Marine Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM)
Implementation Workshop
Building a Strategy Roadmap™
What is a Strategy Roadmap™?
A Strategy Roadmap™ is the tangible product of an outcome mapping process. It is an explicit
visualization of strategy on a page. The map is generally read from right to left, where:
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The intended end goals (the strategic intents) are located at the far right-hand side of the map
High-level strategic outcomes that support achieving the end goal are directly linked to it
Clusters of actions and enabling outcomes highlighted in the map represent major strategic
thrusts that support achievement of the overall strategy, or capabilities that need to be either
created or enhanced to successfully implement it
The right-hand side of the map may be more or less detailed, depending on the context in which the
map was created. Conceptually, there is a dividing line in the map between the left- and the right-hand
side. To the left of this line, stakeholders have control over the actions they take and the resulting
outcomes. To the right lies the broader system within which a complex challenge is being addressed.
Actions on the left-hand side (LHS) have consequences on the right-hand side (RHS), but the behaviour
of the system cannot be uniquely attributed to these actions.
Here is an example of a Strategy Roadmap™ to illustrate what they can look like.
Example: Alberta’s Land-Use Framework Knowledge Network
The Strategy Roadmap™: This one has a distinct LHS
and RHS. Eight (8) capacity areas emerged from the
conversation with stakeholders: A large Knowledge
Provision capability area comprising New Knowledge
Creation, Acquisition of Existing Knowledge, Knowledge
Mobilization, Modeling, Best Practices and Experience
and Access and Transparency. The other capability areas
were Land-use System Capability Building and Network
Credibility and Performance.
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The Right Hand Side (RHS)
The Middle
Capability – “Modeling" – on the LHS (part of the “Capability System”)
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Where have Strategy Roadmaps™ been developed?
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*City of Wetaskiwin – strategy for economic and community development
City of Calgary – strategy and business case for managing and sharing geographic information
across all city departments
Enmax Power – strategy for business transformation in its wholesale services organization
*Oil Sands Research Information Network – mandate and strategy for a new Alberta
Environment-funded organization at the University of Alberta, focused on Oil Sands mining
reclamation, the environmental effects of oil sands development and related research, policy
and practice;
*ConocoPhillips – climate change strategy, developed for ConocoPhillips Canada and now
adopted globally by the U.S. parent company
Alberta Advanced Education and Technology–Life Sciences – innovation strategy and
performance measurement framework for three Alberta Government-funded research
institutes: agriculture, forestry and life sciences
*Canadian Water Network NCE, a Canadian Networks Centre of Excellence, – national water
science, research and technology transfer strategy and performance measurement framework
University of Alberta, Department of Occupational Therapy – strategy and performance
measurement framework for excellence in research and teaching
*Central Local Health Integration Network - Ontario – strategy for health system integration
and patient-centered care for a health region in Toronto
*Alberta Advanced Education and Technology / Govt of Alberta – strategy for a knowledge
network and community of practice to support the new Alberta Land Use Framework
Alberta Transportation – strategy and business case for transportation information
management
Calgary Rotary Club – strategy for community service
* Indicates Strategy Roadmaps™ that can be seen at this workshop.
Why would a Strategy Roadmap™ be helpful to implementing Marine
Ecosystem-Based Management?
The process of “outcome mapping” engages stakeholders in thinking deeply about a challenge where
they need to take collective action. The first step is to clearly articulate the intended final outcome,
since this creates a laser-like focus on what is to be achieved. The end goal may or may not be well
understood or agreed to by stakeholders at the outset, so attention is focused from the start on
strategic intentions. At the City of Wetaskiwin, the targeted final outcome was: “Wetaskiwin provides
economic growth, a high quality of life, and advantages for future generations.” For a health region in
Ontario the targeted final outcome was: “Caring communities, healthier people and health system
sustainability”. For Marine Ecosystem-based Management a number of final outcomes have been
stated. Which one will give us the laser-like focus we will need to ensure success – what DOES success
look like?
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There are many risks to success and reasons why strategies fail as shown in the following figure.
A Strategy Roadmap™ provides a strong foundation for successful implementation of a strategy. Many
strategies fail due to a variety of risks, including:
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Fragmented vision (Do we know what we are trying to accomplish?)
Poor strategic alignment (Are we doing what we need to do to get there?)
Poorly defined outcomes (How do we define success?)
Incomplete sponsorship (Is there strong leadership?)
Weak commitment (Are stakeholders committed?)
Poorly defined roles (Does everyone know what they need to do?)
Ineffective program management (Are we getting the intended results?)
By bringing clarity to strategic goals and concretely identifying the actions and outcomes required to
achieve them, outcome mapping helps to address these risks.
The process of outcome mapping helps us to “find” together and articulate as clearly as possible our
shared vision. The co-creative process and the resulting roadmap help to:
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communicate the logic and rationale for getting results
show how each action contributes to outcomes;
identify the required “necessary and sufficient” actions to achieve the outcomes
surfaces key assumptions
provides an effective way of communicating with stakeholders showing your entire collective
intention and the necessary actions on one page (admittedly sometimes a big page)
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The process of outcome mapping helps to increase the alignment of existing and proposed projects,
programs and initiatives by:
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ensuring that actions produce outcomes that are aligned with strategic objectives
providing a high-level view of the required change
identifying targeted results
explicitly linking actions to outcomes
The process of outcome mapping helps stakeholders to focus on results in the form of well-defined
outcomes by:
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clarifying expected strategic outcomes
identifying specific outcome streams
providing a rational basis for establishing metrics to measure the achievement of results
almost automatically creates an action plan for implementation that has a much higher
likelihood of delivering what is needed
The resulting Strategy Roadmap™ helps to address resource, support, accountability, responsibility and
commitment needs by:
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showing the full scope of required activity; and
surfacing resource and support issues and assumptions
establishing a process for engagement and buy-in at all levels
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defining accountability and responsibility for actions and outcomes in a measurable way
The resulting Strategy Roadmap™ provides a comprehensive framework for the effective management
of collaborative projects, programs and initiatives by:
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providing an action plan for executing the strategy and a framework for monitoring and
measuring results
showing the complete scope and effort required to implement the entire strategy and subsets of
the strategy
depicts the core capabilities that are need to implement the strategy successfully
identifying sources of risk and defining mitigating actions
documenting major assumptions that may impact the successful delivery of the strategy
showing the “downstream” impact of issues encountered during delivery
The Strategy Roadmap™ Creates a Bridge between Planning and Execution
The map creates a bridge between planning and execution: encouraging clear thinking when developing
strategy, and providing a framework that can be used during implementation to clarify roles and
responsibilities and to assign accountability, assign resources, set priorities, assess risk, monitor
progress, and measure performance.
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David Forrest, CMC, Innovation Expedition Consulting Ltd.; [email protected]; 250-588-2035
R. Keith Jones, CMC, P.Biol.; Innovation Expedition Consulting Ltd.; [email protected]; 250-598-2635
Strategy Roadmap is a trademark of Global Vision Consulting Ltd.
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