A quick start

When you first log into Decision Driven® Strategy, we will seed your decision model from our proven pattern for strategy and solution development.  You’ll see a top-level decision, “Our Vision” that then branches into a set of child decisions.

Think of these decisions as the fundamental questions that demand an answer.  The decisions are the questions; there are many possible answers, which we call “alternatives”.   Although the questions follow a pattern; the answers are uniquely yours. 

You probably have an “AS-IS” answer to many of these questions, but it may be worth clarifying or perhaps revisiting. We recommend that you start by capturing a snapshot of your current alternatives.  This is a quick exercise; it should take 20 minutes to blitz through the top 20 decisions or so and record your current answers.  If you get stuck on a decision, you can switch to one of our examples to see how others have answered this question.

You don’t have to think this through top-down; you can drill into the branches to find a decision that you’re facing today.  It’s up to you where you “shine the light” on your strategy. 

Decisions create your future – take control!

Think of each decision as a control knob for a part of your business, organization or project.  By addressing the decision, you are taking proactive control of this area of your strategy.  Each decision becomes an opportunity for a fresh start, an innovation point at which you can create new value for your organization and those you serve.

Decision Driven® Strategy provides three ways to visualize your decision model.  The Decision Network offers a simple two-level view of your decisions.  The Decision Explorer enables you to see even more of a “big picture” view of your strategy.  The Roadmap enables you to visualize how your answers to each question have changed over time.  You can use the Roadmap to “fast-forward” your plans and get a jump on decisions that you will face or revisit in the future.

There’s more to the pattern

Each decision has been defined (“framed”) in a way that makes it simple to understand and address.  We’ve thought through in advance the factors (“criteria”) that most people would want to consider when making each decision.  So when you dive into a specific decision, you won’t have to think of these from scratch; just personalize and prioritize them to suit your specific circumstances.  We’ll then provide you a scratchpad on which to brainstorm new alternatives, creative answers for this decision.

Our Think it Through view is where you discover which alternative is the best fit for you and capture your rationale.  This isn’t a complex process with lots of numbers; if you can drag-and-drop with your mouse and type a few notes to yourself, you can do this.  We also provide a Compare Alternatives view that you can use to confirm your thinking or communicate the advantages of your new answer to others.

Sharing with others

Your decisions are 100% yours; private and locked away securely.  However, you may at any time choose to share your decisions with other Decision Driven® Strategy users.  You may share them with your customers or partners to collaborate on a specific decision.  If you have a group subscription, you may share them with other project teams to pass on your experience and jump-start their efforts.

Use our free trial to jump in today!