Create Studio Connect
Cost of Misalignment Business Value Lens How It Works Where It Matters Most Who We Help Outcomes Create Studio ↗ Connect

Outcomes

Two proven levers. One shared story. 2x to 7x impact.

The most validated drivers of investment success in the world, delivered through Business Value Discovery.

The Evidence

Two of the most important shifts you can make to improve initiative success and impact.

Global research across thousands of organizations over 25 years has identified two levers that consistently and dramatically improve the odds that a major investment delivers its intended Business Value.

Business Based Success Criteria

2x–4x
improvement over those using traditional metrics alone
PMI · Prosci · BCG · McKinsey · Gartner

Cross-Functional Leadership Engagement

2x–7x
higher success rates across all major initiative types
PMI · MIT Sloan · Prosci · Deloitte · Gartner

Business Value Story delivers both levers through one shared story of success.

The Impact

Clarity. Confidence. Speed.

Three measurable shifts that organizations experience when cross-functional teams share a common definition of success.

Clarity
the state of having a full, detailed, and orderly mental grasp of something
Every person delivering the investment understands why it matters. Not in abstract strategic language, but in the specific Business Value and measurable Business Outcomes the team defined together. Everyone can see how their work impacts what matters.
Confidence
faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way
Leaders approve investments knowing exactly what Business Value they will deliver. Teams execute with the confidence to make decisions at every level because the why behind the investment is clear. The guesswork that usually accompanies major investments is replaced by a shared definition everyone trusts because they built it together.
Speed
the act or state of moving swiftly
Cross-functional teams move faster because they are aligned on the same Business Outcomes. When conditions change, teams adapt in days rather than months because the Business Value Story is updated to reflect the new direction and expected Business Outcomes. The foundation is already there.

The cost of misalignment, prevented.

When cross-functional leaders are aligned on the Business Value the investment is designed to deliver, the costs that misalignment creates are prevented before they begin. Financial waste from rework, rescoping, and cancelled initiatives is avoided because the definition of success was shared from the start. Talented people stay engaged because they can see how their work connects to outcomes that matter. Trust holds because the investment delivers what it was funded to create. And the Business Value that would have leaked during execution is protected, because every function is delivering against the same story.

And more value than anyone expected

The value was there. It was hidden because the original picture was incomplete.

Organizations that go through Business Value Discovery do not just protect the value they designed into the investment. They find more. In an in-depth review of 15 transformations, McKinsey found that companies delivered on average 2.7 times the value that their senior executives thought possible at the outset.

This is often the pattern across significant investments. The Business Value that lives between functions, in the connections and dependencies that no single perspective can see on its own, has always been there. The cross-functional conversation is what brings it into view.

The Business Value was always there. The cross-functional conversation is what brings it into view.

What Alignment Sounds Like

When people share a common definition of success, it changes how every role experiences the work.

Strategy is not just an executive conversation. Now, everyone understands how their work moves us forward.
Chief Executive Officer
We no longer debate investments endlessly. We now see the Business Value impact upfront and approve with confidence.
Board Member
We used to be slowed down by competing priorities. Now, cross-functional teams move faster because we are aligned on the same measurable Business Outcomes.
Chief Operating Officer
Every IT investment now has a clear purpose tied to Business Value. No more wasted spending on technology that does not drive impact.
Chief Information Officer
Now I have full confidence we are investing in what matters, prioritizing with certainty and cutting waste.
Chief Financial Officer
Adapting to market shifts used to take months and now we adjust in days because our scope is grounded in Business Value.
PMO Director
Revenue is no longer just a Sales target. Every function now sees how they contribute to the growth the organization needs. We are all pulling in the same direction.
Chief Revenue Officer
Our AI investments are now tied to moving the needle on the Business Value the organization needs to be successful. We stopped debating technology and are focused on delivering impact.
Chief AI Officer
Working with them used to feel slow and complicated. Now they move with speed and clarity because we are fully aligned on what matters.
Strategic Partner

The Shift

What changes when cross-functional teams share a definition of success.

Without the Full Picture
With a Business Value Story
Each department defines success through their own lens
→
Every role sees success through the same Business Value lens
Investments are debated endlessly before approval
→
Investment decisions are grounded in agreed Business Value
Scope shifts as competing priorities surface during execution
→
Scope stays clean because priorities were set together
Technology is selected based on features and price
→
Technology is selected based on the Business Value it delivers
When direction changes, realignment takes months because every function has to rebuild its own understanding of what matters
→
When direction changes, teams realign in days because the shared definition of success is already there
Success is measured differently by every stakeholder
→
Success is measured by measurable Business Outcomes the team co-created
Post-implementation reviews find the investment underdelivered
→
The organization has the clarity to deliver the Business Value the investment was funded to create
Business Value that lives between functions stays invisible and uncaptured
→
Alignment to the full Business Value picture reveals what no single function could see and unites everyone delivering it
2x–4x
success rate improvement for initiatives that measure success against business objectives
2x–7x
improvement in success rates when cross-functional leaders engage together during planning
40–60%
of an investment’s Business Value typically lives hidden between functions
Sources: Prosci · McKinsey · BCG · PMI · Gartner · MIT Sloan · Deloitte

The difference between an investment that underdelivers and one that achieves its potential is whether the people delivering it share the same definition of success.

An investment’s Business Value Story defines what success looks like when it is fully realized.

Questions about Business Value? A specific investment or initiative on your mind? We love good discussion and debate on all things Business Value. Please do connect.

Let’s Talk Business Value

Scoping an investment’s Business Value is an executive team sport.