Worksheet · Strategy Health Check
Cut the initiative list to the vital few
Thirty initiatives means none of them has the people it needs. This sheet ranks every initiative, keeps a handful and publishes what was cut. It builds the Competent step of the check:
A handful of initiatives each has an owner, a rationale and a link to a strategic theme.
Step 1. List everything
Include anything with a budget, a project code or a named team.
| Initiative | Strategic theme | Owner | Rationale in one line | Profit impact (high, medium, low) | Ease of delivery (high, medium, low) | Horizon (core, next, option) | Keep, merge or cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e.g. Online reorder for trade customers | Win the trade channel | Head of digital | Trade orders by phone cost more to serve | High | Medium | Core | Keep |
Step 2. Keep a handful
Keep what the leadership can list from memory. Start with high impact and high ease. Keep a mix across horizons, so the core pays for the next step. An initiative with no theme or no owner is cut or merged.
Step 3. Publish the cuts
| Cut or merged initiative | Why | People and money released | Where they go |
|---|---|---|---|
Send the cut list to the whole leadership group, so nobody keeps a cut initiative alive in the background.
Done when: the live list is short enough to recite, each item has an owner, rationale and theme, and the cuts are published.
Adapted from our own strategy reference (PSP, 2010).
From the Strategy Health Check. Your report links the sheet for each of its moves.