Strategy retreat · OKR Consultants
Strategy retreat: two days from an honest look at reality to the few critical battles that matter
In our strategy retreat your leadership team sees clearly where the company stands, opens up new perspectives and chooses the few critical battles that decide the next year – each with one owner, a time to victory and OKRs for the first 90 days.
At a glance
Why a strategy retreat
Five questions the strategy retreat answers
Good leadership teams rarely lack ideas. What they need is a shared picture, a short list of moves that really matter and the commitment to see them through. Here is how the two days get you there.
The process on one page
The leadership strategy retreat in six steps
Day one opens the view and ends with a few clear choices. Day two turns those choices into owners, OKRs and a rhythm.
Prep session
Your strategy, your numbers and the decisions the retreat must make
Face reality
Results, customers, competitors and running initiatives on the wall
Open perspectives
New views on the future, built with special LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® bricks
Pick the critical few
Three to five battles that decide the next year, plus a stop list
Commit the team
One owner, a team and resources for every battle
Set 90-day OKRs
A battle roadmap with a time to victory and measurable first wins
Set the rhythm
Monthly battle reviews and a reset check every 90 days
Keep the momentum
On request we facilitate the reviews and the first reset check
You leave with an honest shared picture, three to five critical battles with one owner and a time to victory each, a stop list that frees capacity, company-level OKRs for the next 90 days and a strategy on one page for the whole company.
The core tool
Critical battles, not a long list of priorities
Every initiative is placed by its impact on the strategy and by the effort and leadership attention it needs. Only the big moves that need the whole leadership team become critical battles – three to five, never more.
Quick wins
High impact · low effort
Someone in the line simply gets them done, without a place on the leadership agenda.
Critical battles
High impact · high effort
The leadership team owns them: one owner each, a time to victory and a first win within 90 days.
Routine
Low impact · low effort
Delegated and kept running, so they never crowd out the big moves.
Not now
Low impact · high effort
The stop list. It frees exactly the people and budget the battles need.
What to expect
The two days of the strategy retreat, step by step
A proposed flow that we tailor together in the prep session to your strategy, your numbers and your team – including what success after the retreat means for you.
The first day
See and choose
From an honest picture and new perspectives to the critical battlesPurpose, decision rights, ground rules
What the retreat must decide, who gives input and who makes the final call, and how the team works together for two days.
Result: a clear contract for the retreat.
1 · Face reality
Results, customer signals, competitors and every initiative already running go on the wall. Everyone writes first, then the team compares notes and names what no longer works.
Result: one honest picture of where you stand.
2 · Open perspectives
Using special LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® bricks, each leader builds a model of the company in three years and of the forces around it, then explains it to the others. Thinking with the hands brings out ideas and concerns that rarely surface around a table.
Result: new perspectives and a shared ambition in one sentence.
3 · Pick the critical few
Every initiative lands on the battle priority matrix by impact and by the effort and leadership attention it needs. Quick wins go to the line, the few big moves compete for no more than five places, and the team agrees what to stop.
Result: three to five critical battles and a stop list.
Let it settle
Dinner together, no slides. A night between choosing and committing is part of the design.
Result: clear heads for day two.
The second day
Commit and launch
From choices to owners, OKRs and a rhythmOvernight check
Does each battle still feel right after a night’s sleep? Last doubts are put on the table now, not in the corridor next month.
Result: choices that hold.
4 · Commit the team
Each battle gets one owner, a cross-functional team and the resources it needs, partly freed by the stop list. A candid round checks whether every leader is really behind each battle.
Result: owners, resources and real commitment.
5 · Battle roadmap and 90-day OKRs
For each battle the team sets a time to victory, milestones and a first visible win within 90 days, then turns it into one objective with measurable key results.
Result: company-level OKRs for the next 90 days.
6 · Set the rhythm
Monthly battle reviews, a visible scoreboard and a reset check every 90 days go into the calendar before anyone leaves.
Result: a rhythm that keeps the battles moving.
Strategy on a page
Ambition, the critical battles, owners, OKRs and the stop list on one page, plus the message for the wider company.
Result: a story every leader tells the same way.
LEGO® and SERIOUS PLAY® are trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorise or endorse this offer.
What you take home
A battle roadmap and your strategy on one page
Two documents leave the room with you. The battle roadmap shows who wins what and by when. The strategy on a page connects your ambition, the critical battles and the OKRs for the next 90 days – ready to share with the whole company.
Preparation
Well prepared, so the retreat starts with the real issues
What we do
- Run a one-hour prep session with you and the people who decide
- Send a short pre-survey to every member of the leadership team
- Turn your numbers into a compact fact base for day one
- Bring all materials, including the special LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® bricks
- Facilitate both days and capture every decision in the room
What we need from you
- Your current strategy, plan or priorities, however rough
- Key figures and the list of initiatives already running
- About 20 minutes per leader for the pre-survey
- A room with daylight and plenty of wall space
- Clarity on who makes the final call when views differ
Outcomes
What your leadership team takes home
Inspired by the work of Peter Killing, Thomas Malnight and Tracey Keys on focusing leadership teams on a few critical priorities, and by Andy Grove and John Doerr on Objectives and Key Results. Our own facilitation format, not affiliated with the authors or their publishers.
Your facilitator
Joern Steinz (MBA)
Joern has facilitated more than 1.000 workshops since 2014 and has supported companies with OKRs since 2019, in around 60 engagements. Before that he worked at Accenture and in corporate development at XING and the freenet Group, and he holds an MBA from EADA Business School in Barcelona.
He is at his best when a leadership team has to turn many good ideas into a few clear battles, measurable OKRs and a rhythm that lasts.
Selected clients
FAQ
Questions about the strategy retreat
What is a strategy retreat?
Two days away from daily business in which the leadership team takes an honest look at reality, chooses the few critical battles that decide the next year and commits to owners, OKRs and a rhythm that keeps them moving.
What is the difference between a critical battle and a quick win?
A quick win has high impact and needs little effort, so one person in the line simply gets it done. A critical battle also has high impact but takes months and needs the whole leadership team. That is why there are no more than five, each with one owner and a time to victory.
Why do you work with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® bricks?
Because building a model and explaining it gets every leader to speak, not just the loudest ones. Assumptions about the future become visible and can be discussed openly. No prior experience is needed, and the bricks are used for one focused part of day one.
Who should take part, and in which language?
The leadership team, usually five to ten people, including the person who makes the final call. We facilitate in English or German, at your site or an offsite venue anywhere in Europe.
What happens after the retreat?
Owners take their battle to their teams, the first monthly battle review takes place within a few weeks and the reset check follows after 90 days. If execution is your main concern, see our strategy execution workshop.
Can the retreat also focus on long-term choices?
Yes. If the team first needs to decide where to grow across the core business, new growth engines and longer-term bets, we adapt the first day. More on that format under strategic planning meeting facilitation.
Let’s talk
Let’s plan your strategy retreat
Tell us about your leadership team and what should be different afterwards. In 30 minutes we find out whether this format fits.
Book a 30-minute callJoern Steinz · hello@okr-consultants.com · 0049 175 566 4329