- A SWOT analysis is commonly used for strategic planning but often lacks depth and fails to consider interconnected risks that can cascade through an organization. - To be effective, a SWOT should assess internal and external risks and their hyper-connected nature, gathering input from all employee levels. It should examine factors like culture, processes, performance, and feedback loops. - Separate SWOTs are needed for each internal element like leadership, culture, and processes, as well as for external risk categories like economic, environmental, and technological risks. - A thorough cascading SWOT can help organizations address hidden threats, cultural issues, and inefficiencies to pursue disruptive innovation rather than just competing on existing terms.