20 Questions for Management on the Future of the Business

Boards and management teams face a critical challenge: how to craft strategy in the face of trends that have the potential to make existing business models obsolete, change industry structure or operating conditions, derail growth, or provide a transformative opportunity for the long-term strategy of the organization.

It is vital that boards and management have robust and incisive strategy discussions that focus on opportunities, risks, and overall firm direction over the next 5–10 years. Done well, strategy discussions create an opportunity for management and the board to pressure test assumptions underlying strategy and hone a clearer vision for the organization.

In reality, for most organizations, there is limited pure “strategy” discussion between the directors and the management team. More often, discussions focus on strategic planning—addressing specific business opportunities and risks over the next two-to-three years—with insufficient time or not enough effective processes to support a dedicated focus on big-picture questions and discussions.

If boards are to better serve their organizations in navigating to the future, it is critical to improve strategy discussions. There are a number of challenges for boards in driving the “right” discussion, but the benefits of effective strategy discussion are significant.

This boardroom tool, initially presented in Fit for the Future: An Urgent Imperative for Board Leadership, provides a series of questions directors can use to facilitate a robust and dynamic conversation about strategy with management to help navigate the future of the business. The tool was developed by Oliver Wyman and Marsh McLennan.