Starting together, in one short sentence

• Briefly describe the strategic question the board or CEO asked you to resolve with outside help
• When was this question first raised, and what event made it urgent now Options: Within the last month, 1-3 months ago, 3-6 months ago, More than 6 months ago
• Who on your leadership team initiated the request for external validation, and what prompted them
• How would you describe the worst outcome if this question is answered incorrectly Options: Major financial loss, Missed growth opportunity, Board loss of confidence, Damaged reputation, Operational disruption, Other
• What would a successful engagement look like to you in plain terms

Is this the right question to solve now

• If the board read your current case today, what would make them doubt the need for change
• Walk me through the last time leadership tried to answer this internally, what method did they use and what stopped it from convincing the board
• Which internal assumption, if wrong, would make the current plan collapse
• How many alternative strategic hypotheses have you already tested or considered for this question Options: One, Two, Three, More than three, None
• Which single fact or finding would make you stop this project immediately

The measures that will decide whether this work matters

• Which metrics will the board use to judge our recommendation Options: Net income impact, Return on invested capital, Market share change, EBITDA margin, Customer retention, Cost to execute, Other
• Give a concrete target for the top two metrics you just named, and explain how you landed on those targets
• How will you validate those metrics internally, who owns the model or source of truth
• If our recommendation hit the modeled improvement by 50 percent of target, what decision would the board likely make Options: Approve with full budget, Approve pilot only, Request further analysis, Decline
• Which stakeholders must publicly endorse the final metrics for the board to accept the work Options: CEO, CFO, Board chair, Relevant division head, Head of strategy or corporate development, Other

Who really signs the recommendation and why they might say no

• Which individual or committee has the formal authority to approve the outcome you seek Options: Board, Board subcommittee, CEO alone, CEO plus board chair, Investment committee, Other
• Describe the political or commercial objections you expect from each person who must sign off
• Who gains and who loses if your preferred recommendation is adopted
• Which of these stakeholders has previously blocked comparable decisions, and what was their reason Options: Risk aversion, Resource constraints, Personal agenda, Lack of evidence, Other
• If a key stakeholder objects at the final review, what would convince them to change position within two weeks

Evidence and access, the factual backbone we need

• How confident are you that the data and documents needed to test the main hypotheses are accessible Options: Very confident, Somewhat confident, Uncertain, Not confident
• List the specific data sources we will need to see, such as transactional records, P&L by business, customer cohort files, or commercial contracts
• Who currently owns each of those sources and how quickly can they provide extracts
• Are there contractual, regulatory, or confidentiality gates that could prevent timely access to key evidence Options: Yes, regulatory, Yes, contractual, Yes, confidentiality concerns, No known gates, Unsure
• If one of the critical data sources cannot be provided, what alternative proof would be acceptable to the board

Operational readiness, what must be true for execution to start

• Which internal teams will have to dedicate named people to support analysis and implementation Options: Finance, Strategy or corporate development, Operations, Sales and commercial, IT or data, Legal and compliance, HR
• Describe the typical availability of those teams during a 10 week engagement, are they fully available, partially available, or stretched Options: Fully available, Partially available, Stretched, limited time, Unavailable
• Which technical integrations or system accesses will be required, for example ERP extracts, CRM exports, or customer analytics platforms
• Does your environment provide API or scheduled extract capability for those systems, and who manages that capability Options: APIs available, managed internally, APIs available, managed by vendor, Scheduled extracts only, Manual extracts required, Unsure
• What specific regulatory approvals or board processes could delay a start beyond four weeks

Risks that will trip the timetable or kill the recommendation

• Which single organizational risk would cause you to pause or stop the effort
• How have similar efforts failed in the past at your company and what early warning signs should we watch for
• Which external factors could change materially during our engagement and alter the right answer Options: Competitive move, Macroeconomic shock, Regulatory change, Key customer loss, Other
• If an early analysis shows lower-than-expected returns, what threshold would cause you to stop rather than pivot

The alternatives you are weighing right now

• Which other external firms, incumbents, or internal programs are you currently evaluating to address this question Options: Another strategy firm, Big consulting firm, Specialist boutique, Internal task force, Financial advisor or banker, No other options
• What would have to be true about staying with your current internal approach for you to not hire an outside firm
• Has anyone internally proposed to solve this without an outside partner, and if so who and with what plan
• If an incumbent advisor offered a solution quickly and at lower cost, what specific proof would you require to prefer them over a new independent review
• Which of the evaluated alternatives, if chosen, would change the scope or timing you expect from us

