solution

Pathfinders

Strategic project planning tool that models the path from idea to outcome and surfaces decision points early.

⏱ 120–180 min

When to Use

Before kicking off a multi-quarter initiative. When you need to align managers on milestones and decision rights. When change management has historically been weak.

Materials

  • Pathfinder worksheet (downloadable from innovation.io)
  • Stakeholder list
  • Existing roadmap or charter

Common Pitfalls

  • •Skipping the "what would make us stop?" column. Pre-mortem decisions need to be visible.
  • •Treating it as a project plan. It is a sense-making tool, not a Gantt replacement.

Examples

A two-day planning session in Austria

Top management and senior managers used the Pathfinder method to align on a 24-month transformation. Two of the four planned milestones were re-sequenced based on dependencies that surfaced during the exercise.

Source →