There is something almost comical about how much time organizations spend on strategy and how little actually changes. People gather, analyze, discuss and formulate. Everyone agrees that something needs to happen. Nevertheless, most things continue as usual. It is rarely due to a lack of will. It is due to a lack of clarity. The 5 bold steps method is a way to break that pattern. It forces concrete, courageous target images that make it impossible to hide behind vague formulations. And that is often precisely why it works.
Why use 5 bold steps
The method is used to create direction that actually leads to change. It replaces diffuse strategies with concrete conditions that the organization must have achieved within a certain time frame. What makes the method powerful is that it connects three things that are often separated. Vision, action and follow-up.
When these three are connected, a clarity arises that affects the entire system. Decisions become easier, priorities clearer and communication more concrete. The method is particularly useful in situations where you want to drive transformation. It can be about digitalisation, sustainability, new business models or organizational change.
It fits less well when the goal is to optimize something that already works. Then traditional improvement methods are often enough.
Who the method is for
5 bold steps is primarily a tool for management groups and strategic teams. That is where the direction is set and where the courage needs to be. But the method only has its real effect when it is anchored in the entire organization. When everyone understands what the five steps mean and how their work connects to them. It also works very well in cross-functional contexts where several perspectives need to be brought together. Precisely because it forces consensus.
What the method is about
The core of the method is to define five concrete conditions that must be achieved within a given time frame, often three years. It’s not about what to do, but what should be true when you arrive. Each step must be challenging enough to require change, but concrete enough to be followed up. Together, the five steps should describe a coherent movement.
How you use it
- The work begins by defining a number of areas you want to work on, aim for 5 areas that feel relevant. What is it that we want to change or achieve? It can be overall strategic directions or specific areas such as increased sustainability, customer management, personnel development, AI use, etc.
- Then formulate pains, i.e. things that stop you from moving forward. There can be internal or external obstacles. Create a list of the most common counterforces.
- Then formulate gains, i.e. things that help you. What will play into your hands and what new opportunities will open up if you work with the areas.
- Now formulate 5 bold steps. This is the important part. The five bold steps must be formulated so that it is possible to assess whether they have been achieved.
Example:- 50% of our sales must come from products with recycled materials
- all staff must have attended a training course on the risks and opportunities of AI
- 50% of our income must come from brand new customer offers
- we must have completed 5 projects that directly affected biological diversity positively
- After that follows a phase where the ideas are challenged. Are they brave enough? Would they require us to do things differently? Or are they just an extension of what we already do? They need to become measurable or at least clearly verifiable. It can be about percentages, implemented changes or specific results.
- Finally, you try to formulate a vision based on all the insights about areas, obstacles, opportunities and bold steps. This vision must be a sentence that clearly explains the direction.
Tips and things to think about
A common pitfall is formulating steps that are too cautious or too general. Then they feel comfortable, but they don’t change anything. If there is no chafing, it is often a sign that the steps are not brave enough.
Another pitfall is mixing up activities and results. Saying that you should launch an initiative is not the same as saying what that initiative should have led to.
It is also important to avoid taking too many steps. The limit to five is not random. Den tvingar fram fokus.
An important insight is that the work with the steps is as important as the result. The discussions that arise expose different perspectives and priorities. That is where much of the value lies.
Advice for th facilitator
As a facilitator, you have a crucial role. Not in contributing content, but in creating the right conditions. Your most important task is to stay focused on results and challenge ambiguity. When someone says something that sounds good but is vague, you need to ask the question what it actually means in practice. You also need to create security to dare to be brave. For many groups, it is unusual to formulate goals that actually require changing. At the same time, you need to dare to remain in the tension. When the discussions become intense, it is often a sign that you are approaching something important.
Another important part is to help the group keep the whole. Not to get caught up in details, but to constantly refer back to the direction.
Finally, a lot is about pace. Too long a process risks losing energy. Too short a process risks becoming superficial. The balance lies in giving enough space for reflection, but still driving forward decisions.
Does this method really work?