Decision timing, governance, and acceptance criteria

• By what calendar date or governance meeting does the board expect a decision, and is that date flexible Options: Within 4 weeks, Within 8 weeks, Within 12 weeks, No firm date
• If a pilot proves the expected value, what internal step would allow signing and funding within one week
• Which named person will be the single point of contact for approvals during the engagement
• What acceptance criteria must every recommendation meet for your leadership team to commit to implementation
• On a scale from 1 to 5 how willing is leadership to reallocate budget to implement the recommended change if evidence supports it Options: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Next practical steps and immediate blockers

• What immediate approvals or NDAs must be in place before we can start work with full access Options: Board approval, CEO approval, Standard NDA, DPA or data agreement, Legal review, None
• Who will arrange access to the first tranche of evidence within the next ten business days
• If our first analysis proves the recommendation is deliverable and meets your targets, what internal decision would happen next week that accelerates implementation
• Which meeting should we target for the interim executive review and what materials would you expect to see there Options: Board pre-brief, Executive committee, CEO-only review, Division leadership review, Other
• Are there any immediate deal breakers or constraints we have not yet covered

• Problem Framing and Hypothesis Alignment
• Evidence Review and Root Cause Mapping
• Option Generation and Evaluation Criteria
• Assumption Testing and Sensitivity Workshop
• Option Selection and Next Work Package

• Produce the full sensitivity results and annotate which assumptions require deeper modeling.
• Prepare modelling templates and economic inputs needed to test the shortlisted options.
• Assign owners to each option who will be responsible for detailed follow up analysis.
• Identify critical assumptions per option
• A validated list of assumptions that hold, those that fail, and those that remain uncertain after light testing.
• An updated risk and sensitivity register that ranks option fragility and upside.
• A prioritized plan for any deeper analyses, experiments, or pilots needed before final option selection.
• Confirm strategic question and success metrics
• Design any agreed small-scale pilots or experiments with success criteria and data collection plans.
• Assign analytical owners to resolve the remaining high-priority uncertainties before the decision session.
• Recap evidence and test outcomes
• A clear decision on the preferred strategic option or conditional path to take forward.
• A defined next work package that specifies deliverables, timeline, named owners, and measurable acceptance criteria.
• An agreed list of remaining critical information or approvals required before formal scoping can begin.
• Publish a one page decision memo that documents the chosen option, contingency triggers, and next work package scope.
• Prepare the inputs and draft statement of work for the Engagement Scope stage, including resource needs and governance cadence.
• Confirm the date and attendees for the scoping kickoff and gather any final approvals needed to proceed.
• A single agreed problem statement and decision timeline that frames the rest of the work.
• A prioritized list of hypotheses ranked by impact and uncertainty, with the top 5 chosen for testing.
• A clear data and interview request list with owners and deadlines for the next session.
• Distribute the agreed problem statement, prioritized hypotheses, and data request list to all stakeholders for confirmation.
• Collect and deliver the identified datasets and schedule named stakeholder interviews before the evidence review session.
• Prepare a short evidence pack that maps each hypothesis to the data that will confirm or refute it.
• Rapid evidence walk through
• A documented root cause map that links observed issues to underlying drivers, accepted by the buyer.
• Top root causes identified and ranked by likely impact on the strategic decision.
• A prioritized list of outstanding evidence gaps with assigned follow up actions and timelines.
• Deliver the additional datasets and interview summaries required to close the top evidence gaps.
• Run agreed ad-hoc analyses to test the two highest impact root causes and share results before the next session.
• Schedule paired stakeholder interviews to resolve any contested facts in the causal map.
• Re-state constraints and guardrails
• A documented set of candidate strategic options with concise descriptions for each.
• An agreed evaluation framework with weighted criteria to compare options objectively.
• A short list of options selected for further testing and quantitative modeling.
• Document each shortlisted option with the rationale and initial required resources for modeling.
• Present initial hypotheses
• Run scenario and sensitivity checks
• Present refined option summaries with tradeoffs
• Rapid option ideation
• Map root causes and causal chains
• Rank root causes by impact and uncertainty
• Define evaluation criteria and weighting
• Decision and contingency agreement
• Map decision makers, constraints, and timing
• Interpret results and update viability
• Prioritize hypotheses and define evidence needs
• Agree further tests or pilots
• Define next work package for Engagement Scope
• Confirm remaining evidence gaps and investigative plan
• Apply framework to narrow to short list
• Agree immediate next steps and owners

• Market Sizing and Segmentation Model
• Competitive Landscape and Threat Modeling
• Go-to-Market Financial Forecast
• M&A Target Screening List
• Acquisition Valuation and Synergy Model
• Division Restructuring Implementation Plan
• Cost Reduction Roadmap with KPIs
• Organizational Design and Role Profiles
• Board-Ready Recommendation Deck and Executive Memo
• Implementation Governance and Operating Rhythm
• Execute 90-Day Rapid-Response Sprint
• Performance Tracking Dashboard and Reporting Suite

Market Sizing and Segmentation Model

• Provide the names and definitions of the primary market segments used in your last board packet (include the segment definition rows from the board deck)
• Which revenue lines from your division P&L should be included in the sizing (select all that apply) Options: Product lines, Service contracts, Recurring subscriptions, One-time projects, Legacy maintenance revenue, Other
• How do you currently capture SKU- or product-family level sales (ERP export, SKU sales file, or CRM order report)? Options: ERP export (GL/trial balance), SKU-level sales CSV, CRM order report, Sales territory ledger, Other
• Who on your team is the canonical owner of historic revenue datasets (title or team name, e.g., Finance FP&A, Sales Ops)? Options: Finance (FP&A), Sales Operations, Business Unit Controller, Data Engineering, Other
• Estimate the current addressable market size for the primary segment using your last fiscal year as baseline (choose the range closest to your internal TAM calculation) Options: Less than $100M, $100M - $500M, $500M - $1B, $1B - $5B, Greater than $5B
• Identify the three customer cohorts in your CRM export that produced the highest margin last year (specify cohort filter column names, e.g., industry, ARR band, geography)

Competitive Landscape and Threat Modeling

• List the five competitors or substitute offerings you monitor in your competitive tracker or market map document
• Describe the primary attack vectors you have observed from competitors in the last 12 months (pricing, channel partnerships, product bundling) with reference to the incident row in your competitor log
• Confirm whether you maintain a competitor feature parity matrix and, if so, attach the current file name or data room path Options: Yes, attach path in follow-up, No, we do not maintain one
• Specify which competitive intelligence sources you consider authoritative for this market (e.g., public filings, customer RFP responses, industry analyst notes) Options: Public filings and investor presentations, Customer RFPs and reference calls, Industry analyst reports, Partner channel intelligence, Other
• Attach the most recent lost-deal analysis or single-page win/loss map you keep in the CRM if available
• Select the top three competitor capabilities that would invalidate your go-to-market thesis if proven true Options: Lower price at scale, Superior integration with key platform, Exclusive channel partnerships, Regulatory advantage, Faster time-to-market

Go-to-Market Financial Forecast

• Do you have a current go-to-market forecast model (attach file path or name from the shared drive) Options: Yes, attach in follow-up, No, we need a new model
• Are channel mix assumptions in your model split by direct sales, distributor/partner revenue, and digital channels in separate tabs? Options: Yes, separate tabs exist, Partially split, No, single combined view
• When do you expect new product launches included in the forecast to reach 50% of projected revenue (quarter and fiscal year)
• For which customer cohorts should we model price elasticity explicitly (list cohort names as they appear in your billing extract)
• By what quarterly sales ramp assumptions do you currently budget for a new region entry (select the ramp profile) Options: Conservative (6-12 months), Moderate (4-8 months), Aggressive (1-3 months)
• Indicate the top three model outputs you require for board review (e.g., 3-year revenue, EBITDA impact, payback period) Options: 3-year revenue, EBITDA impact, Net present value (NPV), Payback period, Headcount-funded cost

M&A Target Screening List

• Name the sectors and sub-sectors you want screened and the corresponding SIC/NAICS codes (or internal segment tags from your M&A shortlist)
• Rank the three deal-size buckets you are open to (by trailing twelve months revenue) Options: Less than $50M, $50M - $200M, $200M - $1B, Greater than $1B
• Allocate your maximum enterprise value multiple for initial screening (provide the multiple or range used in prior board approvals) Options: Less than 4x, 4x - 8x, 8x - 12x, Greater than 12x
• Measure which integration risks must be filtered at screening (select all that apply) Options: Technology integration complexity, Customer overlap (churn risk), Regulatory approvals required, Key-man dependency, Contractual change-of-control clauses
• Quantify the minimum revenue or EBITDA threshold you require for a target to be considered strategic Options: Revenue threshold (enter in free response), EBITDA threshold (enter in free response)
• Break down the data-room deliverables you expect from a target at initial diligence (list required documents, e.g., customer contracts, capex schedule, IP register)

