
customer driving force.


Technology is continuously expanding into new areas. How will new technologies best be
leveraged? What should we do to minimize the possible negative impact new technologies may
have on us and our customers?
Increasing diversity, aging, educational attainment, globalization of markets for labor, capital,
resources, and consumers, are leasing to massive changes. What should we be doing to better
prepare?
What are up to three additional major waves of change, trends, or possible future situations we
should be considering? What should we be doing today to prepare?
How would you like our clients to describe us once we are what you would like us to be.

New Products, Services, or Markets To Serve
What are up to three products or services we should considering adding – even those you don’t
think we would ever consider, or those we have rejected in the past?
What are up to three emerging needs of our present and future clients that we will, or should, be in
the position to serve?

Making Decisions
What are the criteria our leaders and managers should use when making strategic level decisions?
What percentage of participants on a leadership team need to agree in order for everyone to
support the decision?
Who are our Subject Matter Experts?

What We Should Do
What are up to three major objectives we should focus on accomplishing during the next 6 months?
What are up to three major objectives for us to accomplish beyond 6 months?
If you had a magic wand and could change anything about us, what would you do?

Parking Lot
Additional Comments, Insights, Ideas, Questions, Blinding Flashes of Brilliance….


Canyon Leaping White Paper - 2013

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