Guidebook, Ideas, Open, Open
by Rob England

Open Strategy

Open Strategy is the application of Open principles to strategic thinking and decision-making. It treats strategy not as a fixed roadmap, but as a living system—one that evolves in response to new information, shifting contexts, and collective insight. It replaces secrecy and rigidity with transparency, collaboration, and adaptability.

In an Open organisation, strategy is not confined to the boardroom or reviewed once a year. It is emergent, shaped by what’s happening on the ground. It is collaborative, involving diverse voices across the enterprise. And it is agile, always ready to pivot when the world demands it.

Open Strategy:

  • Starts with purpose and values, not numbers

  • Focuses on problems to solve, not solutions to lock in

  • Invites insight from all levels of the organisation—not just the executive

  • Surfaces tensions, patterns, and shifts early by making work and feedback visible

  • Embraces iterative, real-time adjustments rather than rigid annual cycles

  • Aligns around outcomes and principles, not detailed blueprints

It can still include roadmaps and targets—but these are guides, not chains. Open Strategy uses tools like public OKRs, strategy-on-a-page, open retrospectives, and Advancement Workshops to ensure everyone is not just informed, but involved.

Just as Open Work and Open Management respond to complexity with humanity and adaptability, Open Strategy does the same for long-term direction. It’s strategy in flow.

Here are some principles for implementing Open Strategy:

1. Run Strategy in the Open

  • Make your strategic documents accessible to the whole organisation (except where legal or security constraints apply).

  • Use tools like public whiteboards, internal wikis, or visual dashboards to show strategic themes, priorities, and progress.

  • Provide regular updates—not just in annual reports or executive meetings.

2. Hold Advancement Workshops

  • Use facilitated big-room sessions (virtual or physical) to involve people in shaping strategy.

  • Discuss purpose, value propositions, external threats, opportunities, and success criteria.

  • Capture real insights from those doing the work—these often reveal strategic shifts earlier than executive data.

3. Use Strategy-on-a-Page

  • Avoid bulky strategic plans. Distil the strategy into one page: vision, mission, principles, strategic themes, and key outcomes.

  • Keep it dynamic. Update as insights emerge, and annotate to show learning and shifts.

4. Open the Strategic Conversation

  • Invite participation across all levels using asynchronous tools (like surveys, forums, commentable documents).

  • Use structured dialogue (like Strategic Doing, Wardley Mapping, or Liminal Thinking) to guide contributions meaningfully.

  • Actively harvest divergent views and outlier insights—they’re often where the next strategy lives.

5. Align with Outcomes, Not Outputs

  • Focus on what success looks like, not just what you will do.

  • Use OKRs or Open Indicators to create shared understanding of intent.

  • Let teams define how they contribute, rather than prescribing actions top-down.

6. Create a Cadence, Not a Cycle

  • Review and adjust strategy regularly—monthly is better than yearly.

  • Use retrospectives to reflect on what’s changed in context, capability, or intent.

  • Allow emergent strategy to surface from day-to-day work and learning.

7. Surface Tensions Early

  • Use feedback loops, peer-checking, and open reporting to detect friction or misalignment.

  • Treat these tensions as strategic signals, not operational noise.

  • Make it safe to raise challenges and question assumptions.

8. Connect Strategy to Purpose

  • Ground every strategic theme or initiative in the organisation’s just cause.

  • Ensure alignment with values and long-term intent, even when making short-term adjustments.

  • Share stories that show how strategy lives in real work.