The session defines holistic strategy on a two-by-two rather than as a slogan. Value for shareholders on one axis and value for stakeholders on the other produces four quadrants: value extraction, philanthropy, traditional strategy and holistic strategy.
The definition itself is about the size of the prize, not its division. Holistic strategy is described as strategy that grows the economic pie so that there is enough value created to allow all stakeholders to be better off.
Key findings
- The argument against traditional strategy is that two of its assumptions have stopped holding. The session names them as industries remaining stable over time and shareholder primacy, and lists the tools built on them, including Porter’s Five Forces and the BCG growth share matrix.
- The contrast is carried by a metaphor that is worked through in both directions. Traditional strategy is rail, meaning a static environment, winning by brute force and profit as the only goal. Holistic strategy is sail, meaning a dynamic environment, harnessing forces and success that is multi-faceted.
- Five principles are given, and one of them concedes a measurement cost. Holistic strategy is described as necessarily involving what if thinking that may defy traditional measurement.
- Change is separated into three kinds so that a company can tell which one it needs. Magnitude means enhancing execution of the current path, activity means new ways of pursuing it, and direction means taking a different path.
The two measurements the method rests on
Current performance is measured on two questions, both asked about the same list of stakeholders. Fit to purpose asks how well current offerings fit the preferences of customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, communities and investors. Relative advantage asks how distinctive those same groups consider them to be.
The answer maps onto one of three responses. Double down on execution of the current strategy, innovate the tactics, or pivot to a new strategy.
Seven steps run from measurement to metrics. They start with measuring fit to purpose and relative advantage and determining the change signal, and end with choosing a coherent set of mutually reinforcing actions and the metrics for measuring progress.
Where it applies
The session claims four business agendas rather than a marketing one. Demand generation, employee engagement, governance and sustainability, and strategy and business value.
Measurement is treated as the unresolved part. The closing section asks for new and shared KPIs, KPIs for measuring intangibles, and aligned incentive plans, and it puts educating stakeholders on the value created before any of them.
Scope and limitations
This is a session deck for a live cohort, not a standalone paper. Roughly a third of it is program navigation, the practitioner contributions were spoken rather than written, and the worked example is named as Dole without being set out.
Source
This page summarises Zoom Session 5: Focus – Holistic Strategy, by Jonathan Knowles, Cindy Tervoort, Heather Currier Hunt, Jill Cress, April 2025.