How to Define a Strategy Sprint

The foundational activity developed by Craft Strategy Studio is the Strategy Sprint. These strategic planning sessions provide space to quickly and effectively define strategic priorities, build alignment around those priorities, and create actions to achieve prioritized outcomes. Strategy Sprints are simple. They are short. Through Strategy Sprints Craft Strategy Studio embeds a strategic planning and tracking process within an organization. Instead of a 100 page plan at the end of a six month engagement Strategy Sprints provide a five to ten page read out from the process after a six hour session (over two or three days). It is a fundamentally different way of approaching strategy design and implementation.

Strategy Sprints were designed specifically for non-profit/non-governmental, economic development, and entrepreneur support organizations. Strategy Sprints also work well for government agencies or departments. For large grant making organizations, coordinating
programs, and accrediting bodies, Strategy Sprints offer better standardization and tracking because they enable every organization to submit or present their strategies in a similar format. Strategy Sprints purposefully omit time consuming elements of traditional strategic
planning — like constituent or community engagement and market analysis. These elements are included in other offerings from Craft Strategy Studio called Strategy Labs. These Labs are a la carte elements of strategy development that organizations can choose to incorporate into their planning efforts.

All Strategy Sprints follow the same basic process.
● Statement of Purpose: This introductory section sets the stage for the Strategy Sprint by clearly and simply defining three core areas — unit of analysis, vision of change, and the boundary condition. Here an organization’s guiding outcomes and functions are also clearly defined. These areas will greatly inform the Strategy Sprint moving forward and will be referenced often throughout the process.
● Conditions: This section looks at conditions as they currently exist on the ground and desired conditions that would enhance the organization’s ability to serve the area if created or imported.
● Framework: This section further defines the opportunities and challenges present in the area and the organization
● Network: Identify and map the networks that interact with the organization or operate in similar service areas.
● Priorities: Areas of focus for the organization that need to be emphasized in order to achieve the overall vision of change. Priorities are developed directly from the information collected and categorized in previous sections.
● Actions: the tactical steps the organization will take to achieve outcomes associated with the strategic priorities.

Strategy Sprints are designed to introduce a continuous process of prioritization, testing, learning, and reassessment. It is strategy fit for the real world demands of community centric and driven organizations. They are purpose built and they work.