Knowledge base
All our insights in one place.
Articles, whitepapers and Strategic Outlooks from the Jester team, filtered by proposition and sector.
Proposition
Sector
Format
39 results
Strategic wavelengths.
How do you tune in to your environment to make strategic choices?
The environment broadcasts signals on different wavelengths. The challenge is for your organisation to have the right antennae to pick up all those signals and tell them apart.
by Michiel de VriesScenario planning in six steps.
A blog series by Jeroen Toet
A six-part series on building future scenarios: from scoping to adjusting course with scenarios. Click through all parts.
by Jeroen ToetThe day of tomorrow, and what comes after.
Beyond the noise of the day: why scenario thinking calls for executive space in elderly care
Executives in elderly care are consumed by the day of tomorrow, which means the conversation about the day after structurally loses out. Scenario planning is not a luxury, it is an executive discipline that explicitly protects the space for the long-term conversation.
by Bas Schulten & Lara KoopmanNavigating a changing world.
When giants fail: the exploration-exploitation dilemma
An Intel case study shows how an excessive focus on exploitation, and not challenging the organisation enough to see changes on the horizon, leads to strategic vulnerability.
by Michiel de VriesUkraine and dealing with 'predicted surprises'.
What do Bill Gates and Otto Habsburg have in common?
Resilience is not about predicting developments or risks, but above all about anticipating and organising for their consequences.
by Michiel de VriesSpecialist tools for uncertainty.
Choose the right strategic tool for each type of uncertainty
Not every uncertainty is the same. From business case to what-if scenarios to scenario planning: the right tool depends on the level of uncertainty.
by Michiel de VriesStrategic Outlook.
Our annual exploration of trends and uncertainties
Every year we publish our Strategic Outlook: an exploration of the most important trends, uncertainties and strategic themes. A must-read for strategists and executives.
Don't be an ostrich: get your head out of the sand and choose.
Part 1 · Strategic bird guide
Delay often feels like prudence, but standing still under uncertainty is a choice too, and usually the most expensive one. On the strategic ostrich and why choosing matters now.
by Jeroen ToetScarcity paper.
Resilience for family businesses in a scarcity economy
Family businesses feel scarcity first, but also have the best credentials to do something about it. A paper on organising resilience in an economy where labour, raw materials, knowledge and capital are structurally under pressure.
by Michiel de VriesMarketing euros only work after sharp strategic choices.
Whitepaper: commercial strategy
Why better campaigns do not solve your problem, and which strategic choices do raise your commercial return. Featuring the return tree: reach, resonance, conversion and customer value.
by Marie-Claire de KoningStrategic risk management.
How valid is your strategy?
Many organisations focus on operational and financial risks, but forget the 'risks to value', the risks that threaten the validity of the strategy itself.
by Jeroen ToetAgility inside organisations.
The capacity to reconfigure your resources
Agility is indispensable for any organisation. A case study on how organisational structure and culture build the dynamic capabilities to recombine resources.
by Michiel de VriesStrategy in the AgriFood sector.
Holding course in a shifting landscape
The Dutch AgriFood sector is at a tipping point. Strategy here is about meaningful dialogue, jointly setting direction and daring to have the conversation before the fog lifts.
by Iris Boom & Lara KoopmanWaiting for clarity is not a strategy.
How agri-input suppliers hold course while their customers wait
Precisely when the chain is indecisive, standing still is the costliest choice you can make. On scenario thinking, no-regret moves and building antennae for the agri-input sector.
by Iris Boom & Lara KoopmanWith AI, strategy becomes more social.
Strategy as a social activity
AI does not make strategy work less social. It makes it more so. It becomes an activity of people, with people, for people.
by Michiel de VriesStrategy with common sense.
Setting strategic direction for AgriFood family businesses
Family businesses think in generations. The focus is on long-term value creation, stability and preserving identity. That calls for a different approach to strategy.
by Lara KoopmanStrategy as a rhythm, not a one-off exercise.
Whitepaper for accountancy and advisory firms
Why accountancy and advisory firms can no longer rely on a strategy process that starts from zero every five years. A plea for the rolling strategy as a new rhythm.
by Chris JansenStrategy on the cycle of a crop.
Whitepaper: strategy formation in seed breeding
Why seed breeders cannot borrow their planning from other sectors, and how scenario planning and CUBE trajectories help sharpen and strengthen strategic choices.
by Iris BoomIn conversation with Gabriella: OGSM as a method.
Steering on the progress and result of your strategy
OGSM does not stop at making the plan. It is a method that helps you make choices and carry them through consistently. That cyclical approach is what makes it truly powerful.
by Gabriella MonassoOGSM makes ESG strategy more concrete, easier and more enjoyable.
