Rapid Learning — the Ultimate Source of Advantage

In markets that are ever more competitive, dynamic, and global, the ability to learn and adapt is essential for sustained success, and increasingly, for survival. To effectively adapt, companies must excel at:

• Honest assessment — using collective conversations that matter to identify the root causes of previous successes as well as barriers that stand in the way of improved performance.
• Action and experimentation — to test and expand the boundaries of the current business and operating model.
• Reframing and re-alignment — to rapidly shift mindsets and behaviors — and realign structures and systems — in response to shifting realities.

TruePoint’s clients build the capacity for ongoing learning into their core “DNA.” We help senior leaders create public, organization-wide conversations that confront the unvarnished truth about barriers to performance. These conversations expose “iceberg issues” before they emerge later to blindside leaders — as Steak n Shake CEO Peter Dunn puts it, “I never got decked by a punch I saw coming.” (See Strategic Fitness Process for details.)

TruePoint’s clients also develop and refine their strategic stance through an iterative “launch and learn” approach. For example, quickly testing an offering in a sampling of key accounts helped one high-tech client resolve a longstanding strategic debate about market demand for a potential solution. (See Quick Win Projects for more details about this approach.) Finally, we work with clients to rapidly realign — quickly moving past arguments about formal structure and reporting relations to getting the right people working together on the right things in the right way to increase value (see Organization Design for more details).