The Strategy Activation Playbook

”““In the world of organizational decision-making, we hear one thing over and over: what matters most is the people. Yet when we make strategic plans there is one thing we forget over and over: the people. I am so excited about Aric’s book and the methodology he brings. I am excited that he puts people at the center and that his team communicates everything in a clear, simple, visual way.No one can align a team thinking about the strategy. We align teams thinking about the team.”” —Dan Roam, bestselling author of The Back of the Napkin and Draw to Win ““Give yourself the best chance for success by following Wood’s framework, learning new and modern skills, and committing to the journey that he outlines in this book. As a CEO who has done it, I can tell you it really works.”” —Andy Youniss, Executive Chairman, Rocket Software ““In 2020, I partnered with Aric Wood and XPLANE on a major change initiative. Little did we know, the world of work would change dramatically as we undertook our work together. The Strategy Activation Playbook reflects the human-centered, empathetic, co-creative process I witnessed firsthand. It is a different and much needed approach in time when we are all searching for meaningful ways to design our shared future.”” —Lisa Schwartz, COO, Mathematica, Inc. ““Aric’s approach to strategy activation is the critical ingredient organizations need to move from a great plan on paper to real results. I’ve worked with Aric across 4 companies and each time he’s helped invigorate the full organization to truly believe in its strategy…and have a lot of fun along the way!”” —Amanda Eisel, CEO, Zelis “”The Strategy Activation Playbook is a must-read for anyone who wants to move from the 80% who fail to execute their strategy to the successful 20% … In this powerful and easy-to-read book, Aric breaks down what it takes to activate your strategy and provides useful tools to help you energize and activate your people to overcome the gap between planning and execution.“” —Norman Wolfe, CEO, quantum Leaders and author ofThe Living Organization: Transforming Business to Create Extraordinary Results“

Aric Wood is the CEO of global design consultancy XPLANE, where he leads the firm’s Strategy Activation practice. XPLANE has developed a unique approach to leveraging human-centered design, visual thinking, and co-creation to help engage, align, and activate people to bring their strategies to life. With over 25 years of experience working with over 100 of the Fortune 500, as well as federal and local governments, non-profit organizations, and global NGOs, Aric has a unique perspective on what it takes to successfully lead change through people in organizations of all sizes.

Aric has shared his experience and knowledge as an author, a keynote speaker, a university instructor, and has served on numerous commercial and non-profit boards, including The Design Museum Foundation and the Pacific Northwest College of Arts (PNCA). He previously served in leadership roles at Intuit and Epinions.com, and as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company. Aric earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.