It started with 200 ideas. We were working with a team at DHL, exploring how they could stop a slipping in share in a key internal market. They had gathered thirty people and let us walk them through a series of strategic metaphors or competitive patterns to see what options they had. After three hours the walls were pasted with over 200 ideas for beating their competitor. It was at that moment that we knew we were on to something.

So we continued to build out our methodology. We added things that worked, removed tools that did not, polished and refined.

We engaged with another group (a division of a leading computer manufacturer) and asked them a question inspired by another strategic pattern: “what bricks could you give away?” That question led to an idea which transformed into a program that unlocked a breakthrough. They tripled their revenues in just three years.

We have since worked with numerous small and medium-sized companies. We’ve trained executives in many of the largest firms. And what we are continually staggered by is the power of human creativity, specifically the power of strategic creativity.

That is what we continue to do. In workshops and seminars, in small conference rooms, in large seminars, we help our clients unlock innovation. We help companies outthink their competition.