Connecting the Dots
Strategic Innovation Methodology

Connecting the Dots

Mapping the System You Operate In

Innovation happens inside a system, and the system is rarely drawn. Here you build the systems-thinking mindset and the mapping discipline to see it. You work through the macro forces acting on your industry, the stakeholders who can move or block you, the competitive set as it really behaves, and the flow of value through your network and wider ecosystem. You leave able to point at the leverage points where a small, well-placed change moves the whole system.

$425with its Studio, $750

The Studio is the hour with an SME Practitioner that earns the badge for this Step. What a Studio is  ·  All sixteen Steps

Self-paced, and yours to keep once you enroll. Add as many Steps as you want and check out once.

At a glance
PhaseIdentify
FormatSelf-paced, seven parts
TimeFour to six hours, plus your work on the tools
AppliedYour organization, not a case
AccessYours to keep
BadgeEarned in the Studio
Office hoursNinety days, with the Studio
SectionInside This Step

The Whole Step, Before You Buy It

This is the real structure, named exactly as it is inside. Seven parts carry the method. Three more put it against your own initiative. All of it opens the moment you enroll and stays yours.

Before you start
 

Start Here

Where this Step sits in the methodology · Introduction
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The seven parts
01

Systems Thinking and Leverage Points: Where Small Changes Move the Whole System

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
Strategic Objective
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02

Complexity and Ambidexterity: Thriving When Cause and Effect Come Apart

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
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03

Mapping Your System: Turning Complexity into a Picture You Can Act On

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
Stakeholder Map
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04

Ecosystem Mapping: Seeing the Whole Web You Operate In

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
Ecosystem Map
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05

Competitor Mapping: Navigating the Competitive Landscape for Innovation

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
Competitive MapPorter's Five Forces
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06

Industry Mapping: From PESTLE Forces to Industry Shifts

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
PESTLEIndustry Map
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07

Value Network Mapping: Following How Value Is Created and Captured

Watch · Deeper dive · Check yourself
Value Network Map
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Where it becomes your artifact
 

Reading the Altitude

Reading the altitude
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Toolkit: Apply It to Your Project

Your toolkit · Your application assignment
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Accelerating This Step with AI

Leveraging AI in this Step
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The tools
Strategic Objective · PESTLE · Stakeholder Map · Industry Map · Porter's Five Forces · Competitive Map · Value Network Map · Ecosystem Map
SectionWhat You Leave With

What Your Initiative Carries Forward

Everything below is built against your own organization rather than a case study. A badge marks this Step, and the badge is earned in the Studio. Add the four Studios in Identify, plus the Advance Studio that closes the Phase, and the Identify certificate follows.

  • A stakeholder map, categorized and prioritized
  • An industry map, a value network and an ecosystem map
  • The leverage points where a small change moves the system
The phase
Identify
One of sixteen Steps
Seven parts, worked at your pace
Office hours twice a month
Yours to keep
SectionHow It Works

Seven parts. One artifact.

Watch The Video

Short, plain, and to the point. Every part opens with one, and none of them run long.

Go Deeper

A written dive that sits behind each video, so you can go straight to the part your initiative needs first.

Check Your Understanding

A short self-check closes every part. It is there to catch a gap before you carry it into the artifact, and it is yours alone to read.

Build The Artifact

The tools run against your own organization. What you complete is what your initiative carries into the next Step.

The honest time
The videos and the deeper dives take four to six hours. You then run the tools against your own project, and your project sets that pace. Most of the work, and most of the value, sits in that second part.
Office hours
Office hours run twice a month with an SME Practitioner. Adding the Studio to this Step opens ninety days of access. Bring the tool you are stuck on and we work it live with you.

Developed by a team of alumni and faculty, and run across engagements in energy, manufacturing, healthcare, and community organizations. APHIONE holds it under license.

SectionThe Studio

The Studio For This Step

A Studio is one hour, one to one, with an SME Practitioner. You apply this Step to your own project. Finishing the Studio is what earns the badge for Connecting the Dots. The Studio is optional, and the Step is complete without it.

One, before

You prepare

You complete the Studio Preparation Sheet for this Step and send it ahead. It asks what you built, what you are unsure about, and where you want the hour spent.

Two, the hour

You meet

Sixty minutes with an SME Practitioner, on your own project rather than a case. You walk through the work you have done and they press on it.

Three, after

You make the changes

You revise your artifact and complete the Studio Reflection Sheet. The changes the hour produces are the point of the hour.

What earns the badge
All three, in order: the Preparation Sheet completed and sent ahead, the hour attended, and the Reflection Sheet completed afterward. Badges are only ever issued for work that is actually finished.
Also included
Ninety days of access to APHIONE office hours, which run twice a month. Bring the tool you are stuck on and we work it live with you.
What it costs

$325 added to this Step

The Step on its own is $425. The Step with its Studio is $750. You can add the Studio today or a year from now, and the price is the same either way.

What a Studio is not

It is not a group session.

One hour, one to one, on your own project.

It is not required.

The Step is complete on its own. Adding the Studio later never costs more.

It is not more content.

Everything you need is already inside the Step. The hour applies it to your project.

Begin Step

Mapping the System You Operate In. Worked against your own organization, at your own pace.

Add the Studio and you also add the hour that earns the badge, plus ninety days of office hours. You can add it later instead, at the same price.

Back to all sixteen Steps