In the Strategize stage, Executives, Strategy & Operations leaders, Finance, Portfolio Leaders, and Change Managers collaborate to define and communicate clear strategic objectives and associated metrics across the organization. This process decomposes high-level goals into actionable requirements, establishing a "North Star" that guides all teams and functions. Effective communication of the strategy and metrics is critical, ensuring alignment of both discretionary and operational investments with strategic priorities from the outset.

In the Connect stage, Strategy & Operations leaders and Business & Enterprise Architects collaborate to break down organizational silos and map the operating fabric of the business. This involves understanding the current state architecture—capabilities, value streams, processes, and supporting technology—and identifying the future state architecture needed to effectively execute on the strategy. This critical step uncovers opportunities to rationalize operational spend, eliminate redundancies and waste, and optimize the operating model. By providing a complete picture of how the business operates, the Connect stage ensures all subsequent planning and execution efforts are grounded in organizational reality and aligned with strategic priorities.

In the Plan stage, Executives, Strategy & Operations, Portfolio Leaders, Business & Enterprise Architects, Finance, HR, IT, PMOs, and Change Managers collaborate to align the multi-year and near-term strategic roadmap with organizational strategy, optimizing investments and resources. This phase assesses both operational and discretionary investments against strategic fit and the architectural roadmap, ensuring alignment. Adaptive planning ensures this is not a one-time event—organizations revisit the plan regularly to adjust to changing variables, delivering a clear roadmap with identified dependencies, risks, and resource needs for effective execution.

In the Execute stage, Strategy & Operations, Finance, HR, IT, Business & Enterprise Architects, PMOs, Portfolio Leaders, Program & Product Managers, Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Change Managers, and team members collaborate to execute the strategic roadmap. Different teams may adopt tailored execution methodologies and tools suited to their functions, ensuring flexibility while maintaining alignment. Progress is continuously monitored through regular portfolio review meetings, with corrective actions taken as needed to keep initiatives on track and aligned with strategic goals. Change management plays a vital role, ensuring clear communication across teams and assessing organizational capacity to absorb change effectively.

In the Measure stage, occurring throughout execution, Executives, Strategy & Operations, Finance, Enterprise Risk, PMOs, Portfolio Leaders, and Change Managers track whether actual benefits align with expectations, including re-forecasting when internal or external variables shift. This stage builds on the strategic objectives and metrics defined in the Strategize phase, ensuring continuous evaluation of performance. Regular assessments compare outcomes to targets, identify gaps, and enable data-driven adjustments to optimize strategic success and maximize business value realization.