Strategic Collaboration

Innovative | Targeted | Sustainable

Strategy is a buzz word that takes many forms – a noun, a verb, an adjective – but no matter how it is used, it falls short of the hype if an organization’s outcome is simply planning. When the focus is on planning, it leads to ideas grounded in comfort and predictability – the factors that can be controlled. But planning can’t, and won’t, make your DEIB goals materialize or your organizational culture magically change. For true change to occur, strategic sessions embrace discomfort and imperfection - they are collaborative across the organization’s stakeholders – customers, employees and the community at large. It’s a Privilege consultants collaborate with organizations to create a brave space for leaders to engage in strategic conversations that live outside the comfort zone.

Collaboration vs Planning

“Two of the most popular strategic frameworks can lead the unwary user to design a strategy entirely around what the company can control. How can a company escape those traps? Because the problem is rooted in people’s natural aversion to discomfort and fear, the only remedy is to adopt a discipline about strategy that reconciles you to

experiencing some angst. ”

Roger L. Martin | Former Dean of the Rotman School of Management | Adviser to CEOs | Author of A New Way to Think

Depending on where you are in your DEIB journey, it can be hard to know where to begin. Should we launch employee resource groups? Do we prioritize certain groups first? Whose voices should be guiding our efforts? How do we create equitable hiring and compensation practices?

Charting a Path

It can feel very overwhelming at the beginning of your journey, frustrating if you’re mid-stride and need to rethink an approach because of a new hurdle, and downright exhausting when you’ve been at it a while and feel like something is still missing. It’s a Privilege can be a collaborative partner in building, refining, and sustaining strategic direction for your programs and culture. Together, we can create big-picture solutions that align to your vision and the organizational needs.

ARE WE DOING THIS RIGHT?

Building a Roadmap

There is always a vision at the beginning of any major journey, and when that vision is put into tangible terms, it becomes a philosophy…the ideology of its leaders. A good philosophy is like a GOOD BATTLE CRY and, as the saying goes, truly is “half the battle.” Every journey your organization takes – especially your DEIB journey – will inevitably face unexpected battles. A strategy designed to evolve your original guiding idea in response to continually changing circumstances is CRITICAL. As collaborative strategists, our experts use unconventional and contrarian thinking to frame conversations that support your leadership team in building a strategic roadmap with ACTION-DRIVEN MILESTONES. This process leads to our FIVE Cs of change:

CLARITY in understanding and defining the challenge

COMPETENCE in articulating factors that affect or influence the challenge

CONFIDENCE in making decisions on which factor to tackle first

CONSENSUS on how to measure progress and success

COMMUNITY of ambassadors for a culture of belonging

Our expert consultants can understand the significance of your organization’s goals, strengths, and challenges without the burden of being influenced by the “in-house” current opinion or changing attitudes leaders face. Those burdens can become barriers for company executives when facilitating strategic meetings aimed at producing breakthrough results. It’s a Privilege works with leaders to create a framework for strategic conversations using three simple guidelines:

  • Embrace and encourage new ideas, critical thinking, and ‘sensitive’ questions that challenge the status quo

  • Intentionally set outcomes that are different than previous strategic goals

  • Define longer-term direction that is not bogged down with limits or precision

Why it works…

“Collaborating with It’s a Privilege is not an exercise that simply gives you a strategic plan to implement. It helped our organization avoid short-sightedness and our leaders became stronger strategists that use what they've learned to sustain our vision independently.”

— Kezia Goodwin | Durham Childcare Collaborative