PART V: Turning Strategy Into Action

"A great strategy is only valuable if the organisation can make it happen."

A case competition solution is not finished when you have selected the best alternative. It is finished when you can explain:

What should the organisation do?
How will they do it?
Who will make it happen?
When will it happen?
What will it cost?
What could go wrong?
How will we know it is working?

These are not implementation questions that come after the strategy. They are part of the strategy.

One of the most important lessons from case-solving competitions is that a theoretically attractive recommendation is not necessarily a winning recommendation. Judges want to know whether your solution is:

realistic;
feasible;
financially sensible;
aligned with the organisation;
implementable;
measurable;
resilient to risk.

Winning solutions are not simply logical; they are specific, realistic, feasible, and implementable. This is where your solution moves from: "This is what we should do." to: "Here is exactly how we are going to make it happen."

Chapter 27: Future Considerations and Phase Two Thinking - What Comes Next Without Confusing the Recommendation

Video: Future Considerations & Out-of-the-Box Ideas: Don't Confuse the Judges – Present Them the Right Way

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

distinguish the core recommendation from future opportunities
identify ideas that should not be pursued immediately
frame longer-term opportunities appropriately
prevent additional ideas from weakening the recommendation
use future considerations to demonstrate strategic thinking

Why This Matters

Sometimes your team identifies a genuinely interesting idea that is outside the scope or time horizon of the current recommendation. The temptation is to include it. This can create a problem. Judges can conflate future considerations with the actual recommendation, particularly due to the recency effect.

Discover Your Mad Skills Principle

Not every good idea belongs in today’s recommendation.

Strategic thinking includes knowing what not to do.

The "Not Now" Framework

Clearly separate:

This distinction must be obvious.

Why Future Considerations Matter

A future consideration can demonstrate that your team has thought beyond the immediate decision. For example:

Phase 1: Establish the domestic business model.
Phase 2: Explore international expansion once the model is proven.

The second idea isn't part of today's recommendation. It is a potential future opportunity.

Coach's Lens

If your future idea is so important that the judges might think: "Why aren't they recommending this?" then you may have a problem. Either:

it belongs in the current solution;
it needs to be analysed more thoroughly;
or it needs to be clearly framed as future.

Don't introduce a new strategic direction in the final minute.

Common Mistakes

Too Many Future Ideas
You weaken your focus
Calling It "Phase Two" Without Logic
Explain what must happen first.
Introducing New Analysis
Future considerations shouldn't require an entirely new case.
Making It Sound Like Part of the Recommendation
Label it clearly.

Mad Skills Drill

Take your case. List every good idea your team decided not to pursue. Choose one that might have future potential. Complete:

Not now because…
Later, if [condition], we could…

That is strategic sequencing.

Chapter Summary

Strong strategy includes knowing what to do. Great strategy also recognises: What should we not do yet? Future considerations should expand the strategic horizon without weakening the core recommendation.

Key Takeaways

✓ Separate now from later.

✓ Don't confuse judges.

✓ Use conditions to justify sequencing.

✓ Keep future ideas high-level.

✓ Protect the clarity of the core recommendation.

PART V CLOSING: From Choice to Execution

At the beginning of Part V, the team had a strategic choice. By the end, you should have a complete management story. You should be able to answer:

What are we recommending? à Why is it the best choice? à Does it create value? à How will we implement it? à Who owns it? à When will it happen? à What could go wrong? à How will we mitigate those risks? à How will we measure success? à What happens next?

That is the difference between a recommendation and a solution.

The Discover Your Mad Skills Implementation Chain

Use this as your final implementation checklist:

2. JUSTIFY: Why does it win?

3. VALUE: What does it deliver?

4. EXECUTE: What must happen?

5. OWN: Who is responsible?

6. SEQUENCE: When does it happen?

7. PROTECT: What could go wrong?

8. MITIGATE: How will we respond?

9. MEASURE: How will we know?

10. ADAPT: What will we do if the results aren't what we expected?

Deciphering Case Characteristics

Not every case requires the same level of implementation detail.

A six-hour competition case may require:

a few major initiatives;
high-level timing;
clear owners;
key financials;
three or four KPIs.

A 24-hour case may allow:

more detailed financial modelling;
more sophisticated timelines;
stronger risk analysis;
more detailed implementation dependencies.

The principle remains the same: Match the depth of implementation to the case, the decision, the time available, and the scorecard.

The Podium Test

Before your team considers the solution complete, ask:

Can the judges see why we chose this?
Can they see how it creates value?
Can they see how the organisation will execute it?
Can they see who is responsible?
Can they see when it will happen?
Can they see what could go wrong?
Can they see how we will manage those risks?
Can they see how we will measure success?

If the answer is yes, your solution is no longer just an idea. It is a plan.

Final Mad Skills Principle

Make the judges believe they can see it happening.

That is what makes a recommendation credible. That is what makes implementation persuasive. And that is what turns a good case solution into a podium-ready solution.

PART V: Turning Strategy Into Action