Module 21
To the exec: Now is your chance to really get critical, to question, to poke and prod until you have shaped exactly what you need (don’t worry, we’ll explore any refinements too). If the workshops have been research, intelligence gathering, the collation of contributions, this is the deeper discussion, a chance to tease out every angle, very honestly, and get right to the bottom.
No disruptions!
One of the toughest challenges for execs is getting time to focus uninterrupted, but to succeed in these sessions, undisrupted time is everything.
Openness
This is your final point of deliberation when it comes to very important decisions. Be open, critical, debate, leave no stone unturned.
Space
A big flipboard or white board helps keep the ideas flowing and unrestrained. Space to think, deliberate, test and jot down every thought is important!
2 hours
When LEGO was on the brink of collapse in the early 2000s, their team didn’t lack creativity or ambition. In fact, their problem was the opposite, they were doing too much.
They had launched theme parks, video games, TV shows, robotics, clothing lines, and a flood of new sets all in a short window. But with all that energy, they’d lost grip on financial discipline, strategic alignment, and operational feasibility.
When their new CEO stepped in, he did something that felt radical: he paused the chaos.
He asked a small group of leaders to map everything out, every initiative, every product line, every cost centre. And then they began reviewing each one with a simple but tough lens:
Does it align with our purpose? Can we afford it? Do we have capacity? What are we measuring? Who’s accountable?
That review saved the company. LEGO exited what didn’t align, simplified what did, and built a far more focused and resilient roadmap. The business went from loss-making to profitable within two years, and laid the groundwork for its explosive growth in the decade that followed.
The lesson?
The work you’ve done until now is invaluable, but this moment, right here, is where strategy either holds together or falls apart.
