2. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GapAnalysis TM A LearningByte TM from Putting Strategy to WorkPutting Strategy to Work by dr_eddie_obeng@pentaclethevbs.com PLEASE VIEW THIS AS A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

3. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved The beaten path is the safest...but the traffic is terrible! Jeff Taylor ~80% of projects are either fixing activities which will not solve the problem, are incomplete or involve greater effort than the benefit which they will generate If a problem has more than one cause it will not be easily understood or fixed. The problems which keep us awake are rarely the underlying problems simply the symptoms we have discussed time and time again.

4. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved Gap Analysis is the tool you use to convince people to address the underlying problems or issues at the start of a project or chunk of change. We use the word ‘gap’ and not ‘problem’ or ‘issue’ to encourage judgement free lateral thinking

5. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 1. Interview/ discuss the future situation or state with key stakeholders. Once that is fully understood discuss the current situation with them. The objective is to create 3/4 ways of describing the difference (GAP) between the future state and the current state.

6. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 2. Organise a workshop of the key stakeholders explain to them that you have listened to comments about the future state and the current state and have discovered some Gaps. (don’t use the word problem or issue) Explain that you have tried to word the Gap in a number of different ways. On the flipchart offer a number of alternative wordings for the Gap you have identified

7. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 3. Once your stakeholders have agreed on a form of words for the gap white the Gap down in the middle of your flipchart. And hand out post-its

8. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GAP:

9. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 4.a Ask the stakeholders to write down their views and opinions on what they anticipate will happen if the gap is NOT fixed.

10. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GAP: IMPLICATIONS If not fixed

11. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 4.b Ask the stakeholders to write down their views and opinions on what they anticipate will happen if the gap is NOT fixed. ONE point per post-it. (one point per person) Ask them to write down financial numbers if they know them - wherever relevant

12. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GAP: IMPLICATIONS If not fixed

13. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 5. Collect the post-its and put them on the flip chart. Try to group the post-its so that similar topics are together. Once you have collected all the post-its summarise for the stakeholders what the grouped topics are.

14. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GAP: IMPLICATIONS If not fixed

15. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 6. Repeat the process, this time asking what will happen if it is fixed.

16. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GAP: IMPLICATIONS If not fixed If fixed

17. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 7. Summarise the situation and use the data collected to create a business case

18. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 7. Now repeat the process but this time asking the stakeholders to give you their thoughts on ‘Why the gap hasn’t been closed yet?’

19. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GAP: IMPLICATIONS If not fixed If fixed Why the gap hasn’t been closed yet? Why not fixed yet?

20. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 8. Group the causes and use them to create the scope of the project. This gives you a view of the full areas of change the project will need to address in order to successfully address the gap

21. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 9. For the key groups of causes carry out a StickyStep TM planning session to give you an immediate action plan.

22. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 10. Here’s a quick example...

23. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved

25. … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES)

26. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES) Our level of innovation is too low

27. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES) Our level of innovation is too low Profits will fall by ~14% Sales decline will continue 5%p.a trend We’ll get bought up Competitor products will look better than ours We will continue to have few new products in the market

28. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES) Our level of innovation is too low Profits will fall by ~14% Sales decline will continue 5%p.a trend We’ll get bought up Competitor products will look better than ours We will continue to have few new products in the market Some of our key people will be diverted from D2D business Customer satisfaction will increase Our revenues will increase by about 1% Our marketing budget may be overspent (10%) We will have some products people want to buy Profits will fall this year (3%) & rise next year (2%)

29. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES) Our level of innovation is too low Profits will fall by ~14% Sales decline will continue 5%p.a trend We’ll get bought up Competitor products will look better than ours We will continue to have few new products in the market Our People don’t know it’s required of them People are scared of failure The hierarchy doesn’t allow you to pursue any idea which isn’t your bosses Our People try to bring all the skills required themselves (no partners) Our People don’t know where to look for stimuli Some of our key people will be diverted from D2D business Customer satisfaction will increase Our revenues will increase by about 1% Our marketing budget may be overspent (10%) We will have some products people want to buy Profits will fall this year (3%) & rise next year (2%) There is no easy way of checking if an innovation is any good Our People have seen other’s ridiculed for trying to lead innovation We kill innovation on a whim

30. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES) Our level of innovation is too low Profits will fall by ~14% Sales decline will continue 5%p.a trend We’ll get bought up Competitor products will look better than ours We will continue to have few new products in the market Our People don’t know it’s required of them People are scared of failure The hierarchy doesn’t allow you to pursue any idea which isn’t your bosses Our People try to bring all the skills required themselves (no partners) Our People don’t know where to look for stimuli Some of our key people will be diverted from D2D business Customer satisfaction will increase Our revenues will increase by about 1% Our marketing budget may be overspent (10%) We will have some products people want to buy Profits will fall this year (3%) & rise next year (2%) There is no easy way of checking if an innovation is any good Our People have seen other’s ridiculed for trying to lead innovation We kill innovation on a whim

31. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved … IF FIXED...…IF NOT FIXED... WHY NOT FIXED YET? (POSSIBLE CAUSES) Our level of innovation is too low Profits will fall by ~14% Sales decline will continue 5%p.a trend We’ll get bought up Competitor products will look better than ours We will continue to have few new products in the market Our People don’t know it’s required of them People are scared of failure The hierarchy doesn’t allow you to pursue any idea which isn’t your bosses Our People try to bring all the skills required themselves (no partners) Our People don’t know where to look for stimuli Some of our key people will be diverted from D2D business Customer satisfaction will increase Our revenues will increase by about 1% Our marketing budget may be overspent (10%) We will have some products people want to buy Profits will fall this year (3%) & rise next year (2%) There is no easy way of checking if an innovation is any good Our People have seen other’s ridiculed for trying to lead innovation We kill innovation on a whim

32. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved Planning the un-plannable StickySteps TM From the book All Change!All Change!

33. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved IN ORDER TO HAVE … ( VERB ) ……. WE MUST HAVE…( VERB ) …….

34. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved IN ORDER TO HAVE … ( VERB ) ……. WE MUST HAVE…( VERB ) ……. Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good

35. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved WHAT? IN ORDER TO HAVE … ( VERB ) ……. WE MUST HAVE…( VERB ) ……. Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good Trained up/ informed people on how to use the checks Found a way to make the criteria readily available Worked out our criteria for a good innovation Established the nature/ scale required to meet strategy

36. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved 1. Earlyishlateish - normal 2. Easyhardcredibility 3. Engaging key stakeholdersmixedinvolvement WHAT? IN ORDER TO HAVE … ( VERB ) ……. WE MUST HAVE…( VERB ) ……. Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good Trained up/ informed people on how to use the checks Found a way to make the criteria readily available Worked out our criteria for a good innovation Established the nature/ scale required to meet strategy Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Trained up/ informed people on how to use the checks Found a way to make the criteria readily available Worked out our criteria for a good innovation Established the nature/ scale required to meet strategy Sequence:

37. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved ‘Park out of the way’ Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Trained up/ informed people on how to use the checks Found a way to make the criteria readily available Worked out our criteria for a good innovation Established the nature/ scale required to meet strategy IN ORDER TO HAVE … ( VERB ) ……. WE MUST HAVE…( VERB ) ……. Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good interviewed people associated with past innovations interviewed customers as to what we’ve done in past Studied how investment/ returns happened T T T T Task level Key

38. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved WEEK 1WEEK 2 WEEKS 3/ 4 MONTH 2 MONTH 3QUARTER 2 NOW SOON LATER WHO

39. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved WHOWEEK 1WEEK 2 WEEKS 3/ 4 MONTH 2 MONTH 3QUARTER 2 NOW SOON LATER interviewed people associated with past innovations interviewed customers as to what we’ve done in past Studied how investment/ returns happened T T T Jo Freda Marcel Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good

40. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved WEEK 1WEEK 2 WEEKS 3/ 4 MONTH 2 MONTH 3QUARTER 2 NOW SOON LATER interviewed people associated with past innovations interviewed customers as to what we’ve done in past Studied how investment/ returns happened T T T Jo (3days) Freda (4days) Marcel (2days) Trained up/ informed people on how to use the checks Found a way to make the criteria readily available Worked out our criteria for a good innovation Established the nature/ scale required to meet strategy Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Me (2days) Team (4days) Team (est. 14days) Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good WHO

41. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved WHOWEEK 1WEEK 2 WEEKS 3/ 4 MONTH 2 MONTH 3QUARTER 2 NOW SOON LATER interviewed people associated with past innovations interviewed customers as to what we’ve done in past Studied how investment/ returns happened T T T Jo Freda Marcel Trained up/ informed people on how to use the checks Found a way to make the criteria readily available Worked out our criteria for a good innovation Established the nature/ scale required to meet strategy Reviewed what made a good innovation in the past Me Team Created an easy way of checking if an innovation is any good

42. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved Planning the un-plannable StickySteps TM From the book All Change!All Change!

43. Copyright Eddie Obeng 1993 – 2004 All rights reserved GapAnalysis TM A LearningByte TM from Putting Strategy to WorkPutting Strategy to Work by dr_eddie_obeng@pentaclethevbs.com http://www.pentaclethevbs.com