A Simple Framework: How Any Leader Can Create Value

I love this piece in Strategy+Business: “A CEO Guide to Today’s Value Creation Ecosystem.”

The title is wonky, but it has colorful pictures. So my eye was won. Thankfully. Because said “value creation ecosystem” has become a valuable tool for me in the quest for helping leaders define their versions of the future of work (FOW).

The challenge at the heart of FOW is that - by definition - it’s unknowable.

It’s easy to get lost in the spin of all we can’t predict; the totality of questions we can’t answer.

But what if we focused instead on a single question we can answer?

How will we create value as we head into the FOW?

Enter the very colorful Value Creation Ecosystem

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The enterprise value framework is designed to help CEOs define how their organizations will create value. It’s comprised of 3 components:

1. Financial productivity: how financial investments are allocated

2. Resilience: how we respond to shifts and surprises

3. Society: how our decisions impact citizens and stakeholders around us

As I read the article though, my mind kept asking “why can’t any leader at any altitude use this framework to define the value their team will deliver?”

So I boiled each pillar down to its essence, and granted myself the poetic license to reframe the ecosystem this way:

1. Financial productivity: Priorities. Where we invest our time, focus, and energy.

2. Resilience: Agility. How we monitor and respond to the unexpected

3. Society: Impact. How our choices affect our teams and internal clients

I’m starting to use this framework with various leaders to focus their FOW-related thinking - regardless of how high up on the org chart they sit.

“We don’t have to figure it all out today,” I tell them. “But let’s focus on answering some targeted questions to help guide us.”

1. Priorities:

  • What projects or opportunities should command our time and attention?
  • Who must we collaborate with in order to deliver?
  • Where are the efficiencies in achieving these priorities?
  • What conditions will enable us to maximize the quality of our outputs?

2. Agility:

  • How can we assess regularly how our projects are going?
  • How can we quickly identify the best solution to a challenge as it arises?
  • How can we experiment as we go to find new ways of delivering?

3. Impact:

  • What strategies – formal and informal – can we tap to see how our work is being experienced by each other and our internal partners?
  • What key performance indicators should we watch for?
  • How can we maintain an open and ongoing dialog with our stakeholders so feedback is always inbound?
  • How can we honor our commitment to reflect on and respond to feedback we receive?

This is where we are beginning our FOW conversations. And just giving leaders a sense of scope and direction – pulling them out of the spin – is enhancing the quality of their outputs.

So, wherever you sit in your organization – how might you leverage this framework in defining with your team how you’ll create value moving forward?

Related: I Don't Do Reorgs. I Do This Instead.