From sustainability reporting to concrete action
OGSM gives organisations a structured and goal-driven approach to make their ESG strategy concrete, executable and measurable.
by Michiel de RooThe art of not doing.
Why execution starts with choosing what you do not do
Housing associations are working hard, building more than ever and investing at historic levels. But delivery structurally lags ambition. The issue is making choices explicit: what do we do, and what do we not do?
by Gabriella Monasso & Marie-Claire de KoningSteering at two speeds.
Why knowledge-intensive businesses need a different governance model
In knowledge-intensive businesses, the same people carry the daily operation and the renewal. This whitepaper shows why the usual way of steering is unsuited and how run and change can live side by side.
by Stijn KoopmanStrengthening regional cooperation.
Building a joint regional agenda
Regional challenges are high on the agenda. Regional Deals and broad prosperity call for strategies in which national and regional government work together on living, working and quality of life.
by Michiel de VriesThe receptive municipality.
Why picking up signals is not the same as collecting them
A whitepaper on what receptivity requires of medium-sized and large municipalities, and why collecting signals is something different from picking them up, interpreting them and discussing them.
by Jeroen Toet & Michiel de RooInternal supervision of strategy formation under radical uncertainty.
Perspective by Michiel de Vries
How do you supervise a strategy that is itself still in motion? On the role of internal supervisory boards in strategy formation when the future cannot be predicted.
by Michiel de VriesHow, as a non-executive, do I supervise strategy under radical uncertainty?.
Perspective by Michiel de Vries
Supervising a fixed plan is easy. Supervising direction is the real work. Practical guidance for non-executive directors on supervising strategy when certainties are missing.
by Michiel de VriesFrom Strategic Control to Rolling Strategy.
Perspective by Michiel de Vries
Strategy as an annual ritual is over. The future is a continuous process. On the shift from periodic strategic control to a continuous, adaptive strategy process.
by Michiel de VriesGreenland and the art of responsiveness.
Perspective by Michiel de Vries
Greenland was suddenly on everyone's map. Not predicting, but reacting quickly and deliberately is the art. This article explains how responsiveness helps organisations act on events that nobody saw coming.
by Michiel de VriesBeyond the ravine: strategic action under radical uncertainty.
Perspective by Michiel de Vries
The ravine everyone talks about does not call for standstill, it calls for action. On continuing to act strategically when the uncertainty is so great that a plan alone is no longer enough.
by Michiel de VriesWhen do you change your strategy?.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
A strategy is not a photograph, it is a film. The question is not whether you adjust, but when. On when a change in your environment is reason to alter course, and how to recognise that moment without flipping at every shift.
by Chris JansenStructure follows strategy? Time for a rethink.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
First strategy, then structure. Sounds logical, but does it still hold? A critical look at this classic adage and what it means for how you design your organisation.
by Chris JansenSteering on revenue? Don't.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
Revenue is an outcome, not a control lever. Steering on revenue is steering on the past. Why revenue falls short as a steering variable and what underlying values you can steer on instead.
by Chris JansenIs strategy still designable?.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
In a world full of uncertainty, planning seems pointless. Yet strategy is not a gamble. On the tension between design and unpredictability, and how you hold direction without the illusion of full control.
by Chris JansenThe world is changing faster and faster... or is it?.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
Everyone says the pace is rising. But does that feeling match the facts? A sober check of the assumption that change is accelerating, and what it means for your strategy formation.
by Chris JansenA portfolio strategy to stay agile?.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
Agility starts not with speed, but with the composition of your portfolio. How a deliberate portfolio approach keeps room to move as markets and customer needs shift.
by Chris JansenIran and the illusion of predictability.
Perspective by Chris Jansen
Geopolitics will not be predicted. Your strategy does not have to be either. Using the situation around Iran: why prediction is a trap and scenario thinking is better preparation.
by Chris JansenAnnual plan ready? Make sure plans connect.
Perspective by Michiel de Roo and Stijn Koopman
A stack of separate plans is not a strategy. Coherence makes the difference. On how to align annual plans so the organisation moves in one direction instead of working at cross purposes.
by Michiel de Roo & Stijn KoopmanPerfection is not needed for your annual plan, a good way of working is.
Perspective by Michiel de Roo and Iris Boom
An annual plan does not have to be perfect. The way of working around it makes the difference. This article explains how a good approach delivers a usable annual plan without getting stuck chasing the perfect version.
by Michiel de Roo & Iris BoomMunicipal elections as a moment for strategic reflection.
Perspective by Michiel de Roo
Elections are not only a political moment, but also a natural benchmark for your course. How organisations can use the rhythm of municipal elections to put their strategy to the test.
by Michiel de Roo