Background and Context

The iThink software is an excellent tool for improving the quality of a strategy. Its visual language enables people to "see" the logic of a strategy--in particular. how the pieces of the strategy "play together." Its powerful simulation capabilities then enable you to test the robustness of the strategy under a wide range of scenarios and behavioral assumptions. Using iThink, you can quickly design and sanity-check your strategic thinking--something increasingly valuable in environments that are undergoing increasingly rapid change.

The illustration is based on actual work that was done with a very well-known consulting company (here, code-named TWBC. Inc.). The firm's strategic goals were well-articulated. and each made sense when written down in a list on a piece of paper. However, when subjected to the more rigorous, dynamic scrutiny that an iThink modeling effort provides, the goals (as is too often the case) turned out to be in conflict with one another--stimulating actions that worked at cross-purposes. Efforts to achieve one goal drove the firm farther away from achieving the others. The subsequent analysis conducted with the model also pointed the way toward resolving the internal strategic inconsistencies and putting the firm back onto a strategically sound growth path.