A strategic decision-making system at a local level, built over twenty-five years and 100+ CEO engagements, published by Routledge. It works with or without AI. AI accelerates what it already does.
The behaviours
What winning companies do. Always.
MOVE is an acronym for the four behaviours that separate companies that execute from those that plan.
MMake thinking visible.Strategic logic everyone can see and act on. If it's not on the wall, it's not in the room.
OOrient around advantage.One real edge that matters, not seventeen "competitive advantages" in a deck.
VVisibly choose bets.Resources clearly aligned to a few strategic priorities, product-market by product-market.
EExecute in rhythm.A decision cadence that matches market speed. Root cause and corrective action against the P&L, every month.
The seven tools
Seven question sets. One page of answers.
Five for strategy, one for execution, one for cadence. Worked through together, the answers fit on a single page: where you win, why, the numbers, the owners. No endless analysis.
The unit of everything is the product-market. Strategy is set once and decided cell by cell, where the P&L lives.
Strategy · what
1
Strategic AssumptionsIF this trend, THEN these options, with revenue and profit attached.
2
Vision + Driving ForceThirteen parameters. Surface, stretch, select the direction.
3A
Product-Market MatrixThe heart. Profit, revenue, margin, volume per cell.
3B
Market Reality CheckNine questions per cell. Does the bet hold?
4
Advantage + Future CapabilitiesWhat to build per cell, with the return on it.
5
Strategic NumbersLeading indicators the strategy lives or dies on.
Execution · how
6
Strategic Project PortfolioThe few bets that move the numbers, with owners and timing.
Cadence · why
7A
Root Cause AnalysisWhy we missed, by product-market. Never on a consolidated number.
7B
Corrective ActionsThree to five focused actions, every period, with names.
A day in the room
One day with the executive team, on their numbers.
What a session produces, illustrated for a $600M industrial. The matrix, the reality check that mirrors it, the criteria the team weights, and the three projects that move the number.
Product-Market MatrixWhere we play. Where the capital goes.
Tool 3A. Products across, markets down. Each cell carries the four numbers MOVE scores: profit, revenue, margin and volume. Colour is the priority; the capital follows it.
Market Reality CheckMirrors the matrix. Does each bet hold against the market?
OEM
Aftermarket
Distribution
North America
Holdsshare 17%, growing
Holdsservice attach rising
No edgeprice-led market
Europe
Watchtariff review Q1
Holdsinstalled base
Watchmargin under 15%
Asia-Pacific
Subscaleunder 1% share
Watchchannel conflict
Exitno route to scale
Nine questions per cell in the full check.
Tool 3B mirrors 3A cell for cell. Every bet is tested against the market before capital moves.
Priority criteriaWeighted by the team before the matrix is coloured
$ Profit35%
Competitive advantage30%
$ Revenue20%
% Growth10%
Execution risk5%
Profit and advantage carry most of the weight.
The weights the team sets before the matrix is coloured.
Strategic projectsThree themes that move the number. Each traces to a cell.
ThemeProduct-marketsMovesOwnerTiming
1. Lock the installed baseService contracts for the top 40 OEM accounts before a low-cost entrant arrives.OEM · North America+$5.2MD. ReyesQ1–Q3
2. Price for value in AftermarketPricing intelligence where margin has leaked for three years.Aftermarket · all regions+$3.9MM. OkaforQ1–Q4
3. Exit retail, fund EuropeStop funding the channel with no advantage; redeploy to the cell with one.Retail NA → Distribution · Europe+$3.0M / +$1.9MCFO · S. LindqvistQ2
$14.0M of the $14M gap, with names on it. Reviewed monthly against the P&L. Illustrative.
Tool 6. Three themes, each traced to a cell, with the number it moves, an owner and a timing.
Worked examples
What strategy on a page looks like for a company like yours.
Three illustrative companies, and the page each one left the room with. Analysis that used to take weeks, done in a day; then the forward view: which product-markets carry next year's number, who owns each one, what stops, where AI is applied, what would change the answer, and what gets re-run every month as the market moves. Pick the one closest to you.
Illustrative. Every client's pages stay in the room.
Strategy on a page · $600M industrialWhere next year's $118M comes from
1. Three product-markets carry $11 million of it
Twenty product-markets; three make the money, each with an owner.
