Every great software is based on a vision of a better way.
In early 2008, we began imagining a world where strategy execution and performance management went hand-in-hand—where metrics were always aligned to strategy, decisions were fact-based, and meetings were productive.
We wondered, “Could this world become reality?” While we saw some glimmers of hope in certain solutions, it was clear this world couldn’t exist yet. And the big question that stuck out to us was, “Why?”
So we began considering the barriers keeping us from this happy, productive, and engaged world. We wondered, “What are organizations doing that makes strategy execution so difficult?” The answer, as it turns out, wasn’t so complicated.
Here’s what we found:
Precious time was being wasted in unproductive meetings. Management time, on an hourly basis, is the most expensive labor there is. And yet, this time is routinely wasted in meetings where nothing gets accomplished.
Fact-based decisions weren’t being made. Instead of relying upon data to drive decision-making, we’re relying on gut instinct and wild preconceptions that we’ve probably held from birth.
Investments in time and capital weren’t strategy-focused. Projects start all the time—but they rarely end. Organizations keep working, funding, and hoping that a particular project will make the difference, but the projects often aren’t managed well.
Some organizations have taken it upon themselves to tackle these issues—and some have done a great job. But we wondered, “Why can’t everyone do this? Why isn’t this standard? What makes it so difficult?”
Simply put, we found that the tools that are regularly used are insufficient.
Outlook may help you plan meetings. Excel can help you analyze. Project can help you, well, manage projects. And to bring those systems together, many organizations turn to PowerPoint. Now, PowerPoint is an excellent tool—but it’s not a tool for strategy execution or decision-making. And often, you spend more time fighting with PowerPoint than actually solving anything.
But, of course, the problem is deeper than that. These solutions usually take the blame because they act as the glue (or, more appropriately, the duct tape) that holds strategy review meetings (and, therefore, strategy execution) together.
So we thought, “What if we could invent better ‘duct tape’?”Of course, we’re not the first folks who have had this thought and we won’t be the last. But what’s interesting about the innovation in this space is that most solutions only solve a piece of the problem.There are many great solutions that can slice and dice your data a thousand ways to Sunday and create thousands more animated visualizations. This is great eye-candy—but what decisions do those fancy graphics drive? And does it do anything to unite your team strategically?
*Crickets*
The truth is, most dashboarding solutions are built by accountants and engineers; well-meaning folks who really like numbers and enjoy tinkering with them. But we needed to solve a different problem. It’s one thing to know how many widgets you sold in Kazakhstan and an entirely different thing to know if you should be doing business in Kazakhstan.
We finally asked ourselves: “What if we created a way for organizations to capture the quantitative and qualitative information they need to make decisions, optimize the experience to drive decision-making, and ensure that projects were actually managed? What if we built better duct tape?”
And with that, ClearPoint Strategy was born.
With these key business issues and vital software shortcomings in mind, we set about building a new kind of application—an application designed by managers and executives, for managers and executives. A tool to facilitate decision-making and execution. A tool to help you make better decisions, faster.
So, thanks for reading—we’re glad you’re here. Take a look through our site and check out what we’re all about. And if you really want to get to know ClearPoint, have one of our strategy experts guide you through a demo. We think you’ll agree we’re something different.
