Play to Win

Think like your competitors and understand your environment in order to win.

Steps: 8
Last edited: Mar 2, 2025
Created by: Nova

About this process

By using this framework, teams can develop strategies that don't focus on archiving goals, but rather on defining winning strategies that will let them compete more effectively. This playful tool helps you understand your environment and the forces affecting all the players in your playground. It also helps you think like your competitors in order to help you develop a strategy that is competitive enough to win. Duration: 4h to 20 hours

The process in detail

8 steps

1
Play to win.
2
Choose a color and get ready to start.
3
The environment and external factors affecting all players (competitors)
4
Discuss findings and decide how you're going to win.
5
Climb up the ladder to win.
6
Pitch.
7
Measure success.
8
Define your final strategy.

Read the full text

1. Play to win.

Play to win is a framework that helps teams define their winning strategies. This framework asks team members to follow this framework following the following rules:

•Game conditions can change depending on the external environment, but these conditions affect all players equally.

•The concept of winning can be defined differently by each player. One player may want to get 20% of the market, while another may want 40% , target a different segment or reduce costs and waste.

•Each player needs to build a winning strategy.

•Team members who are playing as their competitors must think as their competitors do. In order to win, you must understand how they think and what their current strategy is.

2. Choose a color and get ready to start.

Let's say you choose orange and this color will represent your business.

🪄Tip: Each person should choose a color. One to represent your business/product and all the other colors to represent your competitors.

As a result, you will analyze the external environment and the forces that influence it. The external environment and forces define the playing field for all players. The conditions are the same for all players (your competitors).

Where to start?

Each color represent one of your competitors.

3. The environment and external factors affecting all players (competitors)

•Technological factors that are defining the conditions of the playground.

•Economic environment that are defining the conditions of the playground. Evaluate economic factors that can have a significant impact on how an organization does business and also how profitable they are.Evaluate factors like economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation, disposable income of consumers, etc.

•Social Environment that are defining the conditions of the playground. Factors that include shared beliefs and attitudes of the population.

•Environmental forces that are defining the conditions of the playground. How is your company trying to be ethical and a sustainable company, reducing your carbon footprint targets set by governments and by other organizations?

•Legal forces that are defining the conditions of the playground. Evaluate health, safety, equal opportunities, advertising standards, consumer rights and laws, product labeling, product packaging and product safety.

•Political Environment that are defining the conditions of the playground. How and to what degree a government and the current policies intervene in the economy? Think about: government policy, political stability or instability in overseas markets, foreign trade policy, legislation, tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, etc.

Work on the whiteboardPESTEL

4. Discuss findings and decide how you're going to win.

Start by defining what winning means to your organization and team and what is the timeframe. Is this a long-term goal or a short-term task?

How are the environment and all the forces in this environment going to change during the implementation phase? What is most likely to change?

Competitors play the same game but may define winning differently. Our goal might be to come up with a winning strategy when we are promoting a brand-new product. Team members playing as our competitors will do the same, but they will define winning differently. They may focus on upselling to their current clients while we may focus on promoting the solution to a new market.

To keep constrains similar to all players the timeline will be defined by your organization. 'Competitors' will follow.

Write a note

5. Climb up the ladder to win.

There are 5 steps you need to take in order to win. Each step challenges you to think about key strategic decisions and actions that you will take to win. Take advantage of the fact that you have visibility into what your competitors are currently thinking and doing.

These 5 steps can be changed. We are providing a framework but you can change one of these concepts for a new one.

1.People, Organization Structure and Management. Is your current team equipped with all the skills you need? Do they seem burned out? Do they have the time to take on a new project? Are there any other stakeholders who support you? Suppliers, connections, etc. What support will managers provide to the team? Do you have the process in place to provide clarity? Do you have the process in place to move fast?

2.Physical Assets, Profits, and Cash flow. What's your budget and what can you do with it? Evaluate other metrics like ROI.

3.Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Process, and physical evidence.

4.Communication. What is the communication strategy? Which channels will you use? Where can current or potential clients find out more about this initiative? In what way is the message being communicated? Is the message simple and clear so that they can remember it? Are there any emotions triggered by this communication? What are the ways we are connecting with our target audience?

5.Value proposition and Company promise.

6. Pitch.

1.Go around the 'playground' evaluate everyone's strategy and improve yours.

2.Pitch your strategy whenever you are ready.

3.If two teams define winning exactly the same way you have to re-frame your strategy, in other words, if you want to win, you have to find a way to beat your competitor.

4.Choose your favorite pitch and vote.

7. Measure success.

•Is the right number of people with the right skills on your team? Do they have availability?

•Is your budget large enough?

•Are you using a clear process and assigning at least one manager to this task/initiative?How can you fight some of the negative external factors that are affecting you and your competitors? Do you have any reliable connections, or strengths that will give you a competitive advantage?

•Is your brand trusted by your customers? If not, does your communication strategy reflect that?

•What is your value proposition and promise in relation to your strategy and winning definition? Are these aligned?

Give yourself 1 point everytime you answer yes.

8. Define your final strategy.

Drop your teams and join the team that represents your organization to finalize the strategy with a 👑 winning mindset.

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Capabilities

Fully editableAdapts as work changesAdd more sessions anytimeAI can be assigned

Created byNova·Official process

Last edited Mar 2, 2025·8 steps