We Have, We Do, So That...a framework for going further in your business.
NEW FRAMES AND LENSES
A few years back there was a slew of videos titled “My <relation> sees color for the first time!” With a thumbnail of a protagonist surrounded by a rainbow assortment of balloons, who we are told through the caption is colorblind. This was someone’s parent, child, sibling on their special day; a birthday, an anniversary, etc. They would be handed a gift. Confused, and surrounded by family and friends, our main character would open the gift.
In the box were what looked like sunglasses. The crowd impatiently urges the recipient to put on the glasses. Then they start asking them to look at the pre-inflated balloons and asking them to name the colors. In at least one of these videos the balloons were left in their original package — how disappointing! This is where the pay-off came for the gathered family and friends and us as viewers.
It takes a minute for the person wearing the glasses to see a difference. In real-time we can watch them experiencing color in a brand new way. There is shock, there is disbelief, there is laughter, and there are almost always tears.
The glasses were a literal way for the recipient to see color in a new way. And at that moment everyone appreciated color-sightedness in a new way.
A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR BUSINESS PLANNING AND STRATEGY
This is what frameworks do. They let us see some things for the first time and other things in new ways. I absolutely love finding a new framework that allows me to view the familiar and mundane with an explosion of color. Those fresh perspectives give me energy and motivation. It’s like I’m leveling up. They inspire new ideas and directions like finding a hack or shortcuts to my usual methodology.
Exactly like the friends and family in the stories above, I want to share Relumed’s Constellation framework with you and others because we’ve seen it change the way people view their business. It might look like an ordinary pair of sunglasses, but try this on.
THREE PIECES
Our mantra is, “WE HAVE. WE DO. SO THAT.”
These three simple concepts allow us to break down business at a variety of levels for visualization, alignment, strategy, and planning. This is important for discovery and exploration. But even more important - this Constellation framework makes it simple to communicate with others. Clear communication makes adoption and execution faster.
Let me expand on this phrase a bit more, and then we’ll talk about how to use it.
WE HAVE...
...tangible and intangible resources like people, skills, relationships, experiences, perspectives, passions, beliefs, and assets. For an individual entrepreneur, you could restate this as “I Have” and focus on your personal resources. For a company, “We Have” encompasses the resources of the whole organization.
WE DO...
...incidental activities that are core to all businesses like leadership, accounting, management, marketing, sales, etc., and intentional activities that are specific to a product vs a service company or an industry. Even beyond that, there are the things that are unique to how you and your team work that make what you do magic.
SO THAT…
...you can make an impact in the world. If not the world, then on the culture, in your community, to a system, a group, or an individual. Whether it’s the purpose for your business existing or the purpose for choosing this quarter’s big project, an outcome is a piece that ties this all together.
SO THAT brings together PURPOSE, VISION, and GOALS
SO THAT starts with the premise that you can make an impact in the world. At the highest level, it helps us discover, clarify, and communicate the intent of our business. Both “what are we going to accomplish?” and “how are we going to change the world?”. Not just “what problem do we want to solve?”, but “how much of the problem do we take responsibility for solving?”. If the only thing our Constellation framework does is further the adoption of purpose as a driver for engaging customers and employees, that might be enough.
We find that “SO THAT” can be applied at many levels of an organization. Teams and individuals can use it to give purpose to this quarter’s initiatives, personal projects, and ongoing metrics. It’s such a simple and unique starting point. But it’s simplicity keeps purpose front of mind across the business.
WE DO is all about ACTIONS, STRATEGY, And TACTICS
When describing your business, it’s common to start with ‘what’ it does. And it can be easy to try to do all the things (or keep doing all the things because that’s what is done). But that also means it can be difficult to really take stock of all of the activities, initiatives, and processes that were created, perpetuated, and never questioned again.
In addition to waste, there are gaps. A heavy workload compounds our blind spots, and it’s difficult to imagine adding something new or changing directions.
In 2021, we already see that there are businesses of all types that have to pivot to succeed. Pivoting is an inevitable part of a business and businesses die when they fail to do so. A thorough exploration of “WE DO” creates space to be intentional about everything your business is doing, SO THAT you can achieve your vision.
WE HAVE includes PASSION, SKILLS, and FUNDS
Your business doesn’t run without resources. At the highest level, WE HAVE helps businesses highlight their unique strengths — the advantage you have in your market.
People are a huge part of many businesses; their skills, the culture, how engaged they are with clients. More and more businesses are recognizing that people are driving the value above and beyond the product or service itself.
Given your goals, and the work ahead, asking if you have the resources to achieve your goals before you commit leads to higher success.
HOW DO WE USE the constellation FRAMEWORK
When we facilitate business conversations, this framework is an invisible guide for filtering the conversations and visualizing them on a (digital) whiteboard or notepad. Rather than asking, “What do WE DO?,” or “What do WE HAVE?,” Relumed facilitators can ask important questions and allow our clients to simply share their thoughts and visualize key information on the fly.
Sometimes putting the Constellation framework front and center can be helpful to guide conversations. For instance, SO THAT is a good framing for imaging the ideal state of the world you want to contribute to, exploring your company’s purpose, vision statements, etc. Simon Sinek is a big influence for businesses and his “Why” fits nicely into SO THAT conversations. This holds true for WE HAVE and WE DO conversations as well.
You can use the statement as an elevator pitch, describing what makes you unique (WE HAVE), what work you do (WE DO), and the outcome or value you produce (SO THAT).
You can use the statement in project planning as well. SO THAT these goals can be met, WE DO these activities over this given time, use the specific resources WE HAVE.
HOW the framework HELPS YOUr business
We want you to consider the value in exploring your business through WE HAVE, WE DO, SO THAT, and here’s why.
This framework is robust.
These three spaces can be used to explore almost every part of your business, including leadership, strategy, and execution. It’s like having a Swiss Army knife or multi-tool in reach at all times.
This framework is simple.
Business can be complex because people and problems can be complex. That doesn’t mean that the systems used to explore, evaluate, and execute your business should be.
This framework is sticky.
It will be easy to remember and learn how to use. Whatever you discover, develop, and plan becomes easier to share and is more likely to find adoption amongst your teams.
This framework is easy to learn and we look forward to sharing more about WE HAVE, WE DO, SO THAT, and our Constellation System in future blog posts, videos, and through conversations on social.
