North Star Framework

Direction and measures

We help your whole leadership team point the same way, with the measures to prove it.

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Where this sits
Direction and measures Operating model Information management Process design Adoption (Adopt360)

What this service covers

Everyone assumes the direction is agreed. Then you get the leadership team in a room and ask where the business is heading and why. The answers don’t match. That gap is what this service closes. One clear destination the leaders sign up to and a few honest measures that tell you whether you’re getting closer.

It’s done with your leaders, not around them. It sets the North Star and the measures that matter, nothing else.

Not this service
  • How the business is set up to get there. That’s the operating model service.
  • Turning it into goals for every team. A separate job.
  • Keeping everyone pulling the same way as things change. That is Adopt360.
You’re probably here if
You can’t say whether last quarter went well, because no one agreed what good looks like.
Every team is busy and delivering, yet the business as a whole isn’t moving.
The strategy exists on a slide, but ask around and most people could not tell you what it is.

How we deliver it

Four stages, from assumed agreement to a direction people share.

01
Surface
A clear look at where the leadership group stands and how far the direction is genuinely shared.
02
Set
The destination itself. Vision, the WHY, guiding principles and the goals that matter.
03
Measure
Top-level measures built on our VECTOR methodology, the risks to the direction and a baseline of where you stand today.
04
Own
Sign-up across the governance group, accountability for the North Star and a rhythm for revisiting it when the WHY moves.
The VECTOR methodology · step 03, Measure
The VECTOR methodology: Vision-aligned, Evaluable, Clear, Trackable, Outcome-driven, Responsive

Our own way of grading a measure, built for strategy that keeps moving where SMART goals and OKRs fall short. A measure only counts if it stands up to all six. More on VECTOR →

What you walk away with

One direction, genuinely agreed

Not just the North Star but the why and the principles behind it, owned by the whole leadership group.

Measures worth tracking

A few top-level measures, shaped by our VECTOR methodology, so you can see whether you’re getting closer.

A shared why, not just a what

Everyone knows where you’re going and why it matters, which makes every call below it easier.

Work and writing from this service

See everything from this service →
Case study
One operating model out of two merged businesses
Two merged businesses looked like one company on paper. We designed the model that makes it true in practice.
Read →
Lessons learned
You don’t know what you don’t know. Why open first is worth the risk.
Sometimes the most valuable ideas don’t come from what you need. They come from what you didn’t even know was out there
Read →
Founder insight
VECTOR - A Smarter Way to Track Strategic Goals
SMART goals and OKRs have their place. They also break the moment strategy changes.
Read →

Not sure this is where you should start?

That’s what the Diagnostic is for. Fifteen minutes and you leave knowing your next step. Or just talk to us.

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