Self-Assessing your Enterprise Strategy and Planning maturity

In today’s discussion, I will explore assessing your enterprise strategy and planning maturity and generating a score that can be a snapshot and improved over time. Whether these scores are high or low, the key is continuous improvement. Use this assessment as a benchmark, revisit it over time, and take steps to strengthen alignment.

Core belief

Every organization is on a maturity journey. Every organization has an Enterprise Strategy and Planning (ESP) function because every organization sets and operationalizes strategy, whether they do it well or poorly. All organizations sit somewhere across the ESP maturity spectrum. By understanding where your business stands on the maturity scale, you can take intentional steps to strengthen alignment, execution, and long-term impact. That impact translates to revenue generation, cost savings, and risk mitigation.

Why do this?

High-Level Instructions

Step 1: Answer questions 1-3 for each section (facets)
Step 2: Average your answers to questions 1-3 for each facet. (This is your Facet Score)
Step 3: Average all of your facet scores. (This is your ESP Score)

Goals

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Score and then average your answers. (0-100)

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1. What level of confidence do you have in your goal practice?
   Ask yourself: Is your organization able to define objectives and key results (OKR) that are clear and measurable? Do OKRs contribute and cascade down effectively? Do they actually align with strategy? And is your strategy fully represented within your pool of OKRs? (0-100)
2. What percentage of all goals contribute (eventually) to a strategic priority, or “focus area”? (0-100)
3. What percentage of all of your goals are somehow relationally mapped to all five other facets in a meaningful way? (0-100)

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Work

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Score and then average your answers. (0-100)

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1. Do you have an accurate and actionable view of how work is progressing against your strategy?
   Ask yourself: Do you accurately understand the progress of work at the right altitude? Do you have a clear picture of strategic progress beyond the status of work? Do you know what work is on schedule and what is behind schedule? Where are the hotspots that put delivery at risk? (0-100)
2. What percentage of all work contributes (eventually) to a strategic priority, or “focus area”? (0-100)
3. What percentage of all of your work is somehow relationally mapped to all five other facets in a meaningful way? (0-100)

Talent

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Score and then average your answers. (0-100)

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1. Do you believe you receive the right insights about your workforce to make smart tradeoff decisions? Ask yourself: Can you see whether the right people are working on your most important strategies? Are you able to adjust and track how talent rolls up to strategy in real-time? Can you locate gaps and plan effectively? Can you zoom in and see how talent supports strategy by experience level, tenure, skill, job family, or geographic distribution? (0-100)
2. What % of all your talent is ultimately mapped to a strategic priority, or “focus area,” because their work contributes to its objectives? (0-100)
3. What % of all of your talent is somehow relationally mapped to all other five facets in a meaningful way? (0-100)

Funds

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Score and then average your answers. (0-100)

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1. What’s your level of confidence that your strategy is fully funded by your investments, and that your investments are correctly allocated for your strategy? (0-100)
2. What % of all strategic priorities, or “focus areas,” are clearly connected to an accurate account of funding? (0-100)
3. What % of your budget is somehow mapped to the other five facets in a meaningful and measurable way? (0-100)

Systems

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Score and then average your answers. (0-100)

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1. What’s your level of confidence that your strategy is fully represented within your existing and future systems, and that your roadmap is correct for your strategy? (0-100)
2. What percentage of all strategic priorities – of those that require systems work – are mapped to the existing or future systems that will support the priority? (0-100)
3. What percentage of the systems critical for your strategy are mapped to the other five facets in a meaningful and measurable way? (0-100)

Updates

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Score and then average your answers. (0-100)

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1. What’s your level of confidence that you receive accurate, credible, and meaningful updates during the strategy lifecycle? That you understand the story behind the statuses, and what it means for your strategy? (0-100)
2. What percentage of all updates contribute (eventually) to a strategic priority, or “focus area?” (0-100)
3. What percentage of strategic updates are somehow relationally mapped to the other five facets in a meaningful and measurable way? (0-100)

Visualize your changes over time

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Download now: ESP Assessment Worksheet