One of the biggest changes we made over the past 2 years is adding an Impact Statement to every opportunity. It forces us to define why the work matters before we start. If we can’t articulate the impact, we shouldn’t be doing the work. For a long time, we moved fast but didn’t always stop to ask the deeper question: what’s the business value behind this effort? The Impact Statement puts that conversation on the table early. It aligns us with the client, gives the team clarity, and keeps the work grounded in the real outcome they’re trying to achieve. We see the value immediately when our clients start using the Impact Statement to socialize the effort internally. When they share it with their leaders, peers, or funding teams, it tells us the work matters and the direction is right. We use it throughout the entire project. If things drift, we go back to the Impact Statement. If priorities shift, we use it to decide whether we’re pivoting for the right reasons or just losing focus. It’s simple, but it changed everything. Clear impact creates better decisions, better conversations, and better results. We don’t start without one. And we don’t finish without proving it.
This is brilliant and will be adopting some form of an Impact Statement. We define them as “what success looks like” in our proposals now but this goes deeper. I like, I like.
Master Certified Coach for Global Tech Executives
2dWe would call it a "business case" and had specific ROI metrics that were at least reasonably well thought through. I like the shorter version. I was literally just talking with a leader whose calendar is full of meetings that need... and Impact Statement ;-)