Product-marketOwnerOf the $14M
Industrial OEM, North AmericaD. Reyes$5.2M
Aftermarket parts, all regionsM. Okafor$3.9M
Distribution, EuropeS. Lindqvist$1.9M
Exit of Retail channelThe CFO$3.0M
Total$14.0M
2. We are exiting one business
Retail loses $6 million a year with no advantage we can build.
3. AI is applied to two product-markets, not the company
Pricing intelligence in Aftermarket, demand sensing in OEM, each on a P&L line.
4. One page every month
Variance, root cause, decision, owner, date, by product-market.
5. What would change the answer, and the trigger for it
OEM volume through the tariff review, and the pricing tool landing by Q3.
$118 million is no longer a target. It is a set of decisions with names on them.
Illustrative. Written with MOVE, the system in the book.
Strategy on a page · 380-unit franchisorWhere next year's $92M comes from
1. Three kinds of unit carry $9 million of it
380 addresses are not one market; each unit has its own page and number.
Unit typeOwnerOf the $11M
Sunbelt suburban, 96 unitsRVP South$4.1M
Delivery-heavy urban, 58 unitsRVP East$2.7M
Refranchised Midwest, 44 unitsRVP Central$2.2M
No more mall openingsThe COO$2.0M
Total$11.0M
2. We stop one kind of opening
Mall units have lost money for four years; the pipeline moves to the Sunbelt.
3. AI is applied at the unit, not head office
Local demand and pricing in urban units; labour scheduling in the Sunbelt.
4. Intelligence rolls up. Decisions stay at the unit.
Unit to region to CEO, monthly; owners get the same page.
5. What would change the answer, and the trigger for it
Franchisee capital in the Sunbelt pipeline, and labour cost in the urban units.
$92 million is no longer a system-wide hope. It is 380 pages, five owners, and one page you can read in five minutes.
Illustrative. Written with MOVE, the system in the book.
Strategy on a page · PE-backed, year twoThe value creation plan, rewritten by the people who deliver it
1. Three product-markets carry $22 million of it
Managed services, recurring maintenance contracts, and the Southeast region.
Product-marketOwnerOf the $31M
Managed services, mid-marketJ. Park$9.6M
Recurring maintenance contractsA. Moreau$7.4M
Southeast regionT. Bannerjee$5.0M
One tuck-in acquisitionThe CFO$6.0M
Exit of project workThe COO$3.0M
Total$31.0M
2. One acquisition, one exit
One of six targets fits; project work, $40M of revenue at a loss, is exited.
3. AI is applied to the two product-markets that set the multiple
Churn prediction in Managed services; renewal pricing in Maintenance.
4. One page a month, the same page for CEO and sponsor
No separate deck for the sponsor, no separate story for the team.
5. What would change the answer, and the trigger for it
Integration, and mid-market churn if pricing moves too fast.
$140 million stopped being the deal team's spreadsheet. It is decisions with names from this company on them.
Illustrative. Written with MOVE, the system in the book.
Strategy on a page · $900M healthcare services and technologyWhere next year's $150M comes from
1. Three product-markets carry $13 million of the $17M gap
Fourteen product-markets across clinics, a digital platform and payer services. Three make the money, each with an owner.
Product-marketOwnerOf the $17M
Primary care clinics, Ontario and BCR. Nair$6.1M
Practice platform, Canadian clinics (recurring)J. Okoro$4.4M
Payer services, US mid-market plansL. Marchetti$2.5M
Exit of consumer telehealth appThe CFO$4.0M
Total$17.0M
2. We are exiting one business
The consumer telehealth app loses $4M a year in a market where no advantage can be built against the platforms. It stops in Q2 and the capital goes to the clinic network.
3. Acquisitions earn their multiple, segment by segment
Eleven acquired clinic groups report as one line today. From Q1 they report as product-markets, each with margin, volume and an owner. Three are integrated; two are candidates to sell.
4. AI is applied to two product-markets, not to the company
Scheduling and no-show prediction in the clinics; claims-routing intelligence in payer services. Each on a P&L line someone has signed for.
5. One page every month, and every quarter for the market
Variance, root cause, decision, owner, date, by product-market. The same page, summarised, is what the public market sees each quarter.
6. What would change the answer, and the trigger for it
Provincial fee-schedule changes in Ontario; platform churn above 6%. Both on the monthly page with a trigger and a pre-agreed response.
$150 million is no longer a target. It is a set of decisions with names on them.
Illustrative. Written with MOVE, the system in the book.
Watch it work
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A store in Paris from one photograph, and a 122-location franchise model from the CEO down to the store.
