Core Pillars
Capabilities
Select pillar and a category to view details.
Planning & Forecasting // Long-Range Planning
Pillar Objective: Determine where we’re trying to go, where we’re currently headed, and what we need to do about it.
Long-Range Planning
- Translate strategic direction into multi-year financials
- Establish an explicit set of assumptions (high-level… LRP is not a 3 year budget)
- Build high-level investment & initiative plans, including returns
- Avoid: Overly aspirational plans & financials that are disconnected from strategy and actions
Planning & Forecasting // Annual Operating Planning (The Commitment)
Pillar Objective: Determine where we’re trying to go, where we’re currently headed, and what we need to do about it.
Annual Operating Planning (The Commitment)
- Translate strategic objects to detailed plans, tying targets to owners and owners to drivers (accountability)
- Interrogate tops-down targets vs bottoms-up build (find truth + a responsible plan)
- Identify risks, opportunities, and decision thresholds
- Consider market context: macro factors, competitors, etc
Planning & Forecasting // Forecasting (Rolling View Of Reality)
Pillar Objective: Determine where we’re trying to go, where we’re currently headed, and what we need to do about it.
Forecasting (Rolling View Of Reality)
- Implement driver-based forecasts with explicit assumptions & ownership
- Align forecasting assumptions with IBP (where applicable)
- Get clear on what changed, why, and what it means (vs commitments)
- Maintain risks, opportunities, and actions
- Forecast accuracy tracking by owner/area
- Avoid: Disconnects from IBP and forecasting to forecast (we forecast to affect the future)
Planning & Forecasting // Scenario Planning & Tradeoffs
Pillar Objective: Determine where we’re trying to go, where we’re currently headed, and what we need to do about it.
Scenario Planning & Tradeoffs
- Perform scenario planning and sensitivity analysis (what if? + so what?)
- Define & surface trade-offs (growth vs margin, service vs inventory, etc)
- Build models to support tradeoff decision-making
Performance Management & Insights // Performance Visibility
Pillar Objective: Understand what happened, why, and drive action with accountable owners.
Performance Visibility
- Maintain trended scorecards with owners, targets, and actuals
- Create standard reporting views (reporting package)
- Design dashboards to answer key questions (not “show everything)
Performance Management & Insights // Root Cause & Driver Analytics
Pillar Objective: Understand what happened, why, and drive action with accountable owners.
Root Cause & Driver Analytics
- Analyze variances & build waterfalls / bridges (be mindful of external intelligence for context)
- Create “driver trees” for key performance areas
- Use Pareto to focus attention where it matters
Performance Management & Insights // KPI Definitions & Accountability
Pillar Objective: Understand what happened, why, and drive action with accountable owners.
KPI Definitions & Accountability
- Create standardized KPI definitions (one calculation) and maintain a dictionary
- Establish leading & lagging KPI pairs for key outcomes
- Align KPI reporting with ownership
Performance Management & Insights // Operating Rhythms & Governance
Pillar Objective: Understand what happened, why, and drive action with accountable owners.
Operating Rhythms & Governance
- Establish business rhythms (MBR, QBR, etc) with a clear purpose (”leader’s intent”)
- Run meetings to drive outcomes (decisions, actions, owners, due dates)
- Maintain risks, opportunities, and an action log
Decision Support & Business Influence // Business Partnering
Pillar Objective: Translate Insight Into Action
Business Partnering
- Opportunity hunting: proactive recommendations to increase growth, profitability, cash, etc
- Translate financial data into actionable insights
- Support on projects and across all other areas of this framework
Decision Support & Business Influence // Business Storytelling
Pillar Objective: Translate Insight Into Action
Business Storytelling
- Craft clear narratives: what matters, what changed, what we recommend, decisions needed
- Build executive-ready materials
- Establish truth-teller / truth-seeker expectations
Decision Support & Business Influence // Investment & Initiative Decision Support
Pillar Objective: Translate Insight Into Action
Investment & Initiative Decision Support
- Enforce / use standard business case models (ROI / NPV payback, risks, sensitivity, dependencies & feasibility)
- Force “what must be true for this to work?” framing
- Create post-decision tracking mechanisms (ongoing & post-mortem)
Decision Support & Business Influence // Cross-Functional Partnership
Pillar Objective: Translate Insight Into Action
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Clarify partnership model (who owns what, who approves what, where does we play?)
- Design forums for where decision making actually occurs
- Connect initiatives across functions (no siloed execution)
Operating Infrastructure // Systems & Tooling
Pillar Objective: Build a system to support value delivery
Systems & Tooling
- Maintain planning / consolidation systems
- Implement BI tools and dashboards that are governed and trusted (self-service where possible)
- Develop an AI & Automation roadmap (reduce manual work and fragile workflows)
Operating Infrastructure // Process Design & Standardization
Pillar Objective: Build a system to support value delivery
Process Design & Standardization
- Establish calendar discipline with clear deadlines
- Build standard templates with clear expectations
- Define governance standards: who signs off, on what, and when
Operating Infrastructure // Data Governance (Depending On Org Structure)
Pillar Objective: Build a system to support value delivery
Data Governance (Depending On Org Structure)
- Establish single sources of truth, data owners, and master data management
- Monitor data quality
- Develop metric definitions dictionary
Operating Infrastructure // Knowledge Management
Pillar Objective: Build a system to support value delivery
Knowledge Management
- Implement a model repository + version control discipline
- Maintain an assumptions library (what was assumed, when, and why)
- Keep an narrative / commentary archive
- Maintain onboarding documentation and SOP’s to reduce ramp time
Team & Talent Development // Role Clarity
Pillar Objective: Build a team that improves every year.
Role Clarity
- Implement a RACI (or similar) for recurring processes and key deliverables
- Define the “business partner” role explicitly (what do they support, what drivers do they own)
Team & Talent Development // Capability Building
Pillar Objective: Build a team that improves every year.
Capability Building
- Develop domain skills: modeling, forecasting, variance analysis
- Develop technical skills: system knowledge, AI tools, BI tools, automation tools, legacy tools (excel, etc)
- Develop business acumen: understanding operational drivers
- Develop communication skills: executive narrative + stakeholder influence
- Create formal skill matrix: current state vs required future state
Team & Talent Development // Performance & Culture
Pillar Objective: Build a team that improves every year.
Performance & Culture
- Establish high standards, but with psychological safety
- Culture of curiosity, accountability (own outcomes, not activity), and truth telling
- Run coaching rhythms (regular 1:1’s, live feedback, post-mortems)
- Implement succession planning for key roles