What must hold.

Why this matters

Step 1 clarified the terrain. Step 2 decides what must hold across it.

This step helps you name:

• the outcome you are protecting,
• the boundaries you will not cross,
• what can flex,
• and the strategic posture you are taking in response to the future.

Keep it clear, specific, and grounded.

Part 1: Higher intent & preferred future

Higher Intent is the floor: what needs to hold no matter what. It is not the ambition. The future you're actually trying to create was named in Step 1 as your Preferred Future (copied below); Higher Intent protects the conditions that make reaching it possible, it isn't a substitute for it.

In one sentence write the observable outcome you are accountable for delivering or protecting, at all costs.

This is not a vision statement, marketing, or a list of activities. It is the outcome you are accountable for, even when pressure increases.

Pressure test your statement

Refine the higher intent statement if needed

Preferred future

Part 2: Anchors

Anchors are the non-negotiable constraints that define what we will not compromise, even under significant pressure, to protect our higher intent and preferred future. Under pressure, confusion usually comes from not knowing what is fixed and what is open to change.

They reflect values, responsibilities or boundaries.

Examples:

• Safety thresholds
• Legal or Te Tiriti obligations
• Long-term financial viability
• Trust commitments
• Professional standards
• Core values expressed as non-negotiable behaviours

If everything is non-negotiable, you haven’t prioritised.

Values in action

Te Tiriti & Cultural Integrity

Revise if needed before moving on.

Part 3: Flex

Once anchors are clear, everything else becomes adjustable.

Examples:

• Delivery model.
• Sequencing.
• Resourcing.
• Partnership configuration.
• Timeframes.

Part 4: Strategic posture

The Biggest Problem

Everything in Step 1 is description. This is the translation: given all of it, what's the single biggest gap between where you are and where you need to be?

Strategic orientation matrix

Strategic posture is the stance we take in response to key influences, and how we act when they meet real-world constraints.

It is the role we choose to play, and the capabilities we must grow, while staying anchored to what we must protect what we’re aiming for and flexible in how we pursue it.

Using the 5 key influences identified in Step 1, define the strategic posture you will take in response.

How to Use This Table

For each key influence:

1. Name the priority
2. Describe the future you are deliberately shaping in response.
3. Choose one primary role.
4. Be explicit about why it’s worth committing to.
5. Identify the muscle you must build.

If the capability column feels vague, the strategy is not yet real.

Naming Our Advantage

Step 1 asked how you remain viable, outperform, and create impact today. Now that you've named your posture above, answer the same three questions as a decision, not a description.

Competitive Advantage: how we win

• Given the posture above, how will we remain viable? What makes us sustainable when others in this space aren't?
• Given the posture above, how do we outperform and differentiate? What makes us better, not just different?

(Draw on the Role and Capability columns above — this is where they earn their keep.)

Mission Advantage: why us

• Given the posture above, how do we create, sustain and scale impact that only we are positioned to deliver? What trust, mandate, relationship, or history makes this genuinely ours to champion not just something we've chosen to do?

Strategic alignment check

Pause and sense-check how this posture aligns with Step 1’s strategic baseline and current operating environment, including:

• identity (values, vision, mission, purpose, aspiration)
• operating model (how we exist in the system)
• strategic logic (how we survive, compete, and scale impact)
• current pressures and constraints
• blind spots in our current view

If the posture feels misaligned, identify whether:

• the posture needs refinement, or
• the strategic baseline need to be re-examined under current conditions

If alignment is there, this indicates a good match up between intent, constraints, and strategic response.

AI assist (optional)

Use AI to challenge clarity, not to write your intent for you.