Strategy advice

We work with organisations to develop strategies which give clear direction and are underpinned by innovation, evidence and a culture that doesn’t eat strategy for breakfast.

‘Strategy’ has a lot to answer for. So often it is developed in a way no one engages with, to produce a document no one reads and leads to changes no one can point to. If it doesn’t include the organisational context, culture and capability, all it produces is a long list of hopes and aspirations that don’t mean anything to anyone.

At Kaleidoscope we offer a different approach, capable of producing strategies which breathe life into an organisation. We think of strategy as the process of engaging your organisation to make deliberate, and sometimes hard, choices to determine where you’re going, why you are going there and how you’re going to get there.

We use strategy development not just to get to the answers, for us there is huge value, often untapped, in the process itself. We use creative ways to involve staff, stakeholders and communities in a meaningful way.  The end result is a strategy which reconnects them to an organisation’s purpose and leads to deliberate, significant and sustained improvement.

Our services

We work alongside clients to deliver all aspects of a strategy development process.

• Activating and aligning Board and Executive teams to create a shared understanding of what ‘Strategy’ means for your organisation. Determining what you want to achieve from the process and the commitments and choices you need to make to get there.
• Rigorous research and fresh perspectives. We bring a wide range of academic theory and industry (healthcare and beyond) experiences to inform our approach. We draw on current evidence and analysis to help you assess options, solve problems and make robust decisions.
• Engaging all relevant staff, users, communities, and stakeholders. We use digital and face-to-face methods to generate insights, ideas and commitments to action from as wide a range of voices as possible. We employ citizen science approaches such as citizen assemblies to model how distributed leadership and trust in staff can generate a strategy that is owned by all.
• Developing actionable plans that turn strategy into reality. Too much strategy is ‘fluff’ – a long list of what is going to happen but entirely absent of why and how it will be done. We like warm words and big dreams, but we prefer clear actions and accountability.
• Evaluation. We will work with you, from the outset, to establish a robust approach to evaluating the effectiveness of both the strategy design process and the changes the strategy was designed to deliver.
• Adaptability and resilience. We start from the premise that change will happen – both planned and unplanned. Therefore we work with you to ensure that your strategy provides enough direction to establish clarity and confidence but not so much as it constrains an organisation and its people from being ready and able to adapt.

Our experience

We have supported strategy development processes across health and care. Including:

• Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust: we are currently working with the leadership team and staff at Oxleas to refresh their strategy and create a sense of shared purpose but also a culture of staff empowerment and kindness. This has involved engaging thousands of staff and service users across a nine-month period, starting with a clear understanding of what makes staff proud to work for the organisation and how they can be supported to deliver high quality care. The project has included a range of face-to-face workshops, digital events, surveys, supporting team discussions, and placing mini-post boxes across Oxleas’ estate of over 100 buildings.
• Stroke Association: we designed and delivered a citizen science approach to support the development of their new organisational strategy. Designed to be deliberately challenging for the organisation the output included staff who owned a relevant, ambitious strategy for the organisation. Running across a year, this complex programme of work included working in partnership with the Association’s Executive Team, Trustees and staff across the organisation (particularly communications), running a diverse range of engagement events, leading the programme evaluation and producing the final report.
• We have also run strategy processes with clients including supporting the direction and strategy for the Rethinking Medicine movement, funded by NHS England; and supporting the Governing Body for the new clinical commissioning group for south east London to develop shared identity and purpose.

What our clients say

“The inclusive and questioning process we went through, facilitated by Kaleidoscope, proved both liberating – and challenging – to accepted norms of hierarchical leadership. It gave people the opportunity to choose for themselves how they engaged and contributed.”

Hilary Reynolds CBE, Executive Director for Strategy and Research, The Stroke Association

“We could not have delivered our programme without Kaleidoscope. They bring a combination of in-depth knowledge of health and care, forensic thinking, creativity and fun.”

Professor Alf Collins, Clinical Director for Personalised Care, NHS England

Could we help you?

Do you need support to develop strategy for your organisation in a way which engages and enthuses your staff and communities? Get in touch to discuss how we can help you.