What makes 5 bold steps so effective is not really the method itself. That is what it demands of us. It requires us to be clear about what we want to achieve. That we dare to formulate it in a way that can be evaluated. And that we are prepared to change ourselves to get there. That’s where the real fashion lies. And maybe that’s why so few strategies actually work. Not because we lack ideas, but because we avoid the moment when the ideas become concrete enough to require action.
About “5 bold steps”
Strategy has a tendency to become abstract. We talk about direction, positioning and transformation. But without concrete target images, it becomes more like a fog than a road. Everyone interprets it a little differently. Everyone has slightly different priorities. And since no one really knows what is actually to be achieved, it becomes difficult to determine if you are on the right path. It’s a bit like saying we’re going to travel far without deciding where. It sounds adventurous, but it rarely leads to anything special. This is where the Five Courageous Step Method comes in as a backlash.
What’s really the point
The essence of the method is almost provocatively simple. Instead of formulating broad strategies, five clear, bold steps are defined that the organization must have implemented within a certain time frame. Not activities. Not ambitions. Without concrete conditions that must be achieved. It is about describing the future as if it has already happened, but in a way that can be followed up. This is where it gets interesting. Because when you are forced to formulate these steps, you quickly notice how difficult it is to be clear. And how revealing it is when you’re not.
Courage is not in the words but in the consequence
What makes the steps brave is not that they sound bold. It is that they demand change. A step that says we should get better at sustainability doesn’t change anything. A step that says fifty percent of our revenue should come from circular business models within three years does that. Suddenly something has to happen. Decisions must be made. Priorities must change. It gets uncomfortable. And that is exactly the point.
When numbers become a catalyst for reality
One of the most powerful aspects of the method is that the steps like to include numbers or clear milestones. Not because everything can be measured, but because what cannot be followed up rarely gets done. When you say that something must be ready, achieved or changed in a concrete way, another type of responsibility is created. It becomes more difficult to hide behind wording. Harder to say we’re on our way. Either it has happened or it hasn’t. And that’s a pretty liberating clarity.
The context determines the direction
The method itself is neutral. It is the context that gives it power. In an organization that works with AI, the five steps can be about having implemented AI in all core processes, having built own models or having created new business models based on data. In an organization with a focus on sustainability, it may be about eliminating emissions in certain parts of the value chain, changing the choice of materials or rearranging the entire product portfolio. The important thing is not what the steps are, but that they are connected and point in the same direction. Together, they must describe a move that feels both challenging and possible.
What happens when consensus is lacking
Perhaps the most underrated value in the method is not the steps themselves, but the process of arriving at them. Because when you start discussing what the five courageous steps should actually be, something happens. Disagreement. And it is a gift. Because without consensus on what is important, the organization will pull in different directions. Some prioritize short-term profitability, others long-term transformation. Some want to experiment, others want to streamline. Without a shared vision of what is really to be achieved, the strategy becomes a compromise that no one really believes in. And then what always happens happens. You continue as usual.
The system effect that is often underestimated
Once five clear steps are defined, something starts to happen in the system. Decisions become easier to make because they can be linked to the steps. Initiatives can be prioritized or terminated based on whether they contribute. Communication becomes clearer because everyone knows what is important. A kind of gravity is created in the organization. Everything starts to pull in the same direction. That doesn’t mean everything goes quickly. But that means it’s going in the same direction. And that’s a huge difference.
Three years is usually enough
An interesting experience from using the method consistently is that most organizations actually reach their five steps within three years. Not because they were simple, but because they became clear. When the direction is clear and the follow-up concrete, much of what otherwise slows down disappears. Ambiguity, hesitation and internal discussions are replaced by action. It’s like going from looking for the road to actually walking it.
When the method doesn’t work
It is important to say that this is not a magic solution. If the steps are formulated too carefully, nothing happens. If they are formulated without anchoring, resistance arises. If they are not followed up, they quickly become irrelevant. And perhaps most importantly. If the leadership does not step up when it starts to rub, then everything falls back into old patterns. Fashion must be sustained, not just initial.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Five Courageous Steps is not that they create strategy, but that they reveal it. Because when you are forced to say what will actually have happened in three years, then it becomes clear what you really believe. And what you are not prepared to change. The question is not whether your organization has a strategy. The question is whether it is clear enough to require courage.