Acquisition Valuation and Synergy Model

• Supply the target financials required for valuation (specify trailing twelve months income statement and balance sheet file names)
• Outline the revenue and cost synergies you expect and the basis for each (customer cross-sell, headcount consolidation, distribution rationalization)
• Note whether you require scenario outputs for best-case, base-case, and downside case with accompanying sensitivity tables Options: Yes, three scenarios, Yes, base and downside only, No, single case
• State the discount rates or weighted average cost of capital (WACC) assumptions you want applied in the NPV analysis Options: Use internal WACC, Provide us a preferred rate, We need you to propose
• Choose the integration cost categories you want modelled explicitly (select all that apply) Options: Severance and redundancy, IT integration, Brand transition, Contract novation costs, Other
• Assign the decision threshold for proceeding post-diligence (e.g., minimum IRR, payback in months) that must be met for board approval Options: IRR threshold, Payback months threshold, Minimum NPV

Division Restructuring Implementation Plan

• Flag the exact divisions and legal entities in scope by name as they appear on your chart of accounts
• Include the most recent divisional P&L and headcount roster file names that will inform restructuring headcount decisions
• Refer to any collective bargaining agreements or regulatory filings that constrain restructuring timelines (attach clause references) Options: Yes, we have constraints, No material constraints
• Project the earliest practical divestiture or carve-out milestone based on contract assignment windows and customer notification periods (provide target date)
• Detail the mandatory separation tasks you require in the implementation plan (IT separation, contract novation, carve-out financials)
• Explain which internal approvers must sign each restructuring milestone (list role or team title as it appears in your org chart)

Cost Reduction Roadmap with KPIs

• Explain the fixed-cost and variable-cost categories in your latest GL trial balance that you want modeled for reductions
• Identify any cost categories that are contractually constrained (leases, service contracts, vendor SLAs) and provide contract renewal windows
• Refer to the KPI targets you expect to track post-program (e.g., cost-to-revenue ratio, headcount per $M revenue)
• Project whether one-time severance and one-time integration costs should be treated as capitalizable or one-off operating items in your forecast Options: Treat as one-off operating expense, Treat as capitalizable
• Measure the minimum acceptable net run-rate savings required within 12 months to proceed with implementation (enter percentage or $ value)
• Quantify the acceptable tolerance for service-level degradation during cost reductions (e.g., customer response time increase in hours)

Organizational Design and Role Profiles

• Break out the current leadership org chart file and indicate which roles are fixed versus those under review for redesign
• Supply the job descriptions or role profiles (or indicate the path to those files) for the top 20 roles in scope
• Outline the skills gaps you have identified from recent performance reviews that must be addressed in the new design (list by role)
• Note any regulatory or local-labour constraints that influence role consolidation (e.g., mandatory local headcount, statutory benefits)
• State whether you require new role profiles to include competency matrices and interview rubrics for hiring Options: Yes, include competency matrices, No, role summaries only
• Choose the timeline for role profile finalization aligned to your HR cycle (e.g., before next performance cycle, within 90 days) Options: Within 30 days, Within 60 days, Within 90 days, Align to next performance cycle

Board-Ready Recommendation Deck and Executive Memo

• Project which board packet sections must be included from the outset (strategy options, financials, risk register, implementation roadmap) Options: Strategy options, Financials and model, Risk and mitigation, Implementation roadmap, Other
• Detail the single-page executive memo structure you require (preferred headings and one-line summary for each recommendation)
• Attach examples of prior board decks you consider high quality or that reflect the tone you want us to match
• Indicate the maximum slide count the executive team will accept for the initial board presentation Options: 10 slides or fewer, 11-20 slides, 21-30 slides
• Confirm the preferred appendix materials that must be deliverable (detailed model, customer interview summaries, due diligence binder) Options: Detailed financial model, Customer interview summaries, Legal and contract index, Operational appendix
• Indicate the acceptance criteria that will confirm the board is prepared to move to a decision (evidence such as a pre-read sign-off list, CFO validation of model, and legal confirmation of permissive covenants)

Implementation Governance and Operating Rhythm

• Name the executive sponsor and the operational owner who will appear on the RACI for implementation (provide role titles as in your org chart)
• Rank the cadence you prefer for steering committee reviews during implementation (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) Options: Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Quarterly
• Allocate the expected internal time commitment by role during the first 90 days (hours per week for Sponsor, BU lead, and functional leads)
• Measure the governance approvals required to change customer contracts or pricing (list approver roles and required documents)
• Quantify the escalation thresholds that must trigger executive intervention (e.g., schedule slips > x weeks, cost overruns > y% of budget)
• Measure the governance sign-off criteria that will define the start of seller-led execution (evidence such as signed SOW, data-access authorizations, and legal TOR executed)

• Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Data Processing & Access Agreement (DPA/Access)
• Governance & Cadence Charter
• Change Order Agreement
• Client Responsibilities & Acceptance Checklist

• Receive final deliverables package in shared workspace
• Obtain line-item acceptance from named owners for each deliverable
• Collect written acceptance sign-off from designated approver
• Receive legal closeout confirmation
• Confirm transfer and verification of required data and IP artifacts
• Verify repository access and permissions for final artifacts
• Conduct formal delivery handover meeting and upload minutes
• Document and acknowledge outstanding exceptions with remediation plan
• Confirm post-delivery sustain & improve governance and contacts
• Receive written authorization from buyer finance/procurement to process billing milestone

• Go-live Health Check (Weeks 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (Weeks 4-10)
• Implementation Governance Ratification (Around Day 60-90)
• Quarterly Realization Review
• Annual Strategic Outcomes Review

• Publish a quarter summary with metric trends, unresolved blockers, and agreed next-quarter milestones.
• Immediate blockers have owners and remediation dates recorded.
• Re-confirm scope deliverables and acceptance status
• Remediation triggers and escalation paths are documented for governance failure scenarios.
• Publish the ratified prioritized action list with named owners and reporting cadence.
• Circulate templates for the recurring implementation progress report.
• Schedule the first Quarterly Realization Review and define required pre-read data.
• Review quarter-to-date outcomes
• Confirm whether implementation milestone completion rate is on the agreed trajectory for the quarter.
• Ensure unresolved implementation blockers have explicit remediation plans and owners.
• Agree next-quarter priorities that preserve the original scope and acceptance criteria from Engagement Scope.
• Named client-side owners and governance cadence are documented and accepted.
• Open enhancement requests with impact estimates and decision deadlines for low-risk adjustments.
• Update the shared issue-and-change channel with the remediation plan and owners.
• Present year-to-date realization metrics
• Document the count of prioritized initiatives completed and assess whether realized outcomes match the expected benefits in the Engagement Scope.
• Highlight any persistent blockers and capture an executable plan to close them within an agreed period.
• Confirm the ongoing continuous improvement channel and ownership for future minor enhancements.
• Deliver an annual realization report summarizing prioritized initiatives completed, milestone completion rate, and realized business impact.
• Record outstanding blockers with remediation plans and target close dates.
• Maintain the shared issue-and-enhancement channel for continuous improvement and assign a contact owner for triage.
• All deliverables from Delivery Completion Sign-Off are confirmed received and accessible.
• Publish a go-live validation summary listing deliverables, owners, governance cadence, and open issues.
• Assign remediation tasks for open blockers with target completion dates.
• Schedule the First Measurement Review within 4-10 weeks.
• Present first measurement data
• Determine whether implementation milestone completion rate is progressing per the roadmap and document variances.
• Verify the number of implementation blockers resolved and capture actions for unresolved blockers.
• Assign corrective actions with owners and deadlines to address identified gaps.
• Produce a measurement report showing milestone completion rate and blocker resolution status with supporting evidence.
• List corrective actions with owners, due dates, and success criteria.
• Confirm date and agenda for the Implementation Governance Ratification meeting.
• Restate prioritized action list and current status
• Client-side owners are formally ratified for each prioritized action.
• A repeatable reporting cadence is agreed to track implementation milestone completion rate and blocker resolution.
• Ratify owner assignments and decision forums
• Review strategic impact vs baseline
• Verify owner assignments and governance cadence
• Persistent issues and root-cause analysis
• Diagnose root causes for gaps
• Enhancements and low-risk adjustments
• Early execution signals and usage patterns
• Establish ongoing reporting and success measures
• Adjust remediation plan
• Outstanding implementation barriers
• Blockers and open issues with owners
• Document conditional remediation commitments
• Agreement on continuous improvement channel use
• Reconfirm next-quarter milestones and owners
• Confirm owner accountability and escalation path
• Incumbent wind-down checkpoint
• Agree timeline to next gate
• Agree immediate remediation actions and next check-in