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Differentiating Capabilities

Strategy only becomes real when a handful of capabilities are done differently from everyone else. This tool finds those few.

Aim

This tool will help you translate strategic aspirations into organizational implications. It will also help market-facing groups identify and enhance capabilities that are unique to the organization, or that take a very different approach to how competitors do it.

Results

  1. Identification of 3–5 organizational capabilities that must be done in unique or different ways.
  2. Prioritization of these capabilities, highlighting maximum impact to the strategic need.

Pro Tips

  1. Ensure each capability is a high-level process, system, practice or feature. Don't get stuck in the weeds trying to solve for smaller, non-strategic issues.
  2. Don't confuse capabilities with skills or abilities.
  3. To identify the most basic critical capabilities, forced ranking is essential.

How to build the chart

  1. Review your Stakeholder Requirements and ANCHOR.
  2. Take the need statement from your ANCHOR and place it in the centre.
  3. If you're working in a group, have each group identify and define a differentiated capability, adding it to one spoke. That capability should drive and sustain the strategic value being offered.
  4. Once you have prioritized the capabilities, label each one: red = broken or non-existent; yellow = exists but is not capable of delivering the intended result; green = exists and can deliver the intended result.