How to create a strategic focus?

Here’s an outline of the steps I’d take to create a strategic focus in a sociocratic organization:

• First, I would give the top circle the aim to develop and maintain a “Strategic Reasoning” (SR).
• In doing this, the top circle would use the sociocratic picture forming, proposal shaping, and consent decision-making process.
• The SR would contain the organizations Vision/Mission/Aim, information on where the organization is today, what customer are saying, what competitors are doing, what’s happening in the world, a product road map (if applicable), and identified focus areas short-term (6 months).
• The SR would be updated and presented to the entire organization twice per year.
• The top circle would be responsible to address feedback provided by the entire organization.
• Each focus area would be addressed by a specific circle. It could be an existing circle, but it could also require the creation of new circles.
• These focus area circles would have the mission/aim to make decisions and take actions related to the focus area. This would mean that they, by necessity, would have both circle and operational meetings.
• Each focus area circle would present the results of their work to the top circle monthly.
• Each focus area circle would present the results of their work to the entire organization twice per year.

There are several possible modifications to these steps. For example, it could be the general circle, instead of the top circle, which would create and maintain the SR. The entire organization, and not only the top circle, could be involved in the SR consent decision-making.

Finally, what I’ve described here is not my invention! I happen to be familiar with a method for creating strategic focus which I have written about in a previous blog post (in Swedish). What I’ve done is trying to adapt the method to a sociocratic